Attendance allowance and training allowance

Attendance allowance in connection with a child's illness

When your child becomes ill or injured or needs continuous supervision and care due to an impairment, you may be entitled to attendance allowance as compensation for lost income. You must be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance at the time of commencement of the attendance allowance and have worked at least 4 weeks or received unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, parental benefits, attendance allowance or training allowance from NAV within the same period. In addition, you must have lost income due to caring for the child.

The National Insurance Act (NIA) Section 9 distinguishes between attendance allowance and graded attendance allowance:

Claim for attendance allowance pursuant to NIA Section 9-10

• Event: Your child needs continuous supervision and care due to illness, injury or impairment, cf. National Insurance Act Section 9-10 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). The child must have been treated in a hospital or by a specialist physician.
• Requirements: One of these requirements must be fulfilled:
  • You must stay with the child while he or she is an inpatient at a healthcare institution.
  • You must stay at home with the child because he or she needs constant care and supervision.
• Your entitlements:
  • You are entitled to full pay during the period you have been granted attendance allowance.
  • Attendance allowances is granted as of the first day.
  • Pursuant to the National Insurance Act, Section 9-10 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian) attendance allowance can be granted to both parents simultaneously. Two caregivers may also split an attendance allowance up to 100 percent as long as both has a minimum of 20 percent. For instance 60/40, 20/80, 50/50.
  • The age limit for attendance allowance is 18 years, unless the child is mentally impaired and life-threateningly or very seriously ill.
• What you must do:
  • Fill out and sign the form medical declaration for a claim for attendance allowance when a child is ill NAV 09-11.05 (nav.no) (Norwegian) with a medical statement made by a hospital/specialist physician.
  • Submit a copy of this form to your manager so that UiO can file a claim for reimbursement with NAV. Please cover up any health information about the child.
  • Note! Do not send request for attendance allowance in the self-service portal

Claim for graded attendance allowance pursuant to NIA Section 9-11

• Event: Your child is in need of continuous monitoring and care, but there has been establish another supervision or relief arrangement for your child , cf. the National Insurance Act Section 9-11 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).
• Requirements: The child is under the care of third parties less than 80 percent.
• Your entitlements:
  • You are entitled to full pay during the period in which you have been granted attendance allowance.
  • Attendance allowance is granted from the first day.
  • Pursuant to the National Insurance Act Section 9-11 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian) attendance allowance can be granted to both parents simultaneously if needed. Attendance allowance may be graded to a minimum of 20 percent.
• What you must do:
  • Fill out and sign the form medical declaration for a claim for attendance allowance when a child is ill NAV 09-11.05 (nav.no) (Norwegian) with a medical statement made by a hospital/specialist physician.
  • Submit a copy of this form to your manager so that UiO can file a claim for reimbursement with NAV. Please cover up any health information about the child.
  • Note! Do not send request for attendance allowance in the self-service portal

Training allowance in connection with a child's disability or a long-term illness

When your child has a disability or a long-term illness, training allowance may be granted. If the illness is expected to last more than one year, it is considered to be long-term. Training allowance is given to a person who has a close caregiver relationship to the child. It may be another person than the parents, e.g. a cohabitant of a person who is sole caregiver of the child or grandparents. To training allowance, the same rules regarding membership of the Norwegian National Insurance and pensionable income apply as to attendance allowance.

Claim for training allowance pursuant to NIA Section 9-14

• Event: Your child has a disability or a long-term illness which makes it necessary for the caregivers to receive training to take care of and treat the child, cf. National Insurance Act Section 9-14 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).
• Requirements: The training must take place at an approved health institution or the caregiver must attend a parental course at a public specialized educational center.
• Your entitlements: 
  • You are entitled to full pay during the period you have been granted training allowance.
  • Training allowance is granted from the first day.
  • The training allowance can be graded down to 20%. Training or courses equivalent to less than 1 day per week can not be covered by training allowance. For graded training allowance, travel time between the home and the training center is to be included in the calculation.
  • Training on Saturday and Sunday is not included in the calculation.
  • There is no limit to how long you can receive training allowance. The prerequisite that the training is necessary to take care of and treat the child will limit the benefit period.
• What you must do:
  • Fill out and sign the form application for training allowance NAV 09-11.08 (nav.no) (Norwegian) together with a physician at the health institution or competence centre that is responsible for the training.
  • Submit a copy of this form to your manager so that UiO can file a claim for reimbursement with NAV. Please cover up any health information about the child.
  • Note! Do not send request for training allowance in the self-service portal

