📋 Tender Overview
Led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy the Work Ability Program today brought together hundreds of experts from across Finland to discuss ways to facilitate the employment of people with partial disabilities. The Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen the Minister of Family and Basic Services Krista Kiuru and the Minister of Labor Tuula Haatainen also spoke at the webinar.Decreased working capacity is not yet excluded from working life The program includes both labor policy and social and health policy measures aimed at coordinating partially supported employment support services.The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is responsible for those activities related to social and health care services and benefits for the partially disabled. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy develops employment services.In his speech Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen reminded of one of the most important goals of the government raising the employment rateThe Ministry of Social Affairs and Health aims to influence the employment rate in two different ways so that more and more people can enter working life and on the other hand so that no one has to leave work prematurely. We need multidisciplinary work ability support services that meet customer needs. That is why together with the Ministry of Employment and the Economy we have launched the Work Ability Program the project work of which we are launching today. Services come to social and health centersThe work ability program also has a direct link to the reform of social and health services the regional projects currently being launched are preparing to bring work ability support services to the social and health centers of the future.The reform of social and health care will strengthen basic services and shift the focus to preventive work. Basic services also include support for the working capacity and employment of the unemployed which must be a permanent part of the service system. Social and health care for working-age people is integrated into work ability support services said Krista Kiuru Minister of Family and Basic Services .Minister Kiuru also emphasized the importance of working togetherClose co-operation is also needed in co-ordinating services with TE offices and Kela.From TE services to guidance to social services - and vice versaMany of the unemployed need health and social care services but these needs are often left unidentified. According to Minister of Labor Tuula Haatainen factors related to work ability should be assessed as soon as unemployment begins. We have responded to this by launching 1200 additional officials in employment services next year. Immediately at the beginning of unemployment comes a three-month intensive service period. In this way we can identify factors related to work ability as soon as unemployment begins. The unemployed can be assisted by work ability coordinators who are versatile in services.Among other things we have hired more work ability coordinators for TE offices strengthened employer services and decided to increase the wage subsidy for the partially able to work to 70 percent. What makes the work ability program unique however is that it also includes measures that can be used to promote the demand for labor for people with partial ability to work Minister Haatainen reminded.
