Changes in NAV regulations and rates

From 1 January 2023, there will be some changes to the National Insurance Act, including better conditions for extra sick child days and a small increase in rates for basic and auxiliary benefits. We will try to explain what this means for you in this post.

Incidentally, the lion mothers have submitted input for these changes in the legislation. You can read our input here.

Basic and auxiliary allowance

The rates for basic and auxiliary benefits increase slightly (2.8 %) in the new year. It is not a large increase, and unfortunately far from an increase that reflects the rise in prices and social development in general.

Since 2013, the average wage increase has been 26 %, while compensation for private care for children with illness and/or functional variation has only increased by just over 6 %. This means that the average wage increase per year is 2.8 %, and the increase for private care will be 0.66 % per year. Previous governments have barely increased these benefits since 2016! This means that the annual average increase for basic and auxiliary benefits since 2013 ends up at a ridiculous 0.46 %.

Basic allowance

Basic allowance has 6 rates. Which rate is applicable depends on how big extra expenses you or the child have. The extra expenses must at least correspond to rate 1, which is NOK 705 per month.

The rates for basic allowance will be the following per month in 2023:

• Lot 1: 705
• Lot 2: 1076
• Set 3: 1410
• Lot 4: 2078
• Lot 5: 2816
• Lot 6: 3517

Read more about basic allowance on our rights page.

Assistance allowance

In order to be entitled to assistance allowance, the expenses for care and supervision must at least correspond to rate 1, which is NOK 1,263 per month. The amount is intended to cover 2–2.5 hours of private help per week.

The rates for assistance benefit will be the following per month in 2023:

• Batch 1: 1263
• Lot 2: 2527
• Lot 3: 5054
• Lot 4: 7580

Hjelpestønad rate 1 is the highest amount paid to people over 18 years of age.

Read more about assistance allowance on our rights page.

Extra care days (extra sick child days)

There has been an improvement in the wording of the legislation, where the word "long-term illness" has been added. This is because the word "chronic" has stricter guidelines for who qualifies, while with the wording "long-term" those who have children who obviously have health-related challenges, but who are often unclear/under investigation, will also be able to fall under the right to extra care days .

There has also been a simplification of the distribution of these extra days between parents. There will no longer be a need to report to NAV about the distribution, and parents can decide between themselves how they want to distribute the days.

• As an employee, you will be entitled to extra care days if you have a chronically or long-term ill or disabled child, and this leads to a significantly higher risk of absence from work to take care of the child.
• Parents can distribute care days by agreement. There is no need to notify NAV in writing.

Perhaps the best thing about the changes within extra sick child days is that the old regulation is scrapped. We have worked for this through our participation in the NAV user panel "Illness in the family". By old regulations is meant the specific list of diagnoses which for many years has been far too narrow and thus led to parents of children and young people with obvious health challenges and high levels of sickness absence still being refused extra sick child days. With the new wording "long-term illness" and repeal of the regulation, we believe it will be far better for parents who have previously had to go through unnecessary and burdensome appeals processes.

In addition, parents can now get extra care days up to and including (i.e. the whole) the calendar year the child turns 18, regardless of whether you are usual employee, freelancer or self-employed.

• Regulation 25 March 1997 no. 263 on which diseases and disabilities shall give extended entitlement to care allowance according to the National Insurance Act section 9-6 second paragraph is repealed.
• The employer is obliged to discuss with the shop stewards whether care allowance should be given for shorter periods than full days.
• Care allowance for an employee who cares for a chronically or long-term ill or disabled child over the age of 12 is fully reimbursed.
• When NAV pays care allowance, you must now have a doctor's certificate from the 4th day of absence.
• If you change employers, the new employer may require you to provide a statement from your previous employer about how many days you have received care allowance in the calendar year in which the employment takes place.
• Freelancers or self-employed persons who care for a chronically or long-term ill or disabled child over the age of 12 receive care allowance from the 1st day of absence.

Burial benefit (support for funeral)

From 1 January 2023, the rate for full means-tested funeral allowance will change from the current NOK 26,011 to NOK 26,999. The deductible for stretcher transport allowance is 10 per cent of this rate, and will therefore increase from NOK 2,601 to NOK 2,699. As you can see, the increase is, also here, minimal.

Work settlement allowance (AAP)

The child allowance for employment verification allowance will be increased to NOK 35 per child per day from 1 February 2023.

Parents on unemployment benefits

Child allowance is given to both parents who support children and who receive unemployment benefit from 1 January 2023. The child allowance is also increased here to NOK 35 per child per day.

Read more about the changes on the website of regjeringen.no or nav.no