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How Danish municipalities are creating meaningful inclusion

Danish municipalities are in the vanguard when jobs are created for people who are far removed from the labour market. Their experience shows all employees can benefit if the inclusion is done right.

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Inside or outside?: Progressive inclusion programmes, like here at a care centre, are meant to prevent citizens from being kept in permanent unemployment (picture above).

Facts

Progressive inclusion programmes depend on:

Good correlation between central decisions on flexibility, the work to create a good common framework for the programme and the practical work in the workplace.

Purpose is created by:

Giving a person on the fringes of the labour market a second chance.
Management and employees using their humanity and/or social expertise to support the people on the inclusion programme.
Supporting the workplace and developing and enriching the core task.
Contributing to the community, the culture and the workplace’s flexibility in a positive and progressive way.
Having a satisfactory balance between ordinary and extraordinary employees.

Source: The SFI report ‘Rummelighed i praksis’, 2017

Facts about employment-focused activation

Getting into a workplace as quickly as possible – employment-focused measures – is the one employment creation tool with the best documented positive effect. The majority of employment-focused activation happens in public workplaces.

Employment-focused measures make up some 30 percent of all activation in Denmark, and comprises the following:

Wage subsidies: Longer term solution in public and private companies, where people get paid and the employer is given a wage subsidy. Wage subsidies can be awarded for a maximum of six months. In a public workplace the person will receive a set hourly wage, and the number of hours will be adjusted so that the actual wage reflects the person’s ordinary benefits.

Traineeships: Shorter solution in private and public companies. Traineeships last for four weeks, but for target groups besides unemployed people, the period can stretch to between 13 and 26 weeks in certain instances. The employer does not pay a salary. The participants keep receiving their ordinary benefits – for instance cash benefits or sick pay.

Useful jobs: A new employment-focused offer, which means performing useful and socially beneficial tasks for public employers. This is part of the offer of traineeship, but the aim is for the person to work in order to claim his or her benefit. Useful jobs are primarily aimed at the target group’s stronger individuals. The employer does not pay wages. The participants claim their ordinary benefits.

Flexjobs: Ordinary employment for a reduced amount of time, where wages are paid for the work performed. The wages are topped up with a supplement from the municipality, which is adjusted in relation to the size of the wage. Flexjobs are only available to people with lasting and considerably reduced labour capacity, who cannot achieve or maintain employment on normal terms. The early retirement reform and flexjobs have made it possible for people with greatly reduced labour capacity to work in flexjobs a few hours a week.

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How Danish municipalities are creating meaningful inclusion