What Is the IA-Avtale?
The IA agreement (IA-avtalen, originally Inkluderende arbeidsliv — Inclusive Working Life) is a tripartite letter of intent between the Norwegian authorities and the social partners. Authorities and the social partners have had such an agreement since 2001. The current agreement — formally the Avtale om redusert sykefravær og frafall fra arbeidslivet (Agreement on reduced sickness absence and dropout from working life) — was agreed on 12 February 2025 and runs for four years, 2025–2028.
It was signed by:
- The Government, represented by the Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion
- Employer organisations: NHO, KS, Virke, Spekter, and the State as employer
- Employee confederations: LO, Unio, Akademikerne and YS
The overarching goal is to reduce sickness absence and prevent people from dropping out of working life — creating a working life with room for everyone.
Why a Stronger Agreement Was Needed
The agreement itself states plainly that sickness absence is too high. The target in the previous IA agreement (2019–2024) was to reduce sickness absence by 10 percent compared with the 2018 level (from 5.7 to 5.1 percent). Instead, absence rose by 26 percent from 2018 to the third quarter of 2024, reaching 7.19 percent. Longer absences contributed most to the increase, and absence due to mental health conditions rose markedly, especially among younger age groups.
The parties agreed that the ambition of the previous agreement should be maintained, and that stronger measures are needed.
What the Parties Have Committed To
The 2025–2028 agreement is organised around four commitments:
- Strengthen preventive work environment efforts — through existing and new industry programmes (bransjeprogram), the work environment initiative led by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) and STAMI, and NAV Arbeidslivssenter
- Improve sickness absence follow-up — including better compliance by all actors with their existing legal duties
- Strengthen efforts at each workplace — through more information and training aimed at enterprises
- Build knowledge about sickness absence, dropout and effective measures
The parties will use 2025 and 2026 for broad knowledge-gathering on sickness absence — including possible changes to how the sick pay scheme is designed — and 2027 and 2028 to discuss adjustments and any new measures.
Existing industry programmes cover kindergartens, construction, the food industry, suppliers to the oil and gas industry, passenger transport and scheduled buses, nursing homes, and hospitals. Each programme is to set its own targets for reducing sickness absence.
The employee and employer organisations commit to following up the agreement among their members; the authorities commit to providing resources and tools that support the work.
Sickness Absence Follow-Up: The Legal Timeline
The IA agreement builds on a statutory follow-up model that gives employers, employees, NAV and the doctor issuing the sick note clear duties at set points:
| Step | Timing | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up plan (oppfølgingsplan) | Prepared with the employee no later than four weeks into full or partial absence | Working Environment Act § 4-6 |
| Dialogue meeting 1 (dialogmøte) | Employer calls the meeting no later than seven weeks into full absence | Working Environment Act § 4-6 |
| Dialogue meeting 2 | NAV holds a meeting no later than when incapacity has lasted 26 weeks | National Insurance Act § 8-7 a |
| Further meetings | The employee, employer, doctor or NAV can request a new dialogue meeting | National Insurance Act § 8-7 a |
For dialogue meeting 1, the doctor must be called if the employer and employee — or the employee alone — want it, and NAV, occupational health services and other relevant actors can be invited. The employer must be able to document how the rules on follow-up plans and dialogue meetings have been followed.
The meetings are meant to be constructive — focused on what work the employee can do, what adaptations are possible, and what will support a return to work.
NAV Arbeidslivssenter
NAV Arbeidslivssenter (NAV's working life centres) support enterprises with preventive work and sickness absence follow-up. Under the 2025–2028 agreement, the authorities will clarify what help enterprises can get from NAV, including from the working life centres. Enterprises with potential to reduce sickness absence, which are motivated and commit to their own efforts, are to be prioritised for process-oriented, time-limited follow-up.
Key Concepts
Sick pay (sykepenger): Employees receive sick pay at 100 percent of the sick pay basis, which is capped at six times the National Insurance basic amount (6G). The employer pays for up to 16 calendar days (the arbeidsgiverperiode); after that, the National Insurance scheme pays. The right to sick pay from National Insurance ends after 248 days of sick pay within the last three years.
Self-certification (egenmelding): Employees who have worked for the employer for at least two months may self-certify sickness for up to three calendar days at a time. Within the employer period, the employer may allow self-certification beyond three days.
Utenforskap (outside the labour market): The concept of people who are neither in work nor education, often receiving long-term benefits, is central to the Norwegian welfare policy debate. The IA agreement is one of several policy tools aimed at reducing sickness absence and dropout.
Sources
- Regjeringen.no: Avtale om redusert sykefravær og frafall fra arbeidslivet (IA-avtalen) 2025–2028
- NHO Arbinn: IA-avtalen for 2025–2028
- Arbeidstilsynet: Inkluderande arbeidsliv
- Lovdata: Arbeidsmiljøloven § 4-6; Folketrygdloven chapter 8