Travel allowance (reisetilskudd)
You can receive travel allowance instead of sickness benefit if it allows you to work. You can also receive travel allowance along with partial sickness benefit.
Who can receive travel allowance?
- You are an employee, self-employed or freelancer.
- You need transport temporarily to and from your workplace due to health problems.
- You are entitled to sickness benefit. The travel allowance is then provided instead of sickness benefit. You can also combine partial sick note with partial travel allowance.
For the first 16 days of sick leave, your employer covers the expenses. Talk to your employer about the possibility of getting help with transport instead of receiving sick note during these 16 days.
NAV covers travel expenses from day 17 when the employer period is over.
You will not receive travel allowance for transport that you need during the working day, i.e. in connection with the performance of your job. Travel allowance is only granted for transport back and forth to work.
How much are you entitled to?
The travel allowance covers necessary additional travel expenses to and from work while you are ill, i.e. transport expenses beyond what you normally have. If you need to use your own car due to illness the expenses are calculated according to the state travel allowance scale.
When the grant is calculated, the expenses that you would normally have for transport are deducted from the amount you are paid.
The travel allowance is limited upwards to the amount you would have received in sickness benefit for the same period. This means that the daily travel allowance cannot be higher than what you would otherwise receive in sickness benefits that day, also called daily rate. The daily rate is your annual salary divided by 260. The annual salary is reduced to 6G, the basic amount, if you earn more than 6G.
Partially on sick leave
If you are partially on sick leave, you will receive travel allowance for the part of your daily rate for which you do not receive sickness benefit. Example:
- Peter earns 312,000 kroner per year divided by 260 days = a daily rate of NOK 1 200.
- If Peter works 50% and is 50% on sick leave, sickness benefit amounts to NOK 600.
- Peter can be reimbursed for taxi expenses limited upwards to NOK 600.
Temporary or permanent?
As long as your transport need is temporary, there is no limit to the number of days you can receive travel allowance. This applies as long as you are still entitled to sickness benefits and travel allowances.
It is the need for transport that must be temporary, not the illness or the injury. If you have a permanent illness, you may receive travel allowance if the illness causes you to have an additional need for transport for shorter periods of time.
Do you have a permanent need for transport to and from work? Work and education travel or a grant for a vehicle for work and education may be appropriate instead.
How do you proceed?
Whoever puts you on sick leave fills out the item about travel allowance in the sick note. The following must be stated here:
- the period for which the travel allowance is sought
- the reason that you cannot travel normally to and from work, and that you would otherwise be on sick leave.
Some employers pay your travel expenses in advance. They then apply for a reimbursement from NAV afterwards.
If your employer does not pay you in advance, or if you are self-employed or a freelancer, you must pay for the travel expenses yourself.
How to apply for reimbursement
- You or your employer pays the travel expenses.
- When the period is over, you will receive a message from NAV when the application is ready to be completed on Ditt sykefravær
- You upload a picture of the receipts in the application.
You can check if your employer has posted. Then your employer does not have to apply for a reimbursement, but will get the money paid directly from NAV.
Do you have to use the paper sick note?
In these cases you must use part D of the paper sick note to apply for sickness benefit:
- You do not have BankID or other ID at the highest security level
- You have a strictly confidential address in the Population Register
Then you proceed like this:
- Complete the application for travel allowance for work travel
Application for reimbursement of travel supplement for work trips
- Attach receipts for the transport.
- A cover page sheet comes up. You print it out and place it on top when you send the form. Find the correct address.
An employer applies for reimbursement by filling out the application form for employers.
Reimbursement of travel expenses in lieu of sickness benefit
If the employee has not submitted a digital application, employers use this form to apply for reimbursement of the travel contribution.
Self-employed or freelancer
You also submit the form for income information.
Income information for self-employed or freelancers who need sickness benefits
You apply for sickness benefits after the sick leave period is over. You will receive a notification from us when the digital application is ready to be completed. Then log in to nav.no and send the application.
We cannot process your application until we receive your income information.
You must only complete and submit this form once for each new period of sick leave. If you submit applications for sickness benefits in a current case of illness, you do not need to fill out the form again.
If during the last 4 years you have started a business or experienced a permanent change in your work situation/business, you must document this.
When will the money be paid out?
We need your application, receipts and the income report from your employer before we can process and pay out money. See processing times.
Duty to report any changes
If there are any changes in your income, family situation and/or work situation, or if you are planning to spend some time abroad, this may have an impact on the amount you will be paid from NAV. You must immediately notify NAV in such cases.