Interinstitutional cooperation (IIZ) means a coordinated approach towards helping the people affected. The cooperation of all the involved institutions from the areas of social security, integration and training aims to prevent the affected people being excluded from their working and social lives. Coordination between the different insurance offices is especially important for people who are registered at two or more institutions. This is because job seekers who are registered at more than one institution are in principle harder to place in a job. They run the risk of being shunted backwards and forwards within the insurance system. To prevent this, in recent years IIZ projects have been launched aimed at boosting cooperation between disability insurance, social services and unemployment insurance, which will enable a coordinated approach for reintegration in the workforce. Depending on the model in the cantons, the training, vocational and career guidance offices as well as the migration authorities are also IIZ partners.
Interinstitutional cooperation is currently defined as follows:
IIZ refers to the cooperation of two or more institutions in the area of social security, integration and training (unemployment insurance, disability insurance, social assistance, vocational training and foreigner integration) with the overall aim of improving the chances of reintegrating people into their primary labour markets and optimally reconciling the various systems with each other. It should be possible to implement the measures and offerings of the enforcement bodies in a more effective and efficient manner – all in the interests of the people receiving assistance and the targeted use of government funds. The goals of the individual institutions, in particular the training and work integration units, should be supported with the assistance of the IIZ.
A system-wide, networked way of thinking and acting must be embedded within the individual institutions and developed on an ongoing basis.