---
title: "Sick Leave and Employer's Period"
url: "https://help.capitech.no/en/article/sick-leave-and-employers-period"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2026-05-19T09:13:18.277Z"
---

# Sick Leave and Employer's Period

NAV's rules and guidelines govern the calculation of sick leave and the employer's period. Capitech Flow helps calculate continuous sick leave and the employer period automatically, but the calculation may need to be checked or overridden manually in some cases.

## What controls the calculation of sick leave and the employer's period?

NAV's rules and guidelines govern the calculation of sick leave and the employer's period.

Capitech Flow is a support tool that helps you follow up on sick leave. The system automatically calculates continuous sick leave and the employer's period, but the calculation may need to be checked or manually overridden in certain cases.

You must therefore always evaluate the calculations against NAV's guidelines in case of any discrepancies.

## What is continuous sick leave?

Continuous sick leave means that multiple sick leaves are linked together and treated as one continuous sick leave period.

In Capitech Flow, sick leave is considered continuous when there are fewer than **16 calendar days** between:

-   two sick leaves
-   a self-certification and a sick note

Capitech links sick leaves together based on:

-   **To date** in one absence
-   **From date** in the next absence

## Which self-certified absences are included in continuous sick leave?

Only self-certified sick leave that applies to **full days**, are included in the calculation of continuous sick leave and the employer's period.

In Capitech Flow, absence is considered a full-day self-certified sick leave when the field **Is counting as absence** is enabled.

The field **Is counting as absence** also controls whether the self-certified sick leave is counted in the employee's used self-certified absence days.

Self-certified sick leave for part of a day should not be counted as self-certified sick leave. Only full self-certified sick leave days should be included.

## Example of continuous sick leave

An employee has the following absence:

| Absence | Period | Duration |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Self-certified sick leave, full day | February 1 | 1 day |
| Sick leave 1 | February 2-8 | 7 days |
| Sick leave 2 | February 15-21 | 7 days |
| Sick leave 3 | March 10-17 | 7 days |

There are fewer than 16 calendar days between:

-   the self-certified absence and sick leave 1
-   sick leave 1 and sick leave 2

Capitech therefore automatically links the self-certification, sick leave 1, and sick leave 2 together as one continuous sick leave period.

Between sick leave 2 and sick leave 3, there are more than 16 calendar days. Sick leave 3 is therefore counted as a new sick leave period, and the system starts a new calculation of the employer's period.

## What is the employer's period?

**Employer's period** is the period during which the employer, as a general rule, pays sick pay to the employee.

NAV describes the employer's period as up to **16 calendar days** for each sick leave period.

In Capitech Flow, the employer's period is calculated in calendar days from the first day of absence in a continuous sick leave.

Days between two sick leave periods do not count as paid days of absence, but the employer's period continues if there are fewer than 16 calendar days between the absences.

#### Example of employer's period

An employee has the following sick leave certificates:

| Absence | Period | Days in employer's period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | 1-7 February | 7 days |
| Sick leave 2 | 15-28 February | 9 days |

The employer's period totals 16 days:

**February 1-7 + February 15-23 = 16 days**

The rest of sick leave 2 falls outside the employer's period.

If an employee is on sick leave on a day they normally do not work, for example, a Saturday, the employer's liability period starts from the first ordinary working day. This will usually be Monday.

## Self-certification and sick leave in the same period

Days between self-certification and sick leave can be included in the employer's period if no work was planned in the period between them.

No planned work means that the employee had no shifts or agreed working hours, for example during:

-   weekend
-   vacation
-   days off
-   time off in lieu

Capitech assesses this based on registered hours in the period:

| Situation | How are the days treated? |
| --- | --- |
| There are registered hours between self-certification and sick leave | The days do not count towards the employer's period. |
| There are no registered hours between self-certification and sick leave | The days count as part of the employer's period. |

#### Example of self-certification and sick leave

An employee has self-certification from **April 1-3** and is on sick leave from **April 6-20.**

If the employee has no registered hours or planned work on April 4-5, April 4-5 counts towards the employer's period.

The employer's period is then calculated as **April 1-16.**

If, however, the employee has registered working hours on April 4 or 5, the employer's period is calculated as:

**April 1-3 + April 6-18 = 16 calendar days**

## Retrospective registration of self-certification

In some cases, self-certification is registered after a sick leave has already been entered and the employer's period has been calculated.

When this occurs, the manager receives a notification in Capitech Flow. The notification informs that the employer's period may be affected.

For the calculation to be correct, the affected sick leaves must be saved again.

When sick leaves are saved again, the system recalculates the employer's period and updates hours in the column Paid.

## Requirement for self-certification in sick leave follow-up

For self-certifications to be linked as part of a continuous sick leave period, this must be selected in the client settings.

The setting is called:

**Include self-certification in the follow-up of sick employees**

If this setting is not activated, self-certifications will not be linked in the same way into the follow-up of sick employees.

## When does new sick leave start?

According to NAV rules, a new sick leave period should start a new employer's period when the employee has resumed work, and at least 16 calendar days have passed since work was resumed. NAV states that the employer's period applies for up to 16 calendar days per sick leave period.

Capitech links new sick leave to previous leave if there are less than 16 days between the absences.

The system does not automatically detect all situations where the employee has resumed work but has not been declared fit for work for 16 days before a new sick leave.

In such cases, HR or the manager must assess whether the sick leave should be registered as:

-   new sick leave period
-   continuation of previous sick leave

#### Example of new sick leave

An employee