Caring allowance

Care allowance is income compensation that you can receive if your child is hospitalized or is so ill that you have to be away from work to care for and look after your child at home, or if the child, for example, has to wait to start kindergarten due to illness, you have to be on standby or you are on night duty for your own child. This applies to both somatic and mental illness. We have collected necessary information and important clarifications about the care allowance regulations, and common questions we often get, in this letter. First some definitions:

• • G = Folketrygden's basic amount

• • Supervision arrangement = kindergarten, school, institution/respite care, or other day care

• • Grading/graded care allowance = reduced care allowance

• • 1 day care allowance = 7.5 hours = 20 % (NAV does not take into account the journey to and from work)

• • 1 week care allowance = 37.5 hours = 100 %

Who can get?

• • You have care for the child during the period you are applying for (this means that you have day-to-day care for the child)

• • Barnet ditt har vært til behandling eller utredning på sykehus eller annen spesialisthelsetjenesteeller

• • You are with the child while he is hospitalized, or you are at home because the child needs care for part or all of the time

• • Barnet er ikke i en tilsynsordning grunnet sykdom/funksjonshindringeller

• • Barnet er i en tilsynsordning 30 timer eller mindre per uke (du kan likevel ha rett på 100% pleiepenger dersom du må være i beredskap eller har nattevåk)

• • You have been in work for at least 4 weeks before applying for care allowance

• • Daily allowance, sickness allowance, pregnancy allowance, parental allowance, care allowance, training allowance and care allowance are also considered income

• • You must have at least 20% loss of income while caring for the child

• • Your income is at least half of National Insurance basic amount. The basic amount (G) which is adjusted on May 1st each year

When can you get it?

• • du må være borte fra jobb fordi du må være med et barn som har blitt sykteller

• • du må være borte fra jobb fordi du må være med et barn som er under utredning for sykdomog

• • who also needs your care and nurturing part or all of the time

Both somatic (physical) and mental illness can give you the right to care allowance. Long-term illness also entitles you to care allowance, unlike before, and the seriousness requirement is not as strict as it was under the old scheme (before 2017). Both parents may be entitled to care allowance when the child's care needs so require and this is documented by a doctor. This applies, for example, to also when you have given birth prematurely and the child no longer needs breathing support, but is still hospitalized. Or if the child has such great supervision and care needs in connection with his illness/functional variation that there is a need for two adults to look after and monitor the child. This may also apply if the child is mainly at home. In case of short illness periods of only a few days, e.g. in the case of a respiratory infection or vomiting, care days must be used (also called "sick child days"). It is possible to get extra care days when you have a child with a chronic and/or long-term illness/functional variation. Read more about it here. Children have a statutory right to have at least one parent with them in hospital, so shorter stays will also qualify for care allowance.

When can you not get? 

• Self-selected delayed start in bhg.
• Self-selected shorter days in daycare/school
• Self-chosen homeschooling
• Self-selected unused after-school care 1st-4th grade
• Own illness/illness
• Practical follow-up such as meetings, ordering medication, writing applications, shopping for food, preparing tube feedings, collecting medication and equipment, etc.
• Taking care of healthy siblings when a child is hospitalized
• Lost income in the form of travel time to and from work
• Holiday

The requirement for continuous supervision and care

For å få pleiepenger må barnet ha behov for kontinuerlig tilsyn og pleie. Det betyr:

• The child cannot be left to himself for long periods of time.
• Parents' presence must be necessary for a large part of the time due to the illness.

Important clarification:

• The need doesn't have to be around the clock.
• It may be enough that the child needs supervision throughout the day, but not at night.
• There may also be periods or individual days where the need is great (for example, during assessment/treatment).

Men, dersom behovet kun er situasjonsbetinget, er ikke vilkåret oppfylt. Eksempel på sitasjonsbetinget tilsyn/pleie kan være hjelp til måltider, korte episoder med støtte eller vanlig oppfølging som mange foreldre gir friske barn. I rundskriv r00-09 under bestemmelsen «"The child's need for continuous supervision and care"», the following is stated: «"When the need for supervision and care is situational, the condition is not met. This could, for example, be when the child only needs help eating breakfast or other meals."»  The Social Security Court has been clear that:

• it must be documented specifically What the child needs help with, how often and why.
• preparedness alone (being "nearby" or available) is not necessarily enough.

