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!!!