Workplace involvement in the follow-up procedures of employees on sick leave in Norway

Transcription

1 Workplace involvement in the follow-up procedures of employees on sick leave in Norway Liv Haugli, AiR - Nasjonalt kompetanse senter for arbeidsretta rehabilitering, Rauland Irene.oyeflaten@air.no

2 Content The Norwegian legislation Legal requirements for employer Inclusive working life agreement Inclusive working life measures at the workplace Does it work?

3 The Norwegian legislation Employees are entitled to: Full pay sickness benefit for 52 weeks After 52 weeks: work assessment allowance for 4 years Disability pension 2/3 rd of Employmen income

4 Employers are required to: Provide acceptable work environment Provide sick pay for the first 16 days Provide a plan for return to work after 4 weeks in cooperation with the employee sent to physician Arrange a meeting (dialogue meeting) between employer, employee and physician (if necessary) within 7 weeks Provide a plan for return to work after 9 weeks - sent to social service (NAV)

5 Employer should: Should/ought to: organize work place adjustments if possible. No requirement to provide access to occupational health service (about 70% of all employees have access to OHS, but not obligatory to contact OHS when on sick leave) No financial incentive to prevent long term sick leave

6 Inclusive Working Life - The IW Agreement A tripartite agreement signed by the Government (Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion) and the employer and employee organisations. The eight major employer and employee organisations have signed, most of the smaller organisations have agreed on supporting the agreement The agreement is a letter of intent regarding a more inclusive working life, aimed at Preventing sick leave Increasing job presence among persons with reduced functionality Increasing age for retirement Agreement periods : The first agreement was signed in october : Renewal and revision of the agreement : Renewal with more focus on the employers obligations : Renewal with simplification of the system expressing more trust to the employers

7 Background for the IW Agreement The recent years trend of increasing numbers of people leaving the workforce on long-term national insurance schemes Presents problems for both the individuals concerned, enterprises and the Norwegian society About 20 % of the Norway s employment-aged population was either on sick leave collecting rehabilitation benefits collecting disability benefits The agreement was established as an instrument to achieve responsible partners in reversing this trend The social partners (NAV), the local enterprises and the individual employers and employees, - together with the authorities

8 General principles in the IW Agreement Action should be carried out at the workplace Clearly emphasizes the responsibility of the employer Encourages an open dialogue between employers and employees Early intervention and high quality in the follow-up Greater focus (emphasis) on functional capacity More goal-oriented use of government aid schemes Targeted service for IW enterprices NAV has established IW-centres in every county A regular contact person in NAV helps the IW enterprises to achieve a better follow-up of their employees

9 The follow up regime for persons on sick leave after 1st. July 2011 The IW-agreement 2011:. Ambition:To reduce sickness absence by earlier follow-up of the patient, closer follow-up of the doctor, and more graded sickleaves and sanctions. Employer: Dialogue meeting I Compulsory Work related activity (Doctor) Employer: Follow up plan to NAV NAV Dialoguemeeting 2 Assessment for Vocational or Occupational rehabilitation New assessment Sickness absence AAP? Employer: Follow up plan to the doctor NAV Dialoguemeting 3

10 NAVs IW measures IW enterprises have access to special measures Extended use of self-reporting in case of sickness (up to eight calendar days per incidence of sick leave - upper limit 24 days witin a year) Active sick-leave could be initiated without NAVs prior concent. This was stopped in 2011 and restarting again in 2014: Sick-leave at work IW enterprises may receive a special fee if their occupational health service has made efforts to bring people on sick-leave and/or people with reduced capacity back to work IW enterprices can apply for facilitation subsidy for tryouts, training or adjustment purposes

11 Does it work? The three main objectives of the IW agreements 1. Reducing the total incidence of national sick leave by at least 20% for the entire agreement period Sick leave has been reduced with 10,8% since Secure employment for a far greater number of employees whose functional capacity is impaired This goal is not obtained. IW enterprises have improved in keeping their employees from dropping out, but have not recruited persons with functional impairment 18% of working population receiving health related benefits 3. Increasing the average age of retirement from working life Have been obtained the average age of retirement has increased with 0,5% in the period, but probably not as a result of IW alone Increased number of persons on graded sick-leave

12 Thank you!