How to apply?

Most people can apply for care allowance digitally. If this is your first time applying, your employer must submit income information to NAV. Otherwise, you will need a medical certificate signed by a doctor describing the child's care needs and illness, regardless of whether it is the first time or an extension. The medical certificate does not need to be filled out directly in the care allowance form. A regular medical certificate in "letter form" is also fine. You can simply take a picture of this and upload it as an attachment to the digital application. In addition, you will need the child's national identity number and personal details, the period for which care allowance is being applied for, and a bank ID to log in to nav.no if you are applying digitally. Only a doctor at a hospital/doctor in the specialist health service can write a certificate and sign an application for nursing care benefits. NAV decides whether you are entitled to care allowance or not. NAV also decides how long you will receive care allowance. The time period that the doctor is asked to state in the medical certificate regarding care allowance is about how long the doctor believes the medical certificate can be considered valid for – that is, how far into the future the doctor «can vouch for» the information in the medical certificate. The doctor must state the diagnosis/illness/injury, describe your child's need for care and supervision, the extent of this, whether there is a need for one or two adults, a need for preparedness or night vigil, possibly whether the illness/injury is permanent or progressive, or a possible advice not to go to nursery school/school. You can also apply on a paper form, but we recommend applying digitally as long as it is possible for you. As a rule, this takes less time. You will find a digital care allowance application here.

Can't get a doctor's note

Some people may find that the doctor believes that they are not entitled to care allowance or refuses to write a medical certificate for care allowance. Doctors do not decide whether or not they are entitled to care allowance, and doctors do not have the right to refuse a medical certificate. This is stated in the National Insurance Act. Section 21-4, second paragraph, first sentence – Obligation of healthcare personnel to provide declarations and statements in return for remuneration

«"It follows from the National Insurance Act, Section 21-4, second paragraph, first sentence, that health personnel are obliged, upon request from the Labour and Welfare Administration, the Directorate of Health or the body determined by the Directorate of Health, to examine or interview a patient and provide the declarations and statements that are necessary to assess rights and obligations under the National Insurance Act. The obligation to provide declarations and statements includes both public and private healthcare personnel."»

Note that you do not have the opportunity to decide what which should be included in the medical certificate. It is up to the doctor to provide the information about the child that the doctor can vouch for as being professionally and medically correct in the doctor's own judgment. A medical certificate should always be objective.

What can you do? The Lion Mothers have prepared templates for written requests for medical certificates, as well as templates for complaints about missing medical certificates. As member in Løvemammaene, you get access to these in our closed intranet (membership system), which is called Spark.

Children who have been discharged

As a consequence of two rulings from the Social Security Court that came at the end of 2025, NAV has tightened the requirement that the medical certificate requires that the child is under treatment in the specialist health service.

The wording of the law in Section 9-16 of the National Insurance Act regarding the requirement for a medical certificate reads as follows:

«"It is after Section 9-16 requirement that the child has been to specialist health services. This limits the child's illness to more minor conditions.» Denne paragrafen sier ikke noe om hvorvidt barnet må ha vært eller er under behandling av lege i spesialisthelsetjenesten, men det har det hele tiden vært en forutsetning at barnet må være under oppfølging av spesialisthelsetjenesten for rett til pleiepenger, ifølge NAV/departementet. Dette går frem av forarbeidende til loven, hvor det heter at kravet om legeerklæring forutsetter at spesialisthelsetjenesten må være involvert i behandlingen av barnet. For å vurdere om barnet fyller vilkårene for pleiepenger (særlig over en lang periode) er det nødvendig at legen i spesialisthelsetjenesten faktisk er involvert i behandlingen, og kan gi en objektiv og oppdatert legeerklæring. Når behandlingen er avsluttet og/eller legen hverken har sett eller behandlet barnet på lang tid, vil ikke legeerklæringen inneholde oppdaterte og objektive opplysninger om barnets sykdom, og legeerklæringen vil miste sin bevisverdi. Med andre ord: Legeerklæringen må være oppdatert, bygge på faktisk kjennskap til barnet og konkret beskrive det current the need for supervision and care.

