As an employee in Norway, how do I claim sickness benefit?

Leni Aurora Brækhus

foreignworkers@lomedia.no

To be entitled to sickness benefit, all of the following points must apply to you:

• You are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance scheme.

• You are under 70 years of age.

• The reason that you are unable to work is that you are sick or injured.

• You had been in employment for at least four weeks before your sick leave started.

• Your sick leave will mean that you will lose at least 20 per cent of your income. This has to be income that you receive in the form of pay and that you pay tax on.

• Your income corresponds to at least 50 per cent of the basic National Insurance amount (1/2 G, which in 2021 is about NOK 53,200). This income threshold applies only after the period in which your employer covers your sick pay.

Are you a member of the National Insurance scheme?

If you are a citizen of an EU or EEA country and have a job with a Norwegian company, you automatically become a member of the Norwegian National Insurance scheme from the day you start work.

If your employer in your home country has posted you to Norway on an assignment with a duration of up to 24 months you will remain a member of the national insurance scheme in the country from which you were posted.

In order to qualify for sickness benefit, you must submit a self-certification notification or a sick note. It is important that you notify your employer as soon as possible, because your right to sickness benefit starts on the day that your employer is informed that you are sick.

Self-certification

Self-certification means that you notify your employer that you are sick – without submitting a sick note from a doctor or other health care provider.

In order to be able to use the self-certification option, you must have worked for your employer for a minimum of two months. According to the National Insurance Act, self-certification can be used for up to three calendar days at a time. Employers can choose to permit additional days of self-certification. Check the rules that apply at your workplace.

There is no standard form for self-certification. Ask your employer how you should go about submitting a self-certification notification.

Your employer may refuse to accept self-certification if you have used self-certification four times over the course of a 12-month period or if your employer has reasonable grounds for believing that your absence is not due to illness.

Article in Polish: Jak otrzymać zasiłek chorobowy pracując w Norwegii?

Article in Lithuanian: Kaip darbuotojui gauti ligos išmoką Norvegijoje?

Sick note

If you are ill for longer than the permitted period of self-certification you will need to get a sick note from a doctor or other health care provider. A chiropractor or manual therapist can sign you off on sick leave for up to 12 weeks if you are unable to work because of musculoskeletal conditions.

Normally, the earliest time that the sick note can be issued is the day on which you see your doctor or health care provider. If you are not able to get an appointment for the same day, the day on which you speak to the health care provider on the telephone may be accepted as the starting date for the sick note, provided that you see the health care provider within a few days after the telephone conversation.

If you are on sick leave from more than one job, you will need a sick note for each of them. Your sickness benefit will be calculated on the basis of your total income.

To be entitled to sickness benefit you must try to perform activities related to your work at the earliest possible time. You can perform some of your normal tasks or you can take part in other work at your workplace. The general rule is that you are required to perform such activities within eight weeks.

You may combine sick leave and work if your condition allows you to do so and this is possible in practice at your workplace. You may also return to work before your sick leave is over. If so, you must reach an agreement with your employer.

If you are thinking of travelling while you are on sick leave, you should first familiarise yourself with the applicable rules.

Related article: Foreign workers are more prone to workplace injuries: Here's what you need to remember if you are in a work accident

How much sickness benefit are you entitled to?

Your employer will pay sick pay for the first 16 calendar days starting from (and including) your first day of absence due to illness. This is known as the employer’s period.

If you receive sickness benefit from NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) an upper limit of six times the basic amount (or G, as it is called) of the National Insurance scheme will apply (6G is about NOK 638,000 in 2021). NAV will determine the sickness benefit basis that will apply (a maximum of 6G) by looking at your current monthly income and converting it to an annual income. Some employers will pay sickness pay that is equal to full pay. Check the rules that apply at your workplace.

If your employer does not accept your sick note you can apply to NAV for sickness benefit during the employer’s period.

In the case of partial (graded) sick leave you are entitled to sickness benefit for the period in which you are sick. If your sick leave is the result of an occupational injury that is accepted by NAV, you may also be able to claim other rights.

Some collective agreements give employees more favourable sickness benefits than those contained in the National Insurance Act.

How long can you keep receiving sickness benefit?

You can receive sickness benefit for a maximum of 52 weeks, irrespective of whether you are on full or partial sick leave. If fewer than 26 weeks pass between different periods of sick leave, your periods of sick leave going back three years will be added together. If you have reached the maximum limit the general rule is that 26 weeks must pass without sickness benefit or work assessment allowance before you qualify for further payments of sickness benefit.

Other rules apply to employees aged between 67 and 70.

If you are still unable to work after receiving sickness benefit for 52 weeks, you may be entitled to work assessment allowance (AAP) or disability benefit (uføretrygd).

Follow our Facebook page: FriFagbevegelse for foreign workers

How do you apply and when will the sickness benefit be paid out?

Start by submitting your sick note to your employer. Log into Ditt sykefravær on nav.no and send the sick note from there. When the period covered by the sick note is over, apply to NAV for sickness benefit. You will receive a notification when it is ready to be filled in on Ditt sykefravær.

If NAV processes and grants your application before the 20th day of the month, the money will be paid out by the 25th day of the same month.

If your sick note is for longer than 31 days, it will automatically be divided up. This means that you can submit an application for sickness benefit before the full period of sick leave is over.

Some employers pay their employees sickness benefit in advance and are then reimbursed by NAV. Even so, you still have to apply to NAV for sickness benefit, unless your employer applies on your behalf. Check the rules that apply at your workplace.

Other rules apply to sick notes and sickness benefit for the self-employed and freelancers.

Sources: NAV, Workinnorway.no

Translated by Robert Lovering.