Guide to the sickness absence report

Modified on Mon, 22 Jun at 2:46 PM

How to read and understand the figures in the Excel report

The report gives the organisation an overview of sickness absence on a monthly basis or for each quarter, as required by the regulations. It meets the minimum requirements for sickness absence statistics set out in the National Insurance Act § 25-2 and the Regulation of 25 March 1997 No. 272. The purpose is to enable you to follow absence over time and to use the figures actively in your sickness absence work.

1. How the report is structured

The report consists of two tabs:

Sickness absence statistics – detailed. Shows absence broken down by quarter, gender and type of absence. This is the main report.
Sickness absence statistics – simplified. Shows only agreed working days, sickness absence days and sickness absence as a percentage per quarter.

The rows in the detailed tab are split by quarter. Each quarter is further split into Female, Male, Other and Total. “Other” captures employees who are not registered as female or male. “Total” is the sum of all.

The columns are divided into two main parts:

Sickness absence. All absence that counts as sickness absence. Here you find “Total sickness absence” and absence broken down by length: 1–3 days, 4–16 days and over 16 days. The “Over 16 days” column has its own breakdown for extra-long absences beyond 8 weeks.
Other absence. Absence that is not counted as sickness absence: sick child, other absence and unauthorised absence.

The report can be generated at any time, but you should then be aware that absence may end up in the wrong column. Only once the absence has ended do you know which column it should fall under. Regardless of this, the percentage absence will be correct.

2. Basic concepts

These concepts recur throughout the report. The explanations below apply wherever the concept is used.

Concept	What it means
Possible person-days	The number of days employees are scheduled to be at work during the quarter. Calculated as number of employees × operating days in the quarter × position fraction. Part-time employees count according to their position percentage. Also called possible person-days.
Sickness absence days	A sickness absence day is an agreed working day on which the employee is away due to illness. Only whole days are counted. For part-time work and graded sick leave the days are weighted (see chapter 4) so that they are comparable with agreed working days.
Cases	Each continuous period of sickness absence is counted as one case. The case is recorded in the quarter in which the absence began (see chapter 3). Two separate absences separated by one or more working days are two cases.
Sickness absence %	Sickness absence as a percentage. Calculated as sickness absence days divided by agreed working days, multiplied by 100. Calculated for each row (per gender and total).
Self-certification	Absence the employee reports themselves, without a medical certificate from a doctor.
Medical certification	Absence documented with a medical certificate from a doctor.
Holiday days	Holiday days are not included in possible person-days. In periods with a lot of holiday-taking, the number of agreed person-days falls and the sickness absence percentage therefore rises, given the same number of absence days.

3. The columns under “Sickness absence”

Total sickness absence

The first three number columns summarise the absence for the entire row.

Column	How it is read and calculated
Possible person-days	The basis for the percentage calculation. The sum of agreed person-days for the row (cf. chapter 2).
Sickness absence days	The sum of all sickness absence days in the row, regardless of length and regardless of whether the absence is self-certified or doctor-certified.
Sickness absence %	Sickness absence days ÷ agreed working days × 100. Example: 7 sickness absence days out of 885 agreed days = 0.79%.

The length columns below divide the same absence according to how long it lasted. For each length you find two types of figure: “Cases” and “Sickness absence days”. They are counted as follows:

1–3 days and 4–16 days

These two groups are divided into Self-certification and Medical certification. The same absence is recorded in only one place – according to how it is documented.

Group	Column	How it is counted and calculated
1–3 days	Cases	The number of sickness absences lasting 1 to 3 calendar days inclusive. Each absence is one case.
	Sickness absence days	The number of sickness absence days in these cases. Weighted for part-time work and grading.
4–16 days	Cases	The number of sickness absences lasting 4 to 16 calendar days inclusive. Each absence is one case.
	Sickness absence days	The number of sickness absence days in these cases. Weighted for part-time work and grading.

Self-certification and doctor-certification are counted and calculated in exactly the same way. The only difference is how the absence is documented. The 16-day limit follows the employer’s period.

