The numbers of Norwegians out on sick leave have reached their highest level in 15 years, according to new numbers from state statistics bureau SSB. Politicians and other state officials bemoan both the resulting lack of productivity and its costs for the social welfare state, but they’re often included in the numbers themselves and thus part of the problem.
In the past week alone, three top politicians have all been on, or gone out on sick leave. They include the former leader and now a deputy leader of Norway’s crisis-ridden Christian Democrats Party (KrF) and the mayor of Stavanger, who was found to have used one of her Conservative Party’s credit cards to pay for various personal expenses. Right after admitting on Tuesday to what she called a “mistake” and resigning as mayor, Sissel Knutsen Hegdal went out on sick leave.
That’s a typical reaction in Norway, used countless times not only by politicians but also public officials and others who get into trouble. In the case of KrF, its leader Olaug Bollestad had already been out on sick leave since June when she resigned as party leader last month. Her leave was recently extended to run through September and on Wednesday Bollestad wrote on social media that she would not run for re-election to Parliament next year. She insisted her decision was not tied to her troubles within the party or any lack of engagement or faith in KrF politics, rather on “the signals” she’s recently received.
State broadcaster NRK also reported that one of KrF’s two deputy leaders, Ida Lindtveit Røse, is now on sick leave at least until September 15 after a difficult time both within the party but also at home: Røse’s husband, a former local leader for KrF himself, has been charged by police with sexually invasive behaviour for mounting a hidden camera inside the bathroom of an apartment he was sharing with another politician, two colleagues and a Dagens Næringsliv (DN) journalist during the political festival known as Arendalsuka last month.
The journalist discovered the so-called “spy camera” and quickly reported it to police along others sharing the apartment because of a lack of hotel rooms in Arendal. Police ransacked the Røses’ home and seized more than 1,000 other video files dating back several years, just as the defendant’s spouse was caught in a marathon KrF meeting that resulted in Bollestad’s resignation.
Ida Lindtveit Røse wrote in a statement to DN earlier this week that her husband’s actions came as a shock to her and are both “serious and, for me, incomprehensible.” She wrote that “my husband’s actions have nothing to do with my position and work as a politician,” but the “demanding” nature of the case resulted in sick leave. Røse is also a local politician in Akershus County. Her husband has apologized for his offenses, claims he will cooperate with police and expressed shame before going off on sick leave himself.
Sick leave debate rises
There’s an old saying that “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” When the going gets tough in Norway, Norwegians often go on sick leave. SSB (Statistics Norway) reported on Thursday that fully 7.1 percent of the Norwegian workforce were on paid sick leave from April to June this year. That resulted in a loss of 10.6 million workdays, with the absentee rate higher than during the pandemic and at its highest level since the swine flu epicemic in 2009.
Of the 7.1 percent out on sick leave during the spring quarter, 1.1 percent had called in sick themselves while doctors had authorized 6 percent. Norwegian employees can currently call in sick and be out for three days at full pay. After that they need a doctor to approve sick leave for a period deemed medically necessary. Employers and those who are self-employed must cover costs of the first 16 days of illness, after which the state can take over.
Sick leave has become a major issue of debate, with employers’ organizations claiming the rules around it are too lenient, sole proprietors complaining they’re too strict and employees still not having to worry about any immediate loss of salary. Labour union officials strongly defend paid sick leave from the first day and don’t want any changes (“You won’t get well any faster if you’re poorer,” said the head of trade union federation LO last week) but even the Labour Party-led government admits sick leave is a problem.
SSB’s figures show that doctors have contributed the most to the numbers of Norwegians now out on long-term sick leave. The nature of the sickness, moreover, is often more psychological than physical, ranging from worker burnout to those going through a difficult time at work or at home.
Tonje Køber, chief of the section at SSB that compiled the new figures, noted that the numbers of employees calling in short-term sick leave themselves rose 20.8 percent. She confirmed, however, that “it was the doctor-authorized sick leave that contributed the most to the increase.” It was also the long-term sick leave that increased the most.
Dr Marit Hermansen, chief of the medical review section at state welfare agency NAV, is calling for dramatic changes in how sick leave is granted. She notes that there’s more sick leave among women than men, with 9 percent of all working women out sick compared to 5.43 percent for men. That’s the highest absentee rate for women in 20 years.
Hermansen said much of the sick leave for women can be tied to pregnancy, biology and a higher risk for both serious illness, along with anxiety or depression. She told NRK that there’s a steady increase in sick leave based on “mild psychological ailments” that are “very much tied” to events in their lives.
“There are young people who face things in life that give them a stress reaction, leave them with difficulty sleeping and that they don’t think they can manage to do everything they should,” Hermansen said. “We’ve had a pandemic, during which attitudes towards sick leave may have changed. At the same time many people have economic concerns and there’s debate around social media and what’s demanded of us as people.”
It may have become too easy to go out on sick leave, with Hermansen calling some doctors’ decisions to authorize sick leave “misunderstood care.” She claims studies have shown that going to work as usual “can in fact be good treatment.” Structure in daily life and support from colleagues can be very valuable, Hermansen said, “and those out on sick leave may themselves think that going to work can be good for them.” It would also save employers and the state lots of money.
Employers, at the same time, must make allowances for those with various illnesses or problem, Hermansen said, and doctors need better “tools” for having good conversations with those they’ve put on sick leave.
Asked if it’s simply easier for those in trouble to stay home, Hermansen compared authorizing sick leave to prescribing an antibiotic: “You must order the right dose and understand that it isn’t always better.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
