– It’s hard that when I’ve finally got paid work – a little more to mess with – then I have to pay back. It is unfair and very strange, says Guri Anne Egge (40). She works in the Bergen office of the company Medvind. The company provides user-directed personal assistance (BPA) to people who need a lot of help on a daily basis. Egge himself has cerebral palsy and has been on disability benefits all his life. But in April last year she was able to start a full-time job, after a few months in a part-time position. A year and a half later, a demand came from Nav: – In November, I got a “nice” decision that I have to pay back around NOK 40,000. It is disability benefit I received in January, February and March last year. The social security that she was dependent on for the three months will therefore be lost retroactively. Now the Nav practice is causing reactions. Nav demands that Guri Anne Egge must pay back the three months’ disability benefits she received before she started full time work. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Experienced the same after a bad fall Arne Olav Grønbech Hope in Haugesund also had the same experience. He was disabled for many years after a bad fall, before he got a job at the BPA company Mio in September 2021. – Nav gave me a “pre-Christmas present” this year: a bill of NOK 37,000. It was experienced as a punishment and a shock. I strongly disagree with the logic. He says it has happened to many people in the same situation as him, and receives support from the Norwegian Handikapforbund. Regional manager Arild Birkenes of Norway’s Handicap Association South West believes the rule is very unreasonable. – This is a way of handling disability benefits that I react strongly to. Arne Olav Grønbech Hope was required to pay back NOK 37,000 after he stopped receiving disability benefits in September. Photo: Private – Very unreasonable Nav has explained that this is the law and the rules: Each individual with disability insurance receives a limit on how much they can earn outside of social security during a calendar year. If the sum is higher, Nav demands repayment. This applies if the person receiving disability benefits has an additional job, but also for those who stop receiving benefits and switch to full-time work. The previous disability insurance therefore has to pay back the insurance to which they were entitled before they started work. The Handikapforbundet agrees that you should not have full disability benefits and work full time. – You have disability benefits because you cannot work. But what happens here is that you get a job and have to return the social security you had. It is completely wrong. Birkenes compares this to job seekers who receive unemployment benefits. – If the unemployed had been subjected to such a settlement, someone who got a job in March would have been entitled to a refund of unemployment benefits for January and February. Arild Birkenes of the Norwegian Handicap Association believes that disability benefits are being punished financially for getting a job. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Nav: – There is an exception Section head Bente Thori-Aamot in Nav has replied to news in writing: – If the pensionable income during a calendar year is more than 80 percent of the income before you became disabled, you have not entitled to payment in the relevant calendar year. Payments in the same calendar year must then be paid back. – Even if you stop receiving social security during the calendar year? – There is an exception. This may apply to persons who start work at the beginning of the year. If you fulfill the conditions in the exception, the disability benefit you were paid in, for example, January and February, will not be claimed back, write Nav. Nav write to news that per On 1 December, 21,285 people had received notices of recovery, an average of NOK 25,000. This includes both persons who have stopped and continue to receive disability benefits. When it comes to “why the legislation is as it is”, they refer Nav to the Ministry of Employment and Inclusion. See the entire answer from Nav at the bottom. Ministry: – Nav should show discretion State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion, Tomas Norvoll (Ap), says Nav has the right to show discretion in such matters. – If a person on disability benefits gets a job a little later in the year, Nav has the right not to demand repayment. But not certain that it will repeat itself for several years. Then it is “seasonal work”, and you lose all or part of your disability benefit. – Why does Nav require repayment of disability benefits, but not of unemployment benefits? – Because disability benefit is an annual benefit. You get it for a whole year. Daily allowance is an ongoing benefit. – Does the Norwegian Handicap Association think that Nav penalizes disabled people who get a job? – We are concerned that people here use discretion, so that we get as many people as possible from disability to work. That is a good thing. – But if someone had a need for and a right to disability benefits, how can Nav retroactively need-test it? – Because it is an annual benefit. But if this turns out to be odd, there is an opportunity to deviate from the rule. He therefore believes that the legislation does not need to be changed. Nav on repayment of disability benefits Nav’s first response to news: “It is income for the entire calendar year that is used as a basis in the subsequent settlement for disability benefits. If you inform NAV of your expected income for the calendar year before the year starts, you should receive an even reduction in your disability benefit throughout the calendar year. If you inform NAV of a change in income during the calendar year, the reduction must be spread over the remaining part of the year. Changes to the disability benefit are made from the month after you provide NAV with such information. The starting point is therefore an ongoing adjustment of the disability benefit based on ongoing income from regular work. When NAV receives information from the A scheme that someone has earned above the income limit or expected income, the disability benefit can be reduced. The change takes place from the month after NAV receives information from the A scheme. For those who start work at the beginning of the year and earn more than 80% of the adjusted income they had before disability, there is something called an exception from recovery in the event of a work attempt. If someone falls under this category, they will not be required to repay the disability benefit they were paid in, for example, January and February. (There is more about this in the circular to § 12-14. Comments on regulatory provisions to § 12-14 – Regulations on disability benefits from the national insurance, Chapter 4 Post-settlement fourth paragraph). If you have questions related to why the legislation is as it is, it is the politicians who adopt this.” New questions from news: Are the regulations unequivocal that it is income for the entire calendar year that is used as a basis in the subsequent settlement for disability benefits? Is the subsequent settlement independent of whether a person has stopped receiving social security during the calendar year? In that case, does it mean that a person loses social security that they needed – and were entitled to – until the person concerned went into full-time work? Has Nav previously or now considered this question? New answer from Nav: “If too little or too much disability benefit has been paid out during the calendar year, a subsequent settlement must be made. The subsequent settlement will apply to everyone who has been paid too much or too little. If the pensionable income during a calendar year is more than 80 percent of the income before you became disabled, you are not entitled to payment for the relevant calendar year. Payments in the same calendar year must then be paid back. Pensionable income is, among other things, gross wage income from Norway including holiday pay, wage income from abroad or income from self-employment. In principle, income for January and February must be claimed back if you got a job from 1 March and this means that you exceeded 80 per cent of your income before you became disabled during the calendar year. There is an exception for stand-alone work attempts. This can apply to people who start work at the beginning of the year and earn more than 80 per cent of their income before they became disabled. NAV must then assess whether there is a work trial. The person himself must document the time when the change took place, for example with an employment contract and/or pay slips from the employer. If you meet the conditions in the exception, disability benefits you were paid in January and February, for example, will not be claimed back. What counts as “at the beginning of the year” must be assessed concretely in each individual case.
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Guri Anne was required to pay back social security when she got a permanent job – news Vestland
