Sick leave stable in the first quarter

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Sick leave stable in the first quarter of 2017

The self-certified sick leave is down by 5.9 percent from fourth quarter 2016 to first quarter this year. The certified absence increased by 0.6 per cent.

 

This results in a decrease of 0.4 per cent, figures from Statistics Norway (SSB). The total absence is therefore stable at 6.4 per cent during the period.

The absence for men and women both showed a decrease of 0.6 and 0.3 percent respectively.

– The last quarter, the total absence remained stable. On the other hand, we see changes in the causes of sick leave in the past year. There are now more people who are on sick leave due to serious mental disorders such as anxiety and depression compared to the same period last year, says Sigrun Vågeng in a comment on the figures. Vågeng is Labour and Welfare Director

Mental disorders

The numbers from NAV show that mental disorders accounted for about 20 percent of all sick leave.

Sick leave in Sogn og Fjordane and Oslo were the lowest in the first three months, both with 6.1 percent, while Finnmark had the highest absenteeism by 8 percent. In Rogaland absenteeism increased the most, to 7.3 percent.

The absence level was lowest in the private sector with 6.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, while central and local Government had an absence level of 6.5 and 8.8 percent respectively.

The average length of absence is 39 days. This is an increase by one and a half days compared with the same period last year.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today