How to fill out the employment status form - work assessment allowance

On the employment status form you must state your work and activities in the last 14 days and confirm that you will be registered with NAV in the next period. The information is used to calculate your payment of unemployment or employment scheme benefits.

It is important that you fill out the employment status form correctly and in time. If you submit your employment status card too late, a deduction may be made from the calculation for your next employment status form.

See more information about submitting your employment status form online and a paper employment status form by post.

How to fill out the employment status form

Here you will find information about the various questions on the employment status form.

Question 1 - Work

If you have worked in the period for which the employment status form applies, you must state all the hours you have worked each day. This applies to every day of the week, including Saturday and Sunday, regardless of the time of day you have worked.

One hour of work must be registered as one hour on the employment status form.

As a general rule, you must always state the number of hours you have actually worked. Paid work must be stated for the period the work has been performed, even if your income is not received until later.

By “work” we mean activities that can generate income or would normally have been paid, such as:

• Work in regular employment (as a wage earner)
• Work in own enterprise (it does not matter if you have a registered enterprise such as ENK, ANS, AS, NUF, etc.)
• Free work (for others), when this work is usually paid
• Hours you have been paid for, even when you are not working all the hours (e.g., piece work)
• Commission sales, telemarketing. etc.
• Freelance work
• Salaried positions
• Hobby work, home parties, etc.
• Cash benefits for care (omsorgsstønad)

Hours as foster parents must also not be entered in the employment status form.

Call NAV on +47 55 55 33 33 about how to enter the number of hours on your employment status form if you are working shifts, or your working hours vary significantly, such as a farmer or taxi driver.

If you are participating in part-time employment schemes or employment schemes with pay, you must contact NAV about how to enter the hours on your employment status form.

If you have been granted work assessment allowance while establishing your own business, you must not enter the hours you spend on establishment of the business on the employment status form.

You must not enter income from assets on your employment status form and the same applies to certain tax exempt income. Examples are:

• Letting out real property outside the business
• Interest, share dividend and other return on money and securities outside the business
• Tax exempt refurbishment of own house/holiday home

You must not enter certain kinds of unpaid work on the employment status form. Examples are:

• Unpaid work, social and visiting services for elderly disabled and elderly
• Work for humanitarian organisations, religious organisations, sports clubs and the like, for work that is usually performed by members and volunteers without remuneration

Unpaid work must be agreed with your case worker and must be part of your activity plan.

If you are receiving sickness benefit in addition to work assessment allowance, you must enter these hours on your employment status form, see question 3 regarding sickness absence.

Question 2 - Activities / courses / education

If you have agreed with NAV to participate in an employment scheme, course, education or other activities, you must state the days on which you have carried out the agreed activities. Agreed activities must be listed on the activity plan you have drawn up together with NAV.

If you join other activities than those you have agreed with NAV, you must inform your NAV adviser of this. The same applies if there are changes in the activities you have agreed with NAV. This is because your right to work assessment allowance is linked to NAV having approved the activity in which you are participating.

If you have not carried out the activity you have agreed with NAV and have not carried out other activity, answer “no” to this question. Your response to this question will not affect your allowance, as the intention is to find out whether you need changes in your activity plan.

If you have completed a course / education that you have not agreed with NAV, you must answer “yes” to the question and state to which days this applies.

Question 3 - Sickness absence

If you have agreed with NAV to participate in an employment scheme, treatment, education or other activities, you must state the days when you have been too sick to carry out the agreed activities.

If you are on sick leave from a part-time position that you have in addition to work assessment allowance and are receiving sick pay from your employer or NAV, you must state the hours for which you are receiving sick pay as working hours in question 1.If you are not entitled to sick pay, you must state the days you have been too sick to work under question 3 regarding sickness absence. Therefore you shall not report any hours on the sick leave form the days you have been ill.

Your response to this question will not affect your allowance, as the intention is to find out whether you need changes in your activity plan because you have become ill or your illness has become aggravated.

Question 4 - Holidays, etc.

If you have agreed with NAV to participate in an employment scheme, treatment, education or other activities, you must state the days which for other reasons than your own illness who have not been able to carry out the agreed activity, on the employment status form. For example, this may be when you take a holiday in the periods you have been participating in an employment scheme /receiving treatment.

If you can take a holiday without this affecting the activities you have agreed with NAV, you must contact NAV to clarify how you should fill out your employment status form.

If you want to keep your work assessment allowance during a trip abroad, you must apply to NAV in advance. Read more about work assessment allowance and staying abroad/vacation (text in Norwegian). 

You must only register a holiday on your employment status form when the holiday prevents you from carrying out the activity agreed with NAV. This applies both when you are working reduced hours, due to illness or an ordinary part-time position.

Absence from n agreed activity will usually mean that your allowance is reduced. If you have strong welfare grounds for the absence, NAV may consider whether you may still receive your allowance. Examples are:

• Illness in the immediate family (including your own children or child minder’s illness)
• Doctor or dentist appointments
• Job interview
• Agreed appointment with public support services.

If you believe you are entitled to payment of work assessment allowance, you must contact NAV on your first day of ansnce so that we can approve you absence before payment takes place.

Question 5 - Registration with NAV

In order to receive work assessment allowance or supplementary allowances, you must be registered with NAV. If you still want a job or help from NAV to find employment, you must answer “yes” to the question regarding registration with NAV.

If you answer “no”, NAV will usually contact you before your benefits are stopped.

The exception to this is people who are receiving work assessment allowance for a 3-month period while seeking work. If you answer “no” in such a period, you will no longer be registered as a job seeker with NAV. You will not receive more employment status forms, offers of work, participation in employment schemes or other help from NAV until to find employment and you will lose your right to work assessment allowance.

If you would like to register as a job seeker again, you must register once more on nav.no or contact NAV. If your allowance has been stopped, you must apply for this to be resumed.

Exemption from your obligation to submit an employment status form

You may ask NAV to be exempted from submitting an employment status form. NAV considers this individually, and we can only exempt you if you find it extremely difficult to fill out and / or submit your employment status form.

If you are exempted from submitting an employment status form, you still have an obligation to notify NAV of changes that may be significant for your allowance and activity plan.

Contact NAV

If you have questions regarding the employment status form, please call +47 55 55 33 33.

You may request a written reply to your questions, so that there is subsequently no doubt about the answers you have received from NAV.

Most of the main information about your entitlements and duties is available here in English. There are also links to other more detailed information; however, some of this information is only available in Norwegian.