When she got a full-time job for the first time in her life, Guri Anne Egge also received a large monetary claim from Nav. The reason is a set of regulations where Nav has had little opportunity to exercise discretion. Now the regulations are changing. – I think it is very good that the politicians have addressed this unfair consequence for disabled people to get to work, says Egge. – It’s about time, says union leader Tove Linnea Brandvik of the Norwegian Association for the Disabled. Over several years, the interest groups have tried to influence the politicians to do something about the regulations, and now it is happening. – If you were lucky enough to get a job at the end of the year, you had to pay back everything you had earned previously. These types of situations made it really risky for those who wanted to try their hand at work, says Brandvik. Tove Linnea Brandvik of the Norwegian Handikapforbund believes that if we as a society are really concerned that as many people as possible should be able to return to work, then we should really make it much easier. Photo: Henning Rønhovde Changing the regulations – I understand very well that you can be worried about losing social security if you try to work. It is precisely because people should be able to try themselves that we are now making these rule changes, says Employment and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna. Briefly, the new rules are as follows: You must be allowed to make an attempt to get out of work. If you succeed, you will not be deducted anything from the disability benefit that you had before you made the attempt. And: you can make several attempts to get to work. But you cannot have an income increase AND raise disability benefits, if the money comes from seasonal work or bonus payments. You can see the full summary here: Work attempts and income limits You can keep a reduced disability benefit as long as the annual income does not exceed 80 per cent of income before disability. If you earn more, you generally have to pay back all the disability benefits you have received throughout the year. The exception is work trials. When the increase in income comes from a work attempt, the disability benefit must not be claimed back. A work attempt is when a disabled person has increased their income above the 80 per cent limit as part of returning to working life. This applies regardless of whether the attempt is successful or not. Increases in income that are unrelated to a return to working life, such as seasonal work or bonus payments, fall outside the rules on work trials. Today’s regulations should encourage disabled people to return to working life. The Government wants to make it even easier to combine work and disability benefits, and is therefore proposing simplifications and simplifications in these rules. In order to avoid unreasonable repayment demands, especially for disabled people who, after an unsuccessful attempt at work, wish to try again, it is proposed that there should be no limits on the number of times one can get an exemption from repayment, as long as it is a question of work attempt. Disability pensions from the public service pension schemes are based on the regulations of the national insurance, and the proposal therefore applies to both disability benefits from the national insurance and disability pensions from statutory public service pension schemes. Source: Regjeringen.no – The regulations have been so square that it was difficult for Nav to be able to interpret them. That’s how much we will give Nav. It is the politicians who decide what Nav will do. After all, they carry out the tasks on behalf of political Norway, so this is gratifying, says Brandvik. Can’t earn money in a full-time job and keep social security But some rules remain, because it is not the idea from the political side that you should be able to earn money in a full-time job and at the same time keep disability benefits. – Disability benefit is an income security you have because you do not work. So we will continue to have some rules, that is the purpose of the entire disability benefit, says Brenna. Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna says it is our job as politicians to make it as easy as possible to combine work and social security for those who need it, and also that more people get into working life. Photo: NTB She adds that the change of being allowed to try work several times without risking taking a high financial risk is something that is desired. – So this is safer for the individual and I think is more useful for society, she says.. Guri Anne Egge says that she has experienced the demand for repayment as unfair. She believes that the change in the law should have retroactive effect, but praises Brenna for the change. – I know that there are many people who want to participate in working life, and when I can manage it, I know that there are more people who can make it happen with inclusive employers and with Nav on the team with good schemes. I hope that the politicians will continue to listen to us, says Egge. Published 18.10.2024, at 05.17
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Governments change disability regulations to facilitate the transition to working life – news Vestland
