ABSTRACT
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study advocates "mutual obligations" as a critical element in the design of disability policy. This concept should guide the design of the relationship between disabled citizens and the state as well as between employers and disabled employees. Stressing the responsibilities of the disabled is a new concept in Dutch disability legislation, which used to be biased towards income security as opposed to job security. The adequacy and sufficiency of the actions are tested by the Social Insurance Institute, when a disability claim is filed. Employees, who refuse to cooperate with reasonable efforts of employers to help them back to work, can be fired. An employment-oriented disability policy, based on mutual obligations between the disabled, employers and the State, requires disability and reintegration schemes that are consistent with that orientation. External conditions affect the disability behaviour of the impaired and of those parties that determine the employability of impaired workers.
