The Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs is considering a private member's bill from the Socialist Left Party and other MPs to reduce sick leave through improved working conditions, a stronger Nav, and changes to rules on contesting sick certificates. The proposers argue that systematic workplace health and safety efforts, increased Nav capacity, and protection of the sickness benefit scheme are necessary to bring down sick leave rates.
AI-generated summary · Model: Claude Haiku 4.5 · Generated: 14 May 2026
These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
The Storting asks the government to propose necessary amendments to the Working Environment Act that establish clear, mandatory requirements for documented health and safety training for managers with personnel responsibility, and to report back to the Storting by November 2026.
The Storting asks the government to present measures to strengthen the independence, competence, and accessibility of occupational health services, including requirements that employees, safety representatives, and union representatives can contact occupational health services directly without employer approval on matters of working conditions and health.
The Storting asks the government to implement the recommendations of the Women's Occupational Health Committee on a national workplace health and safety strategy that includes women's occupational health, and to report back to the Storting with a plan in 2026.
The Storting asks the government to strengthen Nav's sick leave follow-up and increase capacity for processing sickness benefit applications, with the aim of reducing processing times and providing closer individual follow-up.
The Storting asks the government to strengthen research on the health effects of combined and accumulated strain across industries and genders, as recommended by the Women's Occupational Health Committee, to ensure knowledge-based measures against sick leave across sectors.
The Storting asks the government to investigate the scope and consequences of contested sick certificates, what effects such contests have on those affected, and in which companies and industries contests occur most frequently, and on this basis to propose necessary measures to limit unreasonable contests.
The Storting asks the government to propose shifting the burden of proof to the employer when a sick certificate is contested.
The Storting asks the government to map trends in the frequency of contested sick certificates and identify which companies and industries see the most contests, with the aim of preventing misuse of sick certificate disputes.
The Storting asks the government to ensure a practice that strengthens dialogue and cooperation between parties in the follow-up of employees on sick leave.
The Storting asks the government to return to the Storting with a proposal designed to ensure that partial sick leave is evaluated as the primary option before full sick leave.
The Storting asks the government to return to the Storting with a proposal for an arrangement in which the sickness benefit period for long-term sick leave is converted into a time account lasting up to two years.
The Storting asks the government to return to the Storting with a proposal on how to ensure that job protection in cases of long-term sickness is maintained when the sickness benefit period is extended.