If you become ill during the working day and need to leave the workplace, you must notify your manager. You do not need to submit self-certification of absence for this day. If you register working hours, mark it in the time registration as “sick part of day 004.”

Occasional doctor- and dentistappointment, does not count as absence. If yor register work hours, mark this as Doctor/dentist etc. 002 in the Self-service portal. If you need to accompany your child to a doctor or dentist appointment, use the sick child absence code. 

On the first full day of absence, you must notify your immediate supervisor of the sick leave as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the workday. Additionally, you must register a self-certification or a medical certificate from a doctor.

Self-certified sick leave

 regulations, registration and quota

Doctor-certified sick leave

must be submitted digitally, with some exceptions allowing for paper submissions. 

Employees paid by the hour

Go to Time-limited contracts for more information. 

Shifts and on-call duty

For those who use MinGat

Employees paid by the hour

Go to Time-limited contracts for more information. 

Information for Supervisors

As an immediate supervisor, it is important to have a dialogue with the employee who is on sick leave as early as possible and to investigate whether there is anything that can be accommodated in the workplace to avoid the employee being completely absent from work. This could be in the form of reduced working hours, flexible presence, and changed or reduced work tasks. It is also important to investigate whether the absence is work-related.

When you have been on sick leave for four weeks, you and your immediate supervisor must develop a follow-up plan, unless it is obviously unnecessary. The purpose of the follow-up plan is to ensure that the dialogue between you and your supervisor is ongoing and to explore possibilities for your return to work together.

The employer should follow up with the employee early to prevent long-term sick leave and to make it easier to return to work.

As an employee, you have a duty to participate even when you are on sick leave. Read more about this in Arbeidsmiljøloven (Working Environment Act). Among other things, you must participate in the development and implementation of follow-up plans in the event of full or partial absence from work due to accidents, illness or similar reasons.

Your employer is obliged to accommodate your work as much as possible. As an employee, you have a duty to cooperate to find solutions that ensure the sick leave does not last longer than necessary.

Dialogue meetings are conversations held with you, the sick employee, and your employer. These conversations aim to help you return to work more quickly. As an employee, you are required to participate in dialogue meetings when summoned by your employer.

The Follow-Up Plan Should Include:

• An assessment of the employee’s work tasks in relation to their functional ability
• Relevant measures by the employer to improve physical, organizational, or psychosocial conditions
• Relevant measures with assistance from authorities
• Further plan for follow-up

The plan should also include information about:

• The date of the medical certificate and the estimated length of the sick leave
• Whether the absence is work-related and if it is an occupational injury
• The date when it is expected that the employee can start working partially (graded sick leave)
• The date for the follow-up meeting
• Goals for the period until the next meeting

Your supervisor must call you in for a dialogue meeting no later than seven weeks after you have been absent from work, unless it is obviously unnecessary. This applies, for example, when it is clear that you, the sick employee, cannot return to work, or when it is clear that you will return regardless of any accommodation measures.

Dialogue Meeting 1 is a conversation between you, your supervisor, and possibly the person who issued your medical certificate. Additionally, the occupational health service, a union representative, or a safety representative may participate. It is your employer’s responsibility to organize Dialogue Meeting 1.

The purpose of Dialogue Meeting 1 is to discuss what needs to be done to prevent the sick leave from becoming unnecessarily long. In the meeting, you will look at possibilities and limitations together, and you will update the follow-up plan

NAV is responsible for organizing Dialogue Meeting 2 and Dialogue Meeting 3.

NAV must hold a dialogue meeting within 26 weeks of your sick leave. You and your employer will be asked if you need a dialogue meeting with NAV on the logged-in pages on nav.no before NAV makes its assessment. The invitation to the dialogue meeting is sent electronically, and you can provide feedback on whether the timing is suitable. You can request a meeting at any time during the sick leave via the logged-in page on nav.no.

In dialogue meetings with NAV, you participate together with your supervisor. NAV will assess whether the person who issued your medical certificate should also participate. Additionally, the occupational health service, a union representative, or a safety representative may participate.

A Dialogue Meeting 3 can be useful towards the end of the sickness benefit period if you see that you need more time for treatment or time to return to full or partial work when the sick leave has lasted for 39 weeks. You should then discuss with NAV, your healthcare provider, and your supervisor whether work assessment allowance might be relevant for you. You must submit the application for work assessment allowance to NAV yourself.

As a general rule, you can receive sickness benefits for up to 52 weeks. When you have exhausted the sickness benefits - reached the maximum date - you must have resumed full work for 26 weeks to be entitled to new sickness benefits, see the National Insurance Act, Chapter 8. You will receive an information letter from NTNU when the maximum date approaches.

If you are still ill beyond the maximum date for sickness benefits, work assessment allowance (AAP) or disability benefits may be relevant for you. NTNU is responsible for following up with you as long as you are employed. This responsibility does not end even if you do not receive sickness benefits.

You also have the option to apply for disability pension from SPK. You must apply for disability pension from SPK and leave from your position to the same extent that you are absent from work. The employer (Service Center for Payroll and HR) then sends a pension notification to SPK to the same extent as you have applied for leave.

Leave from Position After 12 Months

At NTNU, one year of unpaid leave is generally granted after one year of sick leave. If you wish to retain your original position when the sickness benefit rights have expired, you must apply for leave from the position.

After one year of unpaid leave, the employer may consider whether there are grounds for termination.

If you, as an employee, have been on sick leave for 24 months, and there is still no prospect of improvement in your work ability, the employment relationship will be considered terminated.

Full days of absence

If you regularly go for medical treatment, you can apply for a medical certificate for single treatment days. You can be granted a maximum of one treatment day per week. You, as the employee, must send confirmation of the applicable days to the employer via an application for sickness benefits.

If you work part-time, you should preferably schedule treatment outside of working hours.

Treatment during working hours

You are allowed to have short absences during working hours for appointments such as with a doctor or dentist. This must be agreed upon with your supervisor in advance. If you record working hours, such absences should not be registered in the flexitime account.

If you need to attend repeated treatments with a doctor, you should take this as time off in lieu or welfare leave by agreement with your supervisor