What can you do if an employer in Norway rejects a sick note?
You can get the first three days of sick pay without needing to contact a doctor, so long as you are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and have worked for your employer for two months or more.
If you come from an EU or EEA country, or if you are employed in Norway on a work permit, you will be a member automatically. If you are on secondment, however, you may find you are insured under your home country's scheme.
To apply for the first three days' sick pay, you need to send in a self-certification letter. There is no official form for this, so you need to contact your employer to find out whether they have an internal form you should use.
Employers are mandated under law to allow at least three days off sick under self-certification, and some offer more days.
If you are sick for longer than this, you will need to provide a doctor's note, which you can receive from the day you see your doctor, or if an appointment is not available, from the day you contact them on the phone.
You send the sick note to your employer by logging on to the
Ditt sykefravær
system on the website of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration and submitting it from there.
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When can your employer refuse a sick note?
Your employer can refuse an application for sick leave via self-certification if you have applied for sick leave more than four times in 12 months, or if they have reasons to suspect you are not actually ill.
Employers also have the right to refuse a sick note issued by a doctor if they suspect that you are abusing the system. Before they do this, they are supposed to raise any issues or suspicions with you first, so that you have the right to respond.
The rules empowering employers to do this are in place to prevent unscrupulous employees abusing the system.
What happens if your employer refuses a sick note?
If your employer refuses a sick note, payments are immediately stopped, meaning those affected can rapidly find themselves in a crisis situation.
Nav is theoretically responsible for providing sickness benefit during the employer's period if the employer refuses to pay, but this can take time to come through.
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What can you do if your employer refuses a note?
The first thing to do is
contact your employer
. Under law the employer is required to raise any issues with you before deciding to reject the note, but they do not always do this.
If they have not raised the issue, you may be able to clear up any misunderstandings and convince them to change their position and accept the note. Whether you succeed in this or not, you should demand a written explanation giving the grounds for refusal.
If the employer has not raised the issue with you, you should appeal to Nav immediately, citing their failure to follow procedure.
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The second thing you need to do is
understand the grounds for refusal
. Is your employer contesting the illness itself? Is it questioning whether the sick note is valid? Or is it justifying the refusal on other grounds?
Have you been working for the employer for the required four weeks to qualify for sick leave? Are they questioning whether the health professional who issued the note is qualified to do so? Have you provided enough information, for example, when your first day off sick was and how long you expect to be ill?
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The third thing you should do is
get help from your trade union
if you are a member. You can find information on contesting sick note refusal both on the
website of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
and on the information site it owns
FriFagbevegelse.no
.
If you contact your local trade union rep, they should also be able to offer you help appealing the refusal to Nav or contesting the refusal in an employment court if Nav is unable to resolve the situation.
The final thing to do is to
appeal to Nav
. You can appeal via Nav's website or submit an appeal in writing. You need to do this within six weeks of learning that your sick note has been disputed.
It is also important to immediately apply to Nav for it to cover payments during the period where the employer is refusing. Although this should theoretically happen automatically, it is a good idea to make an explicit demand for advance payment.
There is a useful example of an appeal letter and a list of all the details you need to include on the
FriFagbevegelse.no
website.
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What can you do if an employer in Norway rejects a sick note?
How do you apply for sick pay? You can get the first three days of sick pay without needing to contact a doctor, so long as you are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and have worked for your employer for two months or more. If you come from an EU or EEA country, or if you are employed in Norway on a work permit, you will be a member automatically. If you are on secondment, however, you may find you are insured under your home country's scheme. To apply for the first three days' sick pay, you need to send in a self-certification letter. There is no official form for this, so you need to contact your employer to find out whether they have an internal form you should use. Employers are mandated under law to allow at least three days off sick under self-certification, and some offer more days. If you are sick for longer than this, you will need to provide a doctor's note, which you can receive from the day you see your doctor, or if an appointment is not available, from the day you contact them on the phone. You send the sick note to your employer by logging on to the Ditt sykefravær system on the website of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration and submitting it from there. Advertisement When can your employer refuse a sick note? Your employer can refuse an application for sick leave via self-certification if you have applied for sick leave more than four times in 12 months, or if they have reasons to suspect you are not actually ill. Employers also have the right to refuse a sick note issued by a doctor if they suspect that you are abusing the system. Before they do this, they are supposed to raise any issues or suspicions with you first, so that you have the right to respond. The rules empowering employers to do this are in place to prevent unscrupulous employees abusing the system. What happens if your employer refuses a sick note? If your employer refuses a sick note, payments are immediately stopped, meaning those affected can rapidly find themselves in a crisis situation. Nav is theoretically responsible for providing sickness benefit during the employer's period if the employer refuses to pay, but this can take time to come through. Advertisement What can you do if your employer refuses a note? The first thing to do is contact your employer . Under law the employer is required to raise any issues with you before deciding to reject the note, but they do not always do this. If they have not raised the issue, you may be able to clear up any misunderstandings and convince them to change their position and accept the note. Whether you succeed in this or not, you should demand a written explanation giving the grounds for refusal. If the employer has not raised the issue with you, you should appeal to Nav immediately, citing their failure to follow procedure. Advertisement The second thing you need to do is understand the grounds for refusal . Is your employer contesting the illness itself? Is it questioning whether the sick note is valid? Or is it justifying the refusal on other grounds? Have you been working for the employer for the required four weeks to qualify for sick leave? Are they questioning whether the health professional who issued the note is qualified to do so? Have you provided enough information, for example, when your first day off sick was and how long you expect to be ill? Advertisement The third thing you should do is get help from your trade union if you are a member. You can find information on contesting sick note refusal both on the website of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and on the information site it owns . If you contact your local trade union rep, they should also be able to offer you help appealing the refusal to Nav or contesting the refusal in an employment court if Nav is unable to resolve the situation. The final thing to do is to appeal to Nav . You can appeal via Nav's website or submit an appeal in writing. You need to do this within six weeks of learning that your sick note has been disputed. It is also important to immediately apply to Nav for it to cover payments during the period where the employer is refusing. Although this should theoretically happen automatically, it is a good idea to make an explicit demand for advance payment. There is a useful example of an appeal letter and a list of all the details you need to include on the website.
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