UWV consists of 7 divisions and 8 supporting staff directorates, such as Accountancy Services, Facilities, and Communications. The divisions comprise:
The Werkbedrijf is responsible for job placement and reintegration. We match supply and demand. Along with municipalities, UWV is developing a single public point of contact for employers in the 35 labour market regions: the Employers' service point. We are working towards a situation in which all jobseekers and all employers have a single public point of contact, the regional job centre, for queries about work and lifelong development. The Werkbedrijf also houses our labour law service for employers, employees, and jobseekers. Employment lawyers review employers' applications for dismissal and handle applications for work permits. This division also researches trends and developments in the labour market and regularly publishes information about it.
If working is not possible, or not possible straight away, UWV provides benefits. Almost 1.2 million Dutch citizens depend on us for their income. The Benefits division ensures their benefits are paid out promptly and in the proper way. Benefits is also responsible for the collection of fines, interest claims, unjustly paid benefits, garnishment, and recourse in the event of bankruptcy.
Sometimes people can no longer work (or are partially incapacitated) due to illness or other causes. The professionals in our Socio-medical Affairs Division assess what activities someone can still do and what type of work would be suitable. They do this on the basis of occupational health guidelines, insurance medical protocols, and the professional charter for insurance doctors. That way, they provide the building blocks for formulating reintegration advice. If work is not possible (temporarily), this assessment and the extent of loss of income form the basis for entitlement to benefits.
UWV also advises municipalities on their clients' participation options. We also provide an independent expert opinion on an employee's capacity for work, reintegration efforts, or suitable work. We do that on the request of an employer or employee when they have a difference of opinion. UWV is the biggest trainer of insurance doctors in the Netherlands.
Client and Service is responsible for all communications with our clients, via internet, telephone, letter, brochures and forms. We provide an answer or solution quickly. Online where possible, face-to-face when required. Our Client Contact Centre handles millions of queries from clients, employers and business contacts every year.
Data Services collects and manages data about the wages, benefits and employment contracts of all insured persons in the Netherlands in Policy Administration. We use this data to calculate benefits and to fill in forms as far as possible so clients do not have to do this. We also make the data available to other organisations, such as the Tax and Customs Administration, municipal social services, pension schemes, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank and Statistics Netherlands. That way, we ensure employers and employees need only provide their work and income information to the government once.
Clients expect good service from us and we expect them to adhere to the rules. That is also what most people want. That is why we provide accurate information, make clear agreements, and hold clients to them. Should they not adhere to the rules, we try to detect that in a timely manner. That way, they are not confronted with the unpleasant consequences of a violation unnecessarily. People who deliberately break the rules can expect sanctions and must repay benefits to which they were not entitled. Our Enforcement division works closely with parties like the Tax and Customs Administration, the Social Affairs and Employment Inspectorate, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank, municipalities, the police, and the Public Prosecution Service to counter fraud.
We want to assist clients who object to a decision by the UWV promptly and efficiently. Objection and Appeal adopts a personal approach in that. An employee makes contact by telephone within 4 weeks of receiving a letter of objection. Sometimes we resolve the problem during this conversation. In other cases, a mediator can provide a solution. This personal approach is successful: clients are more satisfied and UWV processes objections more quickly. Clients who do not agree with the decision regarding their objection can appeal to the court. The judge will then issue a judgement in relation to the UWV's decision.
The UWV has a vertical governance structure. That is to say, the Executive Board bears overall responsibility. Divisions and staff directorates are headed by a managing director and have a task. The Executive Board and managing directors (the Operational Committee) are transparent and accountable for their actions in accordance with UWV's core values: respect, openness, personal responsibility and professionalism. The Operational Committee represents a unified UWV as a single team.
We have made clear agreements about how we govern, manage, collaborate and make decisions. We apply a clear division of roles in doing so. The Executive Board, along with the managing directors, determines the strategy and frameworks. The directors set up processes within those agreed frameworks. These agreements help us do our work better, be transparent to the outside world, and demonstrate accountability as a professional public body governed by law.
In addition to this vertical model, we focus on integrated, barrier-free customer journeys. We want our clients to experience UWV as a whole and not to encounter any obstacles during their journey through our organisation. Even when they require services from different divisions. For the organisation, that means links must be made between all our (primary) processes.
Directors and the Executive Board work together thematically when it comes to frameworks and UWV-wide policy. This is a practical working method that is intended to approach a challenge as a whole and to feel and take responsibility for it together.