52 days after the start of negotiations, employers and employees are still struggling to get a new agreement in place to reduce sickness absence in Norway, a new agreement on inclusive working life (IA agreement). But while the other parties are reticent to allow themselves to be interviewed in a critical negotiation phase, LO leader Steinar Krogstad now makes several unwavering demands: The arrangement with full salary from day one must be preserved, and any new IA agreement must apply for four year. Today, the parties meet again for new negotiations. But since the start in September, the talks have struggled against strong headwinds. The reason is disagreement over whether the sick pay scheme should be able to be changed or not. Ultimatum? – Absolutely clear The numbers speak for themselves: sickness absence is increasing sharply in Norway. Therefore, the employers want to see whether the current system of sick pay can be changed. Today’s scheme ensures that employees receive full pay for one year while they are ill. In order to overcome the high absenteeism, the employers believe that the time has now come to consider changes to the scheme. But LO opposes. LO’s negotiating leader Steinar Krogstad sticks to his demands. Photo: Yann Valerievich Belov / n18575 – We stand by what has always been part of the IA agreement, that as long as the IA agreement applies, the sick pay scheme must be protected, says Krogstad to news. – If you change the sick pay scheme, it will turn out to be very socially lopsided. We know that it is the low-wage professions, it is often women’s professions that will be affected. It is a social reinforcement of the bias that we can never accept, he says. – So you insist that there should be full pay during illness from day one? – Yes, I think everyone should be very confident that we are firmly committed to that. – Is it an ultimatum? – Absolutely. The election next autumn is an important reason why LO wants an agreement that binds the parties and preserves the sick pay scheme for four new years. In LO, there is a fear that the scheme could be weakened if there were to be a change of government. – We say quite clearly that the protection must be for the entire period, that is to say four years, says Krogstad. – Not going to break Krogstad is concerned that a new agreement must be more effective and that measures are aimed at the groups and industries where the needs are greatest. At the same time, the LO summit rejects that LO is considering withdrawing from the talks. – We are not going to break. We will stay until the end, we, he says, and points out that it is also the government’s policy to preserve the sick pay scheme. Much is now about whether the parties can agree on some form of investigation into the sick pay scheme. Krogstad emphasizes that changes to the sick pay scheme will hit low-paid workers and women the hardest, and is therefore determined to preserve the scheme as it is. Photo: Yann Valerievich Belov / n18575 The employee organizations Akademikerne, Unio and YS have also signaled that they can support an investigation into all aspects of the scheme. The message from LO is that you can take part in a “broad acquisition of knowledge”. – We see that the businesses that follow the IA agreement and work well with the working environment, facilitation and prevention reduce absenteeism. We are busy in an investigation so that the reasons for it also become part of the investigation, says Krogstad. – In such a broad investigation, we can accept that the sick pay scheme is also part of the investigation. But this started with a demand and a desire for a pure sick pay investigation, and we are against that. Highest absence in 15 years Negotiations started in mid-September. The aim is to arrive at a new agreement by mid-November. The backdrop is that sickness absence rose to the highest level in 15 years in the second quarter of this year – 7.1 per cent. This amounted to 10.6 million lost days’ work, around 9 million of which were due to doctor-notified sickness absence, according to NTB. Despite ambitions to reduce sickness absence, the arrows point in the opposite direction: From 2018 to 2023, sickness absence has increased by 17.5 per cent. Tonje Brenna, Minister for Employment and Inclusion (Ap). Photo: Fredrik Pedersen / news Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) believes the situation is unsustainable. – If we don’t manage to do something now, we may have to do something much more dramatic in a decade or two. We cannot afford this over time, she said earlier this autumn. Does not want a four-year agreement But in the negotiations, it is not just LO that stands firm on its demands. The employer side is also out with some absolute requirements. – NHO is very clear that we cannot sign an agreement that preserves the sick pay scheme for four new years, says employment director Nina Melsom. – Does that sound like an ultimatum? – With the trend in sickness absence we are seeing now, we have to be open and turn over all stones, says Melsom. – NHO’s position is that we must be willing to look at all tools that can contribute to reversing the trend in sickness absence. Then we must also be able to look at our sick pay model. INVESTIGATION: NHO’s working life director Nina Melsom. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix Published 31.10.2024, at 07.38 Updated 31.10.2024, at 07.49
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Knallhardt LO ultimatum on sick pay – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
