Occupational rehabilitation – organised anarchy?

The NAV reform is the largest administrative reform which has ever been carried out in Norway. It saw the merging of the Labour Market Agency and the National Insurance Service, the introduction of mandatory partnerships with municipalities and NAV offices were established in all of Norway’s municipalities. The aim was to strengthen the assessment and follow-up of users, and to get more people into work and off benefits. Where there used to be three doors in, there would now be only one. The NAV reform was more than an organisational reform – it was also a content reform. The benefit system and regulations of labour market measures would be simplified for the users, and free up time for the administration to spend on assessment and follow-up work, focusing on individual plans tailored to individual users. New tools and work methods were also developed. Today NAV procure services worth nearly eight billion kroner (€1bn) annually.