Over 16 days

Here, sickness absence lasting longer than the employer’s period (more than 16 days) is recorded. All working days lost in the quarter are included – including the first 16. The report only becomes correct once the full length of the absence is known. This means that an absence may change column once the final length of the absence is known.

The group has two parts:

Part	Column	How it is counted and calculated
Total over 16 days	Cases	All sickness absences lasting more than 16 days. Each absence is one case, recorded in the quarter in which it began.
	Sickness absence days	The sickness absence days from these cases that fall within this quarter. Weighted for part-time work and grading.
Over 8 weeks	Cases	The portion of the absences over 16 days that last more than 8 weeks (long-term absence). These are also counted under “Total”.
	Sickness absence days	The sickness absence days for the long-term absences. Also included in the “Total” figure.

Over 8 weeks

“Over 8 weeks” is therefore not an addition to the report, but an elaboration: it shows how much of the long absence is long-term absence. For the report to be entirely correct, it is a prerequisite that more than 8 weeks have passed after the period being reported on; only then do you know whether an ongoing absence falls into this column.

4. How to count cases and days

Cases

Each continuous absence is counted as one case.
The case is recorded only in the quarter in which the absence began. In monthly view, the relevant month of the start is shown.
If one medical certificate follows directly after another, without the employee having returned to work, it is counted as one case – a single continuous absence.
If the employee has returned to work between the absences, they are counted as separate cases.
If an absence spans two quarters: the case is recorded in the first quarter. In the next quarter only the days that fall there are recorded – not a new case.

Sickness absence days

A sickness absence day is an agreed working day on which the employee is away. Only whole days are counted. Weekends and days off during the absence period are not included. The days are weighted as follows:

Full-time: the number of absence days counts in full. 2 days away = 2 sickness absence days.
Part-time: number of absence days × position fraction. 5 absence days in a 50% position = 2.5 sickness absence days.
Graded sick leave: number of absence days × grading percentage. 50% graded over 10 days = 5 sickness absence days.
Part-time and graded at the same time: multiply both. 10 operating days × 3/5 position × 0.5 grading = 3 sickness absence days.

Employees without entitlement to sick pay

It follows directly from the regulations that the statistics should only cover those who have accrued the right to pay during illness. Employees who have passed the maximum date for sick pay should therefore not be counted as an agreed person-day, and their absence should not be included under sickness absence days. Here you must make sure to exclude from the report all employees who have passed the maximum date; this must be done manually.

Sickness absence as a percentage – example

An organisation has 250 agreed working days in the quarter and 25 sickness absence days. This gives a sickness absence of 10%. The next quarter there are 270 agreed days and 26 sickness absence days, i.e. 9.6%. You find the annual figure by summing the days and the agreed days for all quarters before calculating the percentage.

5. The columns under “Other absence”

This is absence that is not counted as sickness absence and which therefore does not affect the sickness absence percentage. Each type has “Cases” and “Absence days”. Cases and days are counted according to the same rules as in chapter 4.

Column	What is recorded here
Sick child	Absence due to a child’s illness. Recorded with cases and absence days. Included regardless of whether the employer or NAV pays. Not counted as sickness absence.
Other absence	Leave and other approved absence, with or without pay. Parental leave is also recorded here. Not counted as sickness absence.
Unauthorised absence	Absence not agreed with the workplace. Not counted as sickness absence.

6. The simplified tab

The simplified tab shows the three key figures per quarter: agreed working days, sickness absence days and sickness absence as a percentage. It gives a quick overview without breakdown by gender, length or documentation. The figures are calculated in the same way as in the detailed tab.

Tip: Organisations with fewer than 20 employees can make do with this level. You then add up agreed person-days and sickness absence per quarter.

Legal basis and sources

The National Insurance Act § 25-2 – the employer’s duty to keep sickness absence statistics.
Regulation of 25 March 1997 No. 272 on keeping statistics on sickness absence and absence due to a child’s illness.
NAV’s guidance on keeping sickness absence statistics: nav.no/arbeidsgiver/fore-sykefravar