Back to work

This week I went back to work after 9 months of maternity leave.

Time has flown by and BabyL is sliding/crawling around on the floor as DaddyO starts his round of paternity leave. This time around our maternity/paternity leave is divided like this:

MommyS – 6 months paid maternity leave (approx. 3 months mother quota and 3 months from the shared quota) , 3 months unpaid leave/vacation
DaddyO – 6 months paid paternity leave ( approx. 3 months from the shared quota and 3 months father quota)

And there you go, a year will have passed and BabyL starts kindergarten.

In case there is any doubt as to the paper mill that needed filling out.
Here is our process:
Mother applies for maternity leave, about two months before babys due date.
Mother quota and shared quota can ble applied in the same form
Using this form: Søknad om foreldrepenger, mødrekvote eller fedrekvote ved fødsel (Note it’s in Norwegian)
As I had a period of vacation and unpain leave, DaddyO had to apply for an extention.
Using this form: Utsettelse eller gradert uttak av foreldrepenger (fleksibelt uttak) (also in Norwegian)
Father applies for paternity leave, atleast 6 weeks before the first day of paternity leave.
Using the same form as mother used to apply for maternity leave (just another check box in the form): Søknad om foreldrepenger, mødrekvote eller fedrekvote ved fødsel (Note it’s in Norwegian)

New for this time around was the option to send some of the forms digitally – unfortunatly not all forms are have this option available yet. To use this option you will however need to have BankID, Buypass or Commfides available. Using this option allows you to follow the application process online. Though my experince with this online status left me with more questions than answers, and I wound up calling my local NAV to have my questions answered.

In two weeks time is Chinese New Year again, so in need of some cleaning and planning. So mark your calendars, Thursday, February 19. This time we enter the year of the Goat.

Does NAV have to be this difficult?

Just read an article about the endeavors a journalist experienced when applying for payments during maternity leave. You can read the article here.

I have just had my latest maternity leave approved by NAV. This time around DaddyO is having several weeks more leave than we had last time. And this time no graduated paternity leave. To stretch our leave until the baby starts kindergarten fall 2015 we have put in a few months of unpaid leave from work.

Of course the “rules” for paternity leave have change some from the last time we applied for paternity leave with BabyS in 2012. Here is my post from last time around in the NAV system.

To sum up the changes:
- 14 weeks are reserved for the father
- 2 more weeks paternity leave (49/59 weeks paternity leave, depending on 100% or 80% coverage)

So this time around, our paper mill looks like this:
1. MommyS applies for paternity leave – mother quota plus 10 weeks of the joint period
Using this form: “Application for parental benefits or a paternal quota for a birth”
NB: remember to attatch due date confirmation from doctor, dated after 26 weeks of the pregnancy
AND inform employer to send “Income and tax information for employees”
2. MommyS requests employer for unpaid leave and vacation time
3. DaddyO applies for postponement of paternity leave
Using this form: “Postponement or graduated parental benefits”
4. DaddyO applies for paternity leave – father quota plus the remainder of the joint period
Using this form: “Application for parental benefits or a paternal quota for a birth”
NB: inform employer to send “Income and tax information for employees”

I’m lucky and have an employer that reminded be of point 3. If I wasn’t reminded of this form I wouldn’t know to apply for a postponement. Guess that is what our HR department is there for, knowing the rules and regulations of NAV. Thank you Catherina E!

I realize that all the stories I’ve read about difficulties with the NAV system has always been in situations where applying for paternity leave have not been straight forward. And there is always a lack of information or the presence of misinformation…

- how has your encounter with NAV been?

Parental benefit on birth...the form paper mill

After several weeks of red tape I think I am finally finished with the chaos that is NAV forms.

Given this is my first pregnancy there was a lot of confusion for me. So I thought I would sum up what I learned from the process. Hopefully this will help clear up some issues for others that are in the same situation…in Norway of course (as this applies to Norwegian citizens only)

In Norway a few benefits are a given in relation to giving birth (given that you  have been occupationally active and have had a pensionable income for at least six of the last ten months before the benefit period commences);
- You can receive 100 percent of your parental benefits for a period of 47 weeks or 80 percent of your parental benefits for a period of 57 weeks. These weeks are divided as follows.

• last three weeks before the due date and the first six weeks after the child is born are reserved for the mother.
• 12 weeks are reserved for the father
• The remaining benefit weeks can be shared between the parents (the joint period)

So receive parental benefits there are a “few” forms that have to be filled with NAV (The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration)

1. “Application for parental benefits or a paternal quota for a birth” for the mother.

• remember due date confirmation from doctor, dated after 26 weeks of the pregnancy

(2.) “Application for parental benefits or a paternal quota for a birth” for the father

• has to been filled with NAV within the last day of the joint period, in other words before the father quota begins

Then there’s the curve balls…

Since both me and my husband are employed at places where the parental benefits are paid by our employer there are MORE forms. PS: that our employer pays out out benefits IS a good thing…

3.  “Income and tax information for employees” for the mother

4. “Income and tax information for employees” for the father

• the form is filed by the employer, but we ARE responsible for them being filed.

To ease the transition from maternity leave back to work for me, and from work to maternity leave for hubby - we decided to go for a graduated parental benefit solution after the joint period. This means practically combing work with maternity leave, thus prolonging the maternity leave period.

We are planning on 5 weeks I work two days a week and my husband works three days a weeks, and then vice versa for another 5 weeks. Then it’s back to work full time for me.

Again this means ANOTHER form…

(5.)“Postponement or graduated parental benefits” for the mother

(6.) “Postponement or graduated parental benefits” for the father

• this is an agreement between you as an employee and your employer, so involve your employer as soon as this is an option.
• this form can’t be processed until the baby has been born. So this form can be filed after the maternity leave has begun.
• your employer might need information from you before your file this form with NAV.

*The forms with numbers in brackets are forms don’t need to be filed until the maternity leave for the mother begins.

Not all the forms have been filed yet on my part. But at least now I know what forms are needed for our maternity leave to go smoothly…

Phew….that’s it for me this time. Now that the paper mill has begun rolling, that’s one worry less for me to think about…

Forms mentioned above are available @www.nav.no

All I can say for those of you who are at the beginning of this paper mill:

Good luck!!!