Caring allowance

Caring allowance is income compensation you can get if your child is admitted to hospital or is so ill that you have to be away from work to nurse and look after your child at home, or if the child has to wait to start kindergarten, you have to be on standby or are on night duty for own child. This applies to both somatic and mental illness. We have collected the necessary information and important clarifications about the care allowance regulations in this article.

Who can receive care allowance?

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)
Your child has been treated or examined at a hospital or other specialist health service
or
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
The child is not in a supervision arrangement
or
The child is in a supervision arrangement 30 hours or less per week
(you may still be entitled to 100% care allowance if you have to be on call or have night duty)
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 Folketrygden's basic amount. The basic amount (G) as of 1 May 2022 is NOK NOK 111,477

You are entitled to care allowance when:

you have to be away from work because you have to be with a child who has fallen ill
or
you have to be away from work because you have to be with a child who is being examined for an illness
and
which also needs your care and nurturing part or all of the time

Both somatic (physical) and mental illness give 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.

How do you apply for care allowance?

Most people can apply for care allowance digitally.

If it is the first time you are applying, the employer must submit income information to NAV. Otherwise, you need a medical certificate signed by a doctor that describes the care needs and illness of the child, regardless of whether it is the first time or an extension. The doctor's statement does not need to be completed in the old care allowance form - a normal doctor's statement in "letter form" is sufficient. You can just take a picture of this and upload it as an attachment in the digital application. In addition, you need the child's birth number and personal details, the period for which care allowance is applied for and a bank ID to log on to nav.no if you are applying digitally.

Only a doctor in a hospital/doctor in the specialist health service can write a certificate and sign an application for care allowance.

It is NAV that decides whether you are entitled to care allowance or not - not the doctor. It is also NAV that determines how long you receive care allowance - not the doctor. The doctor must not state the application period. The time period that the doctor is asked to state in the new application form for care allowance is about how long the doctor believes the medical certificate can be considered valid for - i.e. how far into the future the doctor "can vouch for" 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.

If a doctor refuses to write a medical certificate

Some may find that the doctor believes that they are not entitled to care allowance or refuse to write a medical certificate for care allowance. It is not doctors who decide whether you are entitled to care allowance or not, and doctors also do not have the opportunity to refuse a doctor's report, according to Section 21-4 second paragraph of the Norwegian Social Security Act. Read Health Minister Kjerkol's answer to questions about this problem here.

Children who have been discharged

The legislation is clear under the condition: "The child must have been treated or examined in a hospital or in another part of the specialist health service". The child must therefore either have been to or be under investigation in hospital. The wording "been to" is the key here. This means that parents/carers of children who have been discharged also have the right to apply for care allowance, as long as the child has been examined/treated in the specialist health service.

Doctors in hospitals/in the specialist health service are also obliged to write a doctor's report according to ftrl. § 21-4 when a member of the national insurance requests this, as mentioned above here.

In other words, the law is basically comprehensive, and this is what parents must show when they ask for a medical certificate.

The lion mothers have been upheld by the State Administrator in a complaint about this.

ATTENTION!

You do not need to apply for unpaid leave in connection with an application for care allowance.

You must notify your employer that you will be absent from work due to a sick child. Absence related to a child's need for supervision/illness, whether it is "sick child days", care allowance or absence without pay, is a valid absence in any case and is called "statutory leave" in the legislation. The statutory right to leave is absolute, and employers cannot refuse an employee absence from work in that connection. This is stated in Section 12-9 of the Working Environment Act.

You must not apply for unpaid leave or resign from your position on grounds other than the statutory right to leave in the event of a child's illness. Then you risk losing your income base and rights. Absence days related to a sick child (including childcare allowance) is a valid reason 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 care allowance from NAV, your employer cannot demand that you apply for leave for other reasons. The employer cannot demand that you step down or resign when you receive care allowance.

Definitions

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 %
G = Folketrygden's basic amount

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 allowance, but need to increase the percentage slightly or all the way up to 100 %, you can easily do so by sending a message about the need for change in "your hub". Explain why the need has increased, during which period you need increased care allowance and by what percentage. As a rule, you do not need to send a new care allowance application or obtain a new doctor's certificate for this.