Unpaid leave

In principle, you do not need to apply for unpaid leave in connection with your application for care allowance, but your employer may require documentation. It is sufficient to notify your employer that you will be absent from work due to a sick child. Absence due to a child's need for supervision/illness, whether it is "sick child days", childcare benefits or absence without pay, is in any case legal/valid absence and is called "statutory leave" in the legislation. The statutory right to leave is absolute, and employers cannot deny an employee absence from work in this connection. This is stated in Section 12-9 of the Working Environment Act. Therefore, the employer must also take such a notification of statutory leave (i.e. absence due to a sick child) from the employee as a notification/information. In any case, it is not dangerous to apply for unpaid leave in connection with a sick child/care allowance if the employer insists on this. As long as the leave is based on Section 12-9 of the Working Environment Act, it will not affect your other employee or social security rights. You must not apply for unpaid leave or resign on any grounds other than the statutory right to leave due to a child's illness. You risk losing your income and rights. Days of absence due to a sick child (including childcare benefits) are valid reasons for absence from work. As long as the basis for the leave is based on Section 12-9 of the Working Environment Act, and/or you receive childcare benefits from NAV, your employer cannot require you to apply for leave for other reasons. Your employer cannot require you to resign or resign when you receive childcare benefits. Read more about this here. Contact your company's employee representative if your employer tries to pressure you to take unpaid leave on grounds other than Section 12-9, or seek help with us in Løvemammaene.

Graduated care allowance

You can receive graded childcare allowance if you are able to work for some time while the child is in supervision for part of the week, but not for the whole week. The number of hours the child is supervised by others is usually added up on a weekly basis. For example: If the child is in nursery school 2 out of 5 days a week, you will be entitled to 60% childcare allowance. But the number of hours can also be added up on a monthly basis, if the child's illness/supervision needs are very variable. For example: If the child has a chronic lung disease which causes the child to be absent for 1 week and then to be at school for 1 week, and then to have 2 more weeks of absence, before a new healthy period, then you will be able to calculate an average absence percentage and apply for care allowance for this. Here you may have to document your absence through a certificate/absence report from a nursery school/school if NAV requires it, but then you will be notified by NAV about this. Need to increase the care allowance in the middle of the care allowance period? If you have graduated care benefits, but need to increase the percentage slightly or up to 100 %, you can easily do so by sending a message about the need for change in "your nav". Explain why the need has increased, for which period you need increased care benefits and by how many percent. You usually do not need to submit a new care benefit application or obtain a new medical certificate for this, but you are still welcome to write a short note to NAV asking them to contact you or obtain more information if they need it. Can the employer decide when I should use the graduated care allowance?  No. The right to leave due to a sick child (i.e., the right to legal absence) is absolute, and the employer cannot refuse such leave. This is stated in Section 12-9 of the Norwegian Working Environment Act (AML). It implicitly follows that the employer cannot decide when you must be away from work to take care of your child.

Exceptions to the grading rules

You can get 100% care allowance even if the child is supervised by others during the day if:

• • the child is only sporadically/irregularly in the supervision arrangement.

• • You are awake a lot at night/night watch for your own child and need the time the child is in a supervised arrangement to sleep/rest.

• • you are on standby while the child is in a supervision arrangement (e.g. if the child is in a palliative course, or may become acutely/life-threateningly ill in a very short time).

Dette må i så fall komme tydelig fram i legeerklæringen. Merk at:

• The need for night waking may vary from night to night, but the need must be both regularly and of such an extent that it is not compatible with being at work. The grading is made based on the probable need. It is the child's medical condition that is emphasized in the assessment. The child's age alone is therefore not important.
• In some cases, various forms of welfare technology (e.g. camera, alarm, door lock, etc.) can provide relief at night and thus relieve the caregiver of the need for night vigils. If you use this, you must inform NAV. Use of welfare technology can be emphasized when grading care benefits.
• When assessing the grading based on readiness, emphasis must be placed on which incidents may occur if the caregiver is not prepared, and how likely they are. and frequent it is that they arise.

If in doubt about the need for night vigilance and emergency preparedness, NAV may request information from the caregiver. The information from the caregiver will be given priority. to the extent that they are consistent with the other information in the case. This means that the information provided to NAV must be substantiated/confirmed by the medical information from the doctor, and possibly other documentation. For example: If you believe that you have night wakings due to unstable blood sugar, a doctor's certificate or any printout of measurements must actually show this. Or, if you believe that the child has unstable oxygen saturation or another function that can acutely fail/deteriorate, and which requires immediate proximity from parents, then the doctor's certificate must also say something about this and/or it must be confirmed from the employer/school/job that parents frequently "call out" and are absent in connection with such incidents.

