This page is specially for participants in UWV- and 2nd track reintegration programms

UWV reintegration services

If you have not had a job because of circumstances, it can be difficult to get back to it again.

If you have a Wajong, WGA– or ZW benefit from the UWV, then it is possible that the UWV can offer you a “Fit for Work” process. A “Fit for Work” is meant for people with a distance in relation to the job market to prepare themselves for work in a paid job.

What does a “Fit for Work” process look like? 

The reintegration process “Fit for Work” is always tailor-made. This means that the guidance you receive is exactly what you need to become “Fit for Work” again. In the first meeting with our coach you will discuss your goals, wishes and expectations. This will be processed in to a Reintegrationplan Fit for Work. This plan will be sent to your UWV coach or Occupational specialist for approval.

Becoming Fit for Work

If you are ready for a paid job, it is possible to start a “To Work” process after completing “Fit for Work”. Your R3 coach will then support and guide you in finding a job. If you prefer to keep working with the same coach, then that is possible after discussing it.

R3 is a Certified Partner of the UWV for reintegrational services “Fit for Work” and “To Work”. At our bureau, you are guided by experienced coaches that work closeby.

Do you prefer to discuss your situation by phone?

If you want to get back to work and would like some help, support and guidance, then the UWV service “Fit for Work” is your best option.

You can read all about “Fit for Work” on the UWV website. The UWV (usually) lets you decide which reintegration bureau you want to help you with that. R3 is one of your best choices.

“Fit for Work” is a reintegration service for people with possibilities for paid labor that are incapacitated somehow (WGA, WAO, Wajong or WAZ) or receive a sickness benefit from the UWV. With “Fit for Work”, as the name suggests, the key is that you become fit to start paid labor again.

The UWV expects that a reintegration bureau will help you with:

• Empowering your employee skills;
• Improving your personal effectiveness;
• Exploring the job market.

What can you expect of R3?

At R3, we start off in a way that fits you best. This means our work is always tailor-made. That means that you will always receive guidance from your own personal coach. A coach with who you can discuss a great array of subjects, and who can use different methods that you might need to become fit to go back to work.

The methods could include career choice tests, trainings or personal guidance with certain activities. Working at a company to build your experience with that sort of job, or an internship, could be part of your “Fit for Work” process.

It is also possible to receive an education, but only when you are “almost” Fit for Work. The UWV will always have to grant permission for this.

The eventual goal is always to get you ready to find paid work.

Does “Fit for Work” fit me?

Like you have read before, “Fit for Work” is always tailor-made. Your R3 coach coaches you at the level you need. That means that you have a great deal of influence on how the process should look like. The guidance we provide, as you can imagine, looks differently for every single person.

The UWV decides, after consulting you, what timeframe is best for the coaching.

How often do you see, or talk with, your coach?

• Do you receive a disability benefit? You could receive coaching for a maximum of 18 months.
• Do you receive an illness benefit? You could then receive coaching for a maximum of 6 months.

How often you have contact with your coach during the process depends on you and the arrangements you discuss together. For example, you could agree that in the first 3 months you meet regularly for coaching, and after you proceed with more coaching over the phone. This is all tailor-made, so you discuss this with your R3 coach.

“Fit for Work”, I want that!

The application for “Fit for Work” guidance and the way it is shaped happens in consultation with the UWV. Together with an Occupational Therapist or a Consultant Intensive Services of the UWV, you look for ways to become fit for work again and how the UWV can assist you. The UWV, in consultation with you, drafts a plan of action, in which your wishes and learning goals are formulated to become fit for work.

Are you receiving illness benefits? Then your first conversation about “Fit for Work” is with your reintegration counselor from the UWV.

After that you meet your R3- coach.

The service “Fit for Work” is done by a reintegration bureau. Once you have chosen R3, your R3-coach will receive a request to start drafting your reintegration plan. In this document, you and the coach note down what you are going to work on, in which way this will be done and who is going to counsel you. This all is done with your influence and approval.

Off course there are also rules during “Fit for Work” process.

