Norway employers and employees continue negotiations for new Inclusive Labor Agreement amid rising absenteeism

For 52 days, employers and employees in Norway have been attempting to negotiate a new Inclusive Labor Agreement (IA) aimed at reducing absenteeism. Steinar Krogstad, a leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), has made several non-negotiable demands, including maintaining the current arrangement of full sick pay from day one and ensuring that any new IA agreement spans four years.

Employers, however, are advocating for changes to the sick pay system due to rising absenteeism rates, which have increased by 17.5% from 2018 to 2023, reaching the highest level in 15 years this past second quarter. LO fears that any alteration to the sick pay structure could weaken it, especially with a potential government change on the horizon. Other worker organizations, like Akademikerne, Unio, and YS, have signaled their support for a comprehensive review of the sick pay system, while LO is open to a broad gathering of knowledge on the issue.

Krogstad emphasizes that modifications to sick pay could disproportionately affect low-income workers and women, hence LO’s firm stance on preserving the current system. The negotiations, which began in mid-September, aim to finalize an agreement by mid-November.

Despite the urgency to reduce absenteeism, which resulted in 10.6 million lost workdays, the trajectory remains upward. Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna has called the situation unsustainable, warning that failure to act now could necessitate more drastic measures in the future. Meanwhile, the employers’ side, represented by the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), refuses to agree to a four-year lockdown of the sick pay system, insisting that all options must be considered to tackle the rising absenteeism.