– For most people, falling ill during the holidays is a big disappointment. Then you cannot use the holiday for what it is intended to compensate for, says lawyer in Nito, Rannveig Arthur. The good news is that if you fall ill during your holiday, you can get your holiday days back. Rannveig Arthur is a lawyer in Nito. Photo: NITO But according to the holiday barometer of the Norwegian Engineering and Technology Organization (Nito), only a small number of employees actually use the scheme. 1,010 people were asked if they had been ill during the summer holidays in the last three years. 33 percent answered yes. But 57 per cent answered that they had not had their sick days replaced with new holiday days. Sick on holiday What was supposed to be a relaxing week of sun and warmth ended with Norovirus and hospitalization for Johanne Lillejordet and Torstein Sanden. The holiday in Alanya, Turkey was spoiled early on by illness. Photo: Private – Both are reduced. We know we are very tired. It doesn’t take much before we feel the pulse increase and that we are numb, Lillejordet says just over a week after hospitalisation. The illness already occurred on the first day of the holiday. – The worst started on Monday with vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps, says Sanden. For Lillejordet, it started a few hours later. At the hospital, they both received infusion fluid. Photo: Privat The couple were eventually admitted to a local hospital. – The hospital stay was very scary. It was an extremely heavy night, it was absolutely horrible. I’m glad we’re done with it at least, says Lillejordet. Unmanageable Both are full-time students, but Torstein Sanden has almost a full-time job. He has a permanent 25 per cent position as an environmental therapist in a children’s and relief home. Until the summer, he also had a 74 percent temporary position as a contact teacher at a secondary school. He had a holiday from his job as an environmental therapist. It took time to get an answer as to whether he got his vacation days back. – I’m trying to get used to it, but it’s a bit difficult now, says Sanden, who still feels the disease in his body. Sanden has worked almost 100 per cent alongside his full-time studies. Photo: Privat He is unsure which arrangements apply to him. The employer has received a copy of a document from the hospital. In Turkish. – It is difficult to obtain the information needed. You have to sit down and really look. Then you have to have time and energy for it, says Sanden. A few days after he told his employer, he was told that he will get four holiday days back. From the day he became ill until he was discharged from the hospital. Have you got your holiday days back after illness? Yes, I just had to show sick leave and ask for new holiday days. No, I asked to get vacation days back, but it was not granted. New holiday days after illness? Is that right!? Show result LO reacts – The Holiday Act states that anyone who has been completely unable to work during the holiday can demand that a corresponding number of working days be given as new holiday later in the holiday year, writes deputy chairman of LO, Steinar Krogstad. Furthermore, he believes that the questions in the Nito survey are too general to provide a good explanation. LO’s deputy chairman Steinar Krogstad believes that many people are not aware of what rights they have when they fall ill during the holidays. Photo: Trond Isaksen/LO – But it is reasonable to assume that it is mainly employees who are not familiar with their rights or who have not documented their sick leave, writes Krogstad. You are entitled to this – It is very surprising that it is such a high number, says lawyer Camilla Schie-Veslum when she hears that 57 per cent did not get their holiday days back. She works as a legal advisor for HR and management at Simployer. The lawyer Camilla Schie-Veslum reacts to how many people have not got their holiday days back. Photo: Simployer – Many people probably know that there are rules for sickness and holiday, but they don’t know the terms, says Camilla Schie-Veslum. She knows everything about employment law, and presents the terms in black and white. You only get your holiday days back if you … … are sick yourself – Some misinterpret and think that if your children or partner get sick, you can get your holiday back, says Schie-Veslum … are fully fit for work You must be fully fit for work , i.e. 100 per cent sick leave, the holiday days you want to get back. … deliver a doctor’s certificate The doctor’s certificate is proof that you have been ill. – Self-reporting is not enough in this case. Get documentation from a doctor where you are, says Schie-Veslum. … makes a claim – You have to make a claim that you want to postpone your holiday, explains Schie-Veslum. It is therefore not sufficient to simply submit a doctor’s note or sick note, you must explicitly ask to get your holiday days back as soon as you are back at work. – But the employer should be on the offer side here, and ask if you want to postpone the holiday. It is a good personnel policy, stresses Schie-Veslum. – In order for the provisions of the Holiday Act to apply, you must have been granted holiday days by your employer. If one has time off outside, then he will not have the right to get holiday days back, says Schie-Veslum. However, it does not matter that Torstein Sanden only has a part-time position, explains Schie-Veslum. As long as he has had his holiday cancelled, he is entitled to the holiday days back. Torstein Sanden gets his holiday days back. But it is not certain that he would have received it if he had not asked for it, or if he had not had documentation of his hospitalization. Here with his girlfriend Johanne Lillejordet. Photo: Private – He is entitled to new holiday days, but those days will be without payment as he is not entitled to sick pay for the days he was ill in Turkey, says Schie-Veslum. You only get sick pay if you fall ill in an EU/EEA country. Published 15.08.2024, at 15.52
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Sick during the holidays? You are entitled to this – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
