Norwegians top the sickness absence statistics in Scandinavia.
This seems to be due to the sickness benefit scheme in Norway versus our neighbouring countries.
Norwegians have an average of 14.8 days of sick leave a year.Behind us, the Swedes have 11.9 days, while the Danes only have 8.5 sick days a year.
“Of course, Norwegians are not more ill than the Swedes and Danes.
There must be the differences in the sickness benefit scheme, which is the main reason,” said Virke chief, Vibeke Hammer Madsen, to VG newspaper.
Statistics from 2016 show that the percentage of the workforce who are ill is 6.3% in Norway, 3.8% in Sweden and 3.6% in Denmark.
In Norway, sickness pay is paid for one year. The employer covers the first 16 days before the public covers the rest. In Sweden you have a day of ‘karers’, where employees lose their first day of sick leave. After that, they get 80% of the salary. In Denmark, the sickness payout is NOK 4,245 per week, but two thirds of the Danes have agreements entitling them to full pay.
Virke has calculated that the expenses for sickness absence in Norway are around NOK 69.9 billion. 42.6 billion are public expenditures,as well as approximately 27 billion that companies have to spend.
Madsen believes that measures, such as reduced wages, should be considered.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
