The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment ( nl, Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid; SZW) is the Dutch ministry responsible for

social affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

, relations between employers and employees,

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s and

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...

. It was established in 1918 as the Ministry of Labour and had several name changes before it became the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in 1981. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, currently

Karien van Gennip Catharina Elisabeth Godefrida "Karien" van Gennip (born 3 October 1968) is a Dutch businesswoman and politician who has served as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Fourth Rutte cabinet since 10 January 2022. She is a member of ...

of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

Responsibilities

The ministry is responsible for five fields of policy: * Employment and the labour market * Social security *

Income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...

-policy * Relations between employers and employees * Occupational safety and health

Organisation

The ministry is currently headed by one minister and one state secretary. The ministry's main office is located in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. The civil service is headed by a

secretary general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

(currently Loes Mulder) and a vice-secretary general, who head a system of three directorates general: * Relations between employers and employees and international affairs * Occupational safety and Health and social insurances * Labour market policy and social welfare Furthermore, there is an inspector general responsible for the inspection employment and income, who supervises the local centres for employment and income.

Mobility centres

Beginning in 2006, the Ministry established a network of mobility centres whose function is to coordinate the multiple companies of any given industry to facilitate the movement of employees between companies. This is seen as an alternative to forced lay-offs.

History

The ministry was founded in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. Before that the limited social policy had been the responsibility of the ministry of Economic Affairs. After the Second World War the ministry became much more important, as the Netherlands transformed into a

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

. In 1982 the responsibility for labour market policy was transferred to the ministry from the ministry of Economic Affairs in order to enlarge the portfolio of

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Joop den Uyl Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl (; 9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987) was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). ...

. Emancipation also became a responsibility of the ministry.

References

External links

*
Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid
(Rijksoverheid) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Netherlands) Social Affairs and Employment

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Netherlands, Social Affairs and Employment Labor in the Netherlands