Posted By: Tor Ingar Oesterud 5. August 2018

Norwegian Companies lose 36 billion to short-term absences

Short-term absences cost Norwegian industry around NOK 36 billion a year, according to a report. the small companies are hit hardest.

 

In 2017, SMEs had to shoulder almost two-thirds of these costs, equivalent to NOK 22.5 billion, according to a report by NyAnalyse on behalf of the Federation of Norwegian Businesses.

– More than half of the companies in our survey claim that short-term absence with a duration of one to three days, which leads to the greatest loss in production, says the Leader of the Federation, Olaf Thommessen.

He points out that small businesses are most vulnerable to short-term absence because they are less able to redistribute work tasks at short notice. He wishes to have a debate about the costs associated with this.

we have for a long time been looking at a day without pay as a possible solution, alternatively a reduction in the salary for the first few days away from work, says Thommessen.

Deputy Leader in the Trade Union’s umbrella organization LO, Peggy Hessen Følsvik, tells NRK that they do not support either of those proposals.

– It seems that the Federation of Norwegian Businesses is primarily looking for cuts in its own costs. I think they should be honest enough to speak it out loud, but that can not happen at the expense of the rights of the workers.

She believes the sick pay scheme is one of the main reasons why Norway has lower absence figures compared to other countries.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today

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