Care benefit/sick child days
Employees and sole proprietors have several rights in connection with caring for children with illness.
Care benefit/sick child days
Care days are often referred to as "sick child days". Anyone caring for children under the age of 12 are entitled to care days. Care days are used by employees, sole proprietors, and freelancers that must be absent from work when the child comes down with for example the flu.
NAV on care days (in Norwegian only)
Number of care days
How many care days the employee is entitled to depends on social situation of the parent, and the number of children. The employee can apply for additional care days if he/she has a chronically ill or disabled child, or that the other parent is unable to care for the child due to for example illness, prison sentence, or military service.
Employees with one or two children aged 12 or younger, are entitled to 10 care days in 2024. Employees caring for more than two children aged 12 or younger, have 15 care days in 2024. Employees that are the sole caretaker are entitled to double the number of care days.
If you are a sole proprietor or a freelancer, you must cover the first 10 care days each calendar year. If you have used more than these 10 days, you can apply to NAV for allowance for care days. If you apply for allowance for a consecutive period of more than 3 days, you must upload a medical certificate applying from day four. You can receive allowance for care days up to three months back in time, counted from the month before NAV received your application. You can apply for allowance for both full days and partial days of absence from work.
Employers should pay for the first 10 care days for the calendar year 2024. Thereafter, the employer will continue to pay for the care days but can require a refund from NAV as of day 11.
Utilising care days
When an employee needs to utilise care days, this should be reported to the employer. It is up to the employer to determine if the employee should have the opportunity to take out partial care days.
For the employee to be able to be entitled to allowance for care days from NAV, he/she must be able to document that the child or child minder was sick. For the first three days this can be documented with self-certification, but after day four a medical certificate is required. The medical certificate can be issued without personal attendance if the doctor deems this to be sufficient.
NAV on care benefit (In Norwegian only)
NAV - this is how you take care days when you are an employee (in Norwegian only)
Transfer of care days between parents
In certain circumstances care days can be transferred between the parents/ to the spouse/ to the cohabitant.
NAV on transferring care days (In Norwegian only)
Attendance allowance
If the employee has a child admitted to hospital or under medical diagnostics/treatment in a hospital or other specialist health care service, he/she might be entitled to attendance allowance.
If the child's needs for care and supervision is assumed to last for more than two years, the child may qualify for assistance allowance from NAV.
The child may qualify for basic benefits if you or your child has additional expenses other people do not.
Transitional benefit or other support may also be relevant. Attendance benefit, assistance allowance, and basic benefits are provided by NAV.
