Employers, labour organizations and the government still don’t agree on whether Norway’s generous sick pay benefits may influence the country’s high rate of sick leave. They ended up putting off further debate, just before spring labour negotiations begin.
All those involved in the debate have quarreled for months, if not years, with the labour organizations flatly refusing to discuss any adjustments to the current system that still gives workers full pay from the first day of any illness or injury. Employers organization NHO didn’t want to preserve the full-pay rule beyond another 18 months but is widely viewed as having lost after LO responded by breaking off further negotiations.
The two sides, with the government stuck in the middle, finally emerged last week with a truce of sorts. Labour Minister Tonje Brenna of the Labour Party announced a new so-called IA-avtale, an agreement on inclusive worklife, that also includes what she called “stronger methods” for reducing absenteeism.
Sick leave rose 17.5 percent between 2018 and 2023, and new efforts will be made to find the reasons for that apart from the Corona crisis. Then the employers and labour organizations will seek a new agreement on sick pay rules in 2027 and 2028, ahead of the national election in 2029. Current rules providing full sick pay will be preserved throughout the next four-year parliamentary period that begins in October.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