Attendance allowance when caring for a person with close ties

If a close relative is in the final phase of life, you may be granted up to 60 days of attendance allowance for him or her at home. The home may be with the sick and/or the person who provides the care. Who is to be considered as closely related is defined by the sick person and his or her desire for who is to provide the care. It may be family, friends, neighbours or other people in the local area. If the sick person is too ill to give consent for who is to provide the care, it must be stated in the medical certificate who this is. The same rules regarding membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and pensionable income apply here as for attendance allowance for sick children.

Claim for attendance allowance pursuant to NIA Section 9-13

• Event: A close relative is in the final phase of life and you provide care and nursing at home, cf. National Insurance Act Section 9-13 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).
• Requirements:
  • The person in need of nursing lives in his or her own home or in the home of the caregiver and is not hospitalized.
  • The person in need of nursing consents in the care or it is stated in the medical certificate who should provide care.
• Your entitlements:
  • You are entitled to full pay during the period you receive attendance allowance.
  • Attendance allowance is granted from the first day
  • Attendance allowance may be graded down to 20%.
  • If there are several persons sharing the caregiving duties, the total amount is 60 benefit days for a person in need of nursing. However, two people can receive attendance allowance on a specific day.
  • If you work part-time and provide care during an entire week, you use 5 of the 60 available days.
  • Attendance allowance can be taken on single days over several weeks. The crucial point is that the sick is considered to be in the final phase of life throughout the period.
• What you must do:
  • Fill out and sign the form application for attendance allowance NAV 09-12.05 (nav.no) (Norwegian) together with the physician or the health institution who has treated the patient.
  • Submit a copy of this form to your manager so that UiO can file a claim for reimbursement with NAV. Please cover up any health information about the person on need of nursing.
  • Note! Do not send request for attendance allowance in the self-service portal

Attendance allowance and training allowance during stays abroad

The main rule is that you are entitled to benefits as long as you stay in Norway or you have been granted voluntary membership in Norwegian National Insurance, cf. National Insurance Act, Section 9-4 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). If you are entitled to attendance allowance or training allowance under Norwegian law, you may in some cases be able to bring these benefits with you abroad. The EEA Agreement and other agreements the Norwegian National Insurance has with individual countries beyond the EU, determines whether you are entitled to bring your benefits abroad or not. It is NAV who determines if you can or not.

In addition to membership in the National Insurance Scheme and entitlements earned directly from work or receipt of NAV benefits equivalent to work income, the period of stay abroad with the sick child is limited to eight weeks during a 12 month period. You must report to NAV if you are going to stay abroad in the section for additional information on the application form for attendance allowance and training allowance or by sending a message to NAV (nav.no) (Norwegian).

For attendance allowance for sick children and training allowance, you may be entitled to retain the benefits of stay abroad if

• the child is admitted to a health institution abroad on Norwegian public bill
• there is a need to attend courses/gatherings abroad as there is no competence center or professional environment in Norway, the condition is rare and there is a professional program that will provide caregivers with knowledge of how to handle the illness in everyday life and the opportunity to meet others in the same situation
• financial support has been granted to cover necessary expenses for participation in courses/gatherings abroad, cf. National Insurance Act, Section 5-24 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian).

In case of attendance allowance to provide care or nursing to a close relative at home in the final phase of life, you may be entitled to the benefit while staying abroad if NAV grants you a waiver from the requirement of residence in Norway, cf. National Insurance Act, Section 8-9 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). You must also be able to make plausible that the close relative is in the final phase of life and that you care for him or her at home.