On 20 March 2020, the rules for being laid off were changed Employers are no longer obliged to cover the first 18 days of salary of employees who have been laid off. Instead, NAV grants temporary salary compensation to employees who are laid off.

 
If the employer who has laid off the employees pays the benefit in the form of salary in advance in the employer can get a refund for the salary payments made in the benefit period for the lay-off periods that started before 20 April 2020. The refund scheme does not apply to lay-off periods that started on 20 April or later.

Employers must apply for a refund to NAV by 31 August 2020, and they must do so in the way that the Directorate of Labour and Welfare decides. For more information about refunds, check NAV’s website.

Employers do not have to pay national insurance contributions on salary compensation that they have paid in advance, provided the employer is refunded the salary payments.

The employer’s national insurance contribution refund scheme works in the same way as refunds of sickness benefit, etc., meaning you’ll get a deduction in the contribution basis when the benefits are actually refunded. The deduction may only be claimed the month in which the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration has refunded the amount, see Employer’s national insurance contributions.

 

If you specify salary or benefits for an employee who is laid off, you can state this as you’ve done before, for example as fixed salary, hourly wage or other income. There is no description for salary payments during a layoff.

See the temporary regulation no. 1102 of 29 May 2020 and the temporary regulation no. 800 of 16 April 2020.