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 a night watchman for your own child and need the time the child is in a supervision 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 process (dying), or may become acutely/life-threateningly ill in a very short time)

In this case, this must be clearly stated in the medical certificate.

Care allowance when you have care allowance

The Løvemammaene have raised this problem in the national user panel in NAV, where the Løvemammaene also have a place. NAV raised the issue further to the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion.

The provisional response from the ministry is that care allowance affects the care allowance.

This means that NAV must comply with the ministry's assessments and thus must count care allowance as pensionable income which cuts the care allowance accordingly.

The lion mothers continue to work against the ministry regarding this case, as we believe this is a wrong interpretation of the legislation and the meaning of the benefit. We update continuously.

In the meantime, we have assessed which solutions may be relevant. These are not recommendations, but considerations we have made based on the recent interpretation of the law by the ministry.

You can transfer the care allowance to your partner, if you have one, and if your partner does not receive care allowance or other social security benefits.
If you have an income below 6G and it is not possible to transfer the care allowance to your partner, you can consider whether you should include the care allowance in the calculation of the income basis for care allowance (since the ministry has defined care allowance as pensionable income), and thus opt out the benefit from the municipality. That way, the care allowance will not be cut short and you will "keep" the care allowance, only that it will then be baked into the care allowance (up to 6G).
If you have an income above 6G, it is not possible to transfer the care allowance to your partner and it is NAV that pays out the care money, then you should consider whether you should incur a double loss. Because you will not only lose the salary that exceeds 6G, as 6G is the maximum that NAV covers, but in addition the care money will be further reduced by what you receive in care allowance. Perhaps you can enter into a dialogue and ask if the employer can advance the care money.
If the care allowance is advanced by the employer, regardless of G, the care allowance will not affect this (unless the employer stops making advances).

Care allowance after the child's death

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 receive care allowance for 3 months after the child's death if you have had 100 % care allowance continuously for 3 years or more
If you start working a little, the care allowance is graded accordingly

Care allowance for 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.

Care allowance when you have parental allowance

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 and holiday pay

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

The Holiday Act is strict and states that the employer is obliged to ensure that the employee takes statutory holiday. The employer may have problems if he does not comply with this duty and, in the worst case, be liable for compensation.

Your employer can therefore order you to take statutory holiday. Statutory holiday is 4 weeks + 1 day (25 working days). The employer cannot require you to take out more than that.

The only exception you as an employee have for not taking statutory holiday is if the holiday pay does not cover the wage loss you will have during the holiday. This can be the case if you have not saved up enough holiday days. It can also be the case when you go on care allowance, because you cannot cover the wage loss with a payment calculated at 10.2 % of the first 12 weeks of the previous year. In that case, you cannot be required to take more holiday than you have salary cover for.

But it only applies when you have 100 % care allowance (not a lower percentage care allowance), that you as an employee can apply for the holiday carried over to the next year. The employer must deal with this.

A written agreement can also be entered into to transfer 2 weeks (12 days) of holiday to the following year, according to Section 7 of the Holiday Act. It is up to the employer to decide whether it is okay for you to transfer these 12 days. Transfer of holiday beyond this cannot be agreed.

Postponing vacation due to illness only applies in case of own illness. The Holiday Act gives no rights if children fall ill, and therefore the holiday must be canceled as planned. Postponed holiday due to personal illness must, in the same way as other holiday, be completed during the holiday year. If there is no time to take a holiday during the year due to personal illness, the holiday days are carried over to the next holiday year.

Forwarding of 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.

Changes you must notify NAV about

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 whether they want to 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 wish to advance, you will receive the payment directly from NAV.

Caring allowance is paid by the 25th of the month from NAV.

The employer cannot require you to apply for unpaid leave. Caring allowance is a valid/legal absence from work in the same way as sickness allowance, parental allowance etc. both according to the Norwegian Social Security Act, Chapter 9 (and 8), as well as the Working Environment Act § 12. Read more about this here.