“Fit for Work” always has your job opportunities and your determined work capacity in mind. We take into account the changes in your medical situation, as that is subject to change over time. If you choose to accept the “Fit for Work” service, it is expected of you to see it through.

And what happens when “Fit for Work” ends?

After “Fit for Work” you might be eligible for another service, called “To Work”. During “To Work” you will receive help and guidance towards finding a paid job.

• Are you receiving a disability benefit? Then you can receive guidance for a maximum of 9 months.
• Are you receiving sickness benefit? Then you can receive guidance for a maximum of 6 months.

At the start of “To Work” you make an agreement about the number of hours you are going to work. You are fit for work and ready to commit to a paid job.

Apply for a “Fit for Work” process

You are eligible for “To Work” if you are ready to get back into paid labor. It is common you have successfully completed “Fit for Work”. It also happens that your UWV coach considers you to be Fit for Work and you don’t need a “Fit for Work” to start “To Work”.

The idea behind “To Work”-guidance is that you are going to find a job, a sustainable job that matches what you can do as of today.

In “To Work” you will receive help in finding a paid job. The guidance will be done by our experienced R3 coaches, and it is possible to have the help of the same coach as helped you becoming “Fit for Work”.

Are you receiving a disability benefit? Then you can receive guidance for a maximum of 9 months.

Are you receiving sickness benefit? Then you can receive guidance for a maximum of 6 months.

Together with your coach you shall look for a job. You will most likely run in to these subjects:

1. Applying for a vacancy
2. Networking
3. Social media and the internet as a tool for finding a job
4. Jobhunting. In other words: the actual process of finding a job that fits you as perfectly as possible.

Just like with “Fit for Work”, the guidance is personal and individual. You will work with the same coach for the duration of the process. Together, you will do what is required to increase the chances of finding a job as much as possible.

Sign up for a “To Work” process

2^nd track reintegration (in Dutch “Spoor2” or “tweede spoor”) is guidance at finding a fitting job with another employer.

As you would expect, this form of coaching focuses on what is best for you. You probably did not choose to be in the situation you have found yourself in. With your situation in mind, together with your coach, you are going to find a path towards a fitting solution. Your employer is periodically updated on the progress.

It is important for you, as an employee, to work together with your R3-coach to enlarge your chances of finding another job. If you are somehow unable to find another job, then it is very important that you can indicate that you have done enough to find that job (even though, sadly, that did not work out). This will grant you your right to a benefit.

The guidance you receive is always tailor-made and always personal.

Personal means that you have one coach throughout the whole process.

Tailor-made means that you will receive what you require to find a new, fitting job. Not everything is possible, of course, but there might be more options than you think. In general, these are the fases you go through in a process like this:

Firstly, your R3-coach and you formulate a “reintegration advice” (a plan of action, if you will). This advice will then be approved by you, and sent to your employer after you sign off on it.

After the draft of the reintegration advice the actual guidance starts. In general, one can break it down in 3 phases. The first is focused on your Personal Insights. Depending on your needs there is more or less time spent focused on this phase. After that, you move into a period of labor market exploration. Lastly you transition into labor market approach.

During these phases different tools can and will be used. You can imagine, for example, how tests could help you explore your interests, talents and skills.

There is also time spent on skills like networking, writing a job application and doing a job interview.

Because you are working to reintegrate, together we can determine if there needs to be any additional contact with your employer or your occupational physician.

We will also guide you if you reach the point where you will need to file for benefits with the UWV, 

Is this really necessary? Yes and no.

No, it is not.

But, not cooperating in the process of reintegration can have consequences. According to Dutch law, you (and your employer) have duties. The “punishment” on not cooperating for an employee could be: a stop in paying your wages until the moment you do, or not being entitled to benefits (because the UWV rules you have not been cooperative).

For the employer this “penalty” can mean that you are not entitled to a benefit and that the employer should continue to pay you your wage. As you now understand, these are perfect reasons to use your 2^nd track process for your own benefit and work towards enlarging the opportunity of a new, fitting job as much as possible.

We do this by working together, making agreements and keeping it up. Helping you with this process is our pleasure.

Do you prefer to discuss your situation on the phone?