Salary increase

Dersom man er på pleiepenger over lenger tid og utbetalingen gjøres direkte fra NAV, vil man ikke automatisk få lønnsøkning. Det er bestemmelsen i Folketrygdlovens § 9-15 andre ledd som avgjør når det skal fastsettes et nytt inntektsgrunnlag (inntekstberegning) Hovedregelen er at det skal være et opphold på minst 4 uker for at det kan fastsettes nytt inntektsgrunnlag. Bestemmelsen i ftrl. 9-15 annet ledd siste setning, gir unntak for at oppholdet må vare i minst 4 uker for ny beregning, dersom du har fått endret inntekt. Det er altså fortsatt et krav om opphold, men det kan være under 4 uker dersom vedkommende har fått ny inntekt. Dette gjelder både når stønadsmottakerens inntekt blir lavere eller høyere. Det er ikke gitt noen nedre grense for hvor lenge oppholdet må være, men det er en forutsetning at oppholdet er reelt – dvs. at mottaker faktisk har begynt å jobbe og fått en reell endret inntekt for at de skal få et nytt inntektsgrunnlag.

To receive a salary increase, you must also:

• Ending the care allowance period
• Work
• Reapply for care benefits (new application, new period)
• The employer must submit a new income report.
• If the medical certificate you used previously is still valid, it can be used again in a new application.

NB! For those who receive advance care benefits from their employer (i.e. salary paid as usual), this does not apply. However, please note that the employer is free to only pay out what they receive as a refund from NAV in both salary and holiday pay.

Otherwise, see the attached letter from NAV below.

Track target-about-calculation-of-care-money-when-new-determination-of-income

Can I increase my salary in the part of my job that I am in when I receive graduated care benefits? 

The cut-off date for the income calculation is always the one that applies. This means that as long as you have consecutive care benefit periods (i.e. no breaks between care benefit periods), the income calculation will remain the same as the calculation made when the first care benefit period was granted, even if you increase your salary along the way. This also means that if you have consecutive care benefit periods and work in a graded manner, you will risk deductions from care benefit/return requirements for everything you earn above the income calculation determined at the cut-off date.

Can I work extra hours when I receive care benefits? 

No, not without having your care allowance payment reduced accordingly. If you do not notify NAV of your extra job/income, and NAV does not record your extra income from the unemployment register, you risk being required to repay it at a later date. In the worst case, you could risk prosecution/penalty if the amount you have been paid is too much. exceeds a certain size.

Changing jobs

Du kan fint bytte jobb mens du mottar pleiepenger. Merk også her at det til enhver tid er det såkalte skjæringstidspunktet for inntektsberegningen som er gjeldende. Det vil si at så lenge du har sammenhengende pleiepengeperioder, så vil inntektsberegningen forbli den samme som ved beregningen gjort ved innvilgelse av pleiepenger i første periode, selv om du gjerne går opp i lønn i ny jobb. Det betyr også at dersom du har sammenhengende pleiepengeperioder og f.eks. begynner å jobbe gradert i ny jobb, så vil du risikere trekk i pleiepenger/tilbakemeldingskrav for alt du tjener over inntektsberegningen fastsatt ved skjæringstidspunktet. For å få ny inntektsberegning, se avsnitt om lønnsøkning over. NB! For dere som får forskuttert pleiepenger fra arbeidsgiver (altså utbetalt lønn som vanlig), gjelder ikke dette. Men, merk at arbeidsgiver står fritt til kun å utbetale det de får refundert fra NAV i både lønn og feriepenger.  

Resignation

Når du er i permisjon etter § 12-9, er arbeidsavtalen fortsatt gjeldende, og du har både rett og plikt til å gjenoppta arbeidet når permisjonen er over. Hvis du tilbys en annen stilling med vesentlige endringer, må arbeidsgiver eventuelt bruke endringsoppsigelse. Du mister ikke automatisk pleiepenger selv om arbeidsforholdet opphører, så fremt man ikke selv avslutter pleiepengene. Pleiepenger i seg selv er en såkalt pensionable income, dvs. at pleiepenger kan brukes som inntektsgrunnlag for pleiepenger (og en del andre trygdeytelser fra NAV). Dersom du har blitt oppsagt og det er behov for å forlenge pleiepengene etter nåværende pleiepengeperiode, kan du bruke pleiepengeinntekten du har nå som inntektsgrunnlag for ny periode. Da er det bare viktig at disse periodene løper sammenhengende. Altså at du ikke har opphold mellom nåværende periode og neste periode – ikke en gang så mye som én dag. Opphold i inntekt vil nemlig kunne medføre at du ikke lenger oppfyller vilkåret om pensjonsgivende inntekt umiddelbart de siste 4 ukene før pleiepengeperioden.   Unlawful dismissal The requirement for objective reasons for dismissal is regulated in the Working Environment Act, Section 15-7: «"An employee cannot be dismissed without objective reasons in the circumstances of the business, employer or employee."» En oppsigelse som utelukkende er begrunnet med at du har permisjon (lovlig fravær) pga. sykt barn, vil derfor være i strid med både arbeidsmiljøloven og grunnleggende prinsipper om vern mot diskriminering. Permisjonen er likevel ikke et absolutt vern mot oppsigelse. Arbeidsgiver kan for eksempel gjennomføre en saklig begrunnet nedbemanning som også rammer en arbeidstaker i permisjon.  

Daily allowance

Merk at pleiepenger alene ikke gir rett til dagpenger. NAV ser først og fremst etter om du har hatt nok ordinær arbeidsinntekt (vanlig lønn) innenfor den 36 måneders perioden som de ser tilbake på for å vurdere retten din til dagpenger. Hvis du har tjent nok i vanlig lønn til å ha rett på dagpenger, kan pleiepengene telle med når NAV skal regne ut hvor mye du skal få i dagpenger.

Care allowance affects

Omsorgsstønad påvirker pleiepengene. Omsorgsstønad defineres som pensjonsgivende inntekt og tas med i NAVs vurdering av arbeidsevne, noe som igjen betyr en tilsvarende avkorting i pleiepengene. Fra 1. januar 2025 vil everyone søknader om pleiepenger vurderes etter «ny praksis», der omsorgsstønad og/eller fosterhjemsgodtgjørelse vil medregnes i vurderingen av arbeidsevne når retten til pleiepenger/inntektsgrunnlag skal vurderes. Løvemammaene har bedt departementet om en redegjørelse for gjeldende praksis, og dere finner svaret på dette nederst i dette skrivet. Furthermore, we have considered which solutions can be relevant. Note that this is not legal advice, but considerations we have made based on the recent legal interpretation from the ministry.

• • Dere kan undersøke om det er mulig å flytte omsorgsstønaden over på partner, dersom dere har en, og dersom partner ikke mottar pleiepenger eller annen trygd og faktisk utfører særlig tyngende omsorgs- og pleieoppgaver.

• • If you have an income below 6G and it is not possible to transfer the care benefit to your partner, you can consider whether you should include the care benefit in the calculation of the income basis for care benefits (since the Ministry has defined care benefits as pensionable income), and thus cancel the benefit with the municipality. In this way, the care benefits will not be reduced and you will "keep" the care benefit, only that it will then be baked into the care benefits (up to 6G). Then note other requirements for a new income calculation below salary increase, and any risks this entails.

• • If you have an income above 6G, it is not possible to transfer the care benefit to your partner and it is NAV that pays the care benefit, then you should consider whether you will incur a double loss. Because you will not only lose the salary that exceeds 6G, as 6G is the maximum that NAV covers, but you will also risk that the care benefit will be further reduced than what you receive in care benefit. Perhaps you can enter into a dialogue and hear whether the employer can advance the care benefit.

• • If the care allowance is advanced by the employer in its entirety, regardless of G, then the care allowance will generally not affect this, unless the employer stops advancing, or chooses to only advance the amount they receive as a refund from NAV.

Birth before week 33

In the case of birth before the 33rd week of pregnancy, the parental benefit period is extended by the number of days from the date of birth up to and including the day before the due date. If you have parental allowance when the child is born prematurely, and you do not apply for care allowance, you get the same period. However, even if you have parental allowance, it may be important to apply for care allowance because:

• • If you have an 80 % coverage rate in parental allowance, and you apply for care allowance, you will receive 100 % care allowance.

• • If you have parental allowance and you apply for care allowance, this may result in you getting more holiday allowance for next year. It depends on how long you have care allowance. You can earn holiday pay from up to 12/15 weeks of parental pay (depending on coverage level) plus up to 12 weeks of care pay for each calendar year.

Parental leave

When the child is admitted to hospital, you can receive care allowance until the child is discharged from hospital and parental allowance starts. If you already have parental allowance, it is generally deferred for as long as the child is admitted. You do not need to apply to postpone the parental allowance. They continue automatically when the period of care allowance is over. If the child receives treatment and follow-up in home hospital, the child is also considered admitted. This also applies to home visits by the Neonatal Department's ambulatory nursing service (NAST). If the need for care allowance is still present after discharge from hospital/home hospital/NAST, you can postpone the parental leave accordingly. You do not need to apply for it, and the parental allowance then starts automatically when the care allowance period ends. But - please note that the parental leave must be used up before the child is 3 years old. It is also important to be aware that there are different rules regarding postponement of parental leave, depending on whether your child was born before or after the new scheme came into force. For children born on or before 30 September 2021: If you receive care allowance, you will not get these parental allowance days again later. For children born on or after 1 October 2021: If you receive care allowance, you do not need to apply for a postponement of your parental allowance. They start automatically when the care allowance period ends. Read more about parental leave here.

Holiday

Vacation money The holiday pay you get each year is calculated based on the salary in the year of earnings, i.e. the previous year. When you receive care allowance directly from NAV, you will be paid 10.2 % holiday allowance for the first 12 weeks of the care allowance period last year. The holiday pay from NAV is usually paid out in the middle/end of May. If you are paid a salary directly by the employer (where the employer receives childcare allowance reimbursed by NAV), it is up to the employer whether they want to pay full holiday pay or only the holiday pay they are reimbursed by NAV. Normally, most people receive 12 % of their salary from the previous year when they are in work, but this cannot be claimed even if the employer advances. The following is stated on the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority's website: "Many employers advance parental benefits or sickness benefits to employees and get them reimbursed by NAV. This in itself does not oblige the employer to pay holiday pay of the full amount. In order to receive holiday pay of the full amount, a separate agreement must have been entered into, for example through collective agreement.” It is therefore recommended to check what the collective agreement at your workplace says about holiday pay, if you have this. Holiday settlement Ferieloven er streng og sier at arbeidsgiver er pliktig til å sørge for at arbeidstaker tar ut lovpålagt ferie. Arbeidsgiver kan få problemer om hen ikke følger opp denne plikten og i verste fall bli erstatningspliktig. Man kan ikke erstatte uttak av lovfestet ferie med pleiepenger. Arbeidsgiver kan altså pålegge deg å ta ut lovpålagt ferie. Lovpålagt ferie er 4 uker + 1 dag (25 virkedager). Arbeidsgiver kan ikke pålegge deg å ta ut mer enn det. Arbeidsgiver kan også pålegge deg å avvikle ferie dersom virksomheten stanser driften helt eller delvis i forbindelse med ferieavvikling, for eksempel under fellesferien. Arbeidsgiver har siste ord i saken hvis arbeidsgiver og du som arbeidstaker ikke blir enige. Postpone vacation All employees can enter into an agreement with their employer to transfer 2 weeks (12 days) of statutory holiday to the next year, according to Section 7 of the Holiday Act. It is the employer who decides whether it is okay for you to transfer these 12 days. Transferring holiday beyond this cannot be agreed. Refuse vacation

At the Labour Inspectorate's pages reads as follows: «You can refuse to take vacation if the vacation pay you have earned with your current and/or previous employer does not cover the loss of salary during the vacation.«.

Ferieloven § 5 gir arbeidsgiver rett til å bestemme når ferie tas. Om man kan nekte å ta ut ferie er ikke direkte hjemlet i ferieloven, men har støtte i forarbeider til ferieloven, langvarig forvaltningspraksis og uttalelser fra faginstanser. Det vises ofte til at det ikke er meningen at arbeidstaker skal tvinges til å ta ferie uten inntekt. Dermed har det blitt en ulovfestet rett til å nekte ferie dersom man ikke har opptjent feriepenger og heller ikke får lønn under ferien. Ferieloven har altså ingen bestemmelse som eksplisitt sier at du kan nekte ferie på grunn av manglende feriepenger, men praksis tilsier at det kan du i visse tilfeller. Det Arbeidstilsynet viser til er at du kan nekte å ta ut ferie (eller be om å få den utsatt) dersom:

• you have not earned holiday pay from your current or previous employer, and
• you do not receive pay during the holiday period, and
• You will then be left without income during the holiday.

In other words, whether you can refuse to take vacation depends on several factors, but again, this is not an explicit right in the Holiday Act, so it should be clarified and documented with your employer anyway. Illness during the holidays Postponing vacation due to illness only applies to: own illness. The Holiday Act does not provide any rights if children become ill, and therefore holidays must be taken as planned. Postponed holidays due to illness must, like other holidays, be taken during the holiday year. If there is no time to take holidays during the year due to illness, the holiday days are transferred to the next holiday year. Vacation abroad Så lenge man reiser innenfor EØS og har med barnet man mottar pleiepenger for, så trenger man i utgangspunktet ikke gi beskjed til NAV om korte opphold i utlandet. Er du usikker på om landet du skal reise til er innenfor EØS? Da kan du trykke deg inn på this overview of EEA countries. Hvis du skal reise til et land utenfor EØS må du gi beskjed til Nav. Du må gi beskjed til NAV om:

• you are with the child during the time you travel
• Which country are you going to?
• How long will you be abroad?
• you are going to end your vacation

When you travel outside the EEA and the right to care allowance is fulfilled during the period, you can receive care allowance for a maximum of 8 weeks during a 12-month period.

Submit documentation

Can be done by post or digitally. It has become very easy to resend digitally and this is recommended as the first choice. Press here to get to both a digital and paper form for post-delivery. You can also use the message function inside your NAV to communicate with NAV if you have any questions in connection with forwarding.

When children die

How long you receive care allowance after your child dies depends (unfortunately) on how long you had care allowance before your child died.

• You receive care allowance for 6 weeks after the child's death if you have had care allowance for less than 3 years
• You will receive care allowance for 3 months after the child's death if you have had 100 % care allowance continuously for 3 years or more (statutory holidays are not considered stays during the care allowance period)
• If you start working a little, the care allowance is graded accordingly

Changes

You must always notify NAV of any changes.

• • the child becomes healthy or healthy enough that the need for care allowance ceases

• • the child begins or increases the time in the supervision scheme

• • you start working again or increase the number of working hours, or increase your salary

• • the care of the child is transferred to others, in whole or in part

• • you must have statutory holiday (it may exceptionally be that you do not have to take holiday when you receive care allowance*)

• • you will be traveling outside the EEA (read more about care allowance abroad here)

You can easily notify NAV by sending a message in your NAV.

Payment

You are paid care allowance from either NAV or your employer, depending on which scheme you have where you work. Your employer decides for themselves whether they will advance the care allowance to you (i.e. pay the care allowance themselves and claim reimbursement from NAV afterwards) or not. If the employer does not want to advance the care allowance, you will receive the payment directly from NAV. Some employers are bound by collective agreements that may give the right to advance care allowance for a period. Therefore, you should check for yourself whether this applies to you and your workplace. Caring allowance is paid by the 25th of the month from NAV. The employer cannot require you to apply for unpaid leave, but they can require documentation. Note that they are not entitled to personally sensitive information about your child, so documentation can for example be a censored cover page of the decision where only your name, duration and percentage appear. Care allowance is valid/legal absence from work on the same level as sickness benefit, parental benefit, etc., both according to Chapter 9 (and 8) of the National Insurance Act, as well as Section 12 of the Working Environment Act. Read more about this here.

Legislation

Legislation on care allowance Information about care allowance at nav.no Information about care allowance for employers at nav.no Circular about care allowance The Working Environment Act The Holiday Act Legislation on parental allowance Information about parental allowance at nav.no

Response from the Ministry

Here you can read the response from the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion on how current practice at NAV applies to the relationship between care allowance and care benefit. Questions about the relationship between care allowance and care benefit This article was last updated in March 2026.