Major errors made by UWV on WIA benefits
Many people who are unfit for work received too much or too little in benefits payments for years because mistakes were made in calculating the wages on which those benefits were based. On BNR Nieuwsradio, Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, says he doesn’t quite understand how the UWV could have got things so wrong with the WIA benefits.
The rules are complex, there are staff shortages and in some cases, it’s only about small amounts of money. But, as Professor Barentsen says, the fact that the problem has been going on for some years now is not good. And especially as it affects such a vulnerable group.
Professor Barentsen doesn’t expect the same kind of fallout as the Dutch childcare benefits scandal. The UWV has already said that overpayments will not be reclaimed. ‘In that sense, they’re already exercising greater caution,’ he says. Receiving lower benefits than people are entitled to has left them shortchanged, but it’s unlikely to have severely impacted their lives, as with the childcare benefits scandal. Unfortunately, the recovery operation will still be complicated.
More information
Listen to the BNR Nieuwsradio clip (in Dutch, from 02.16.53)
Photo: Lukasz Radziejewski through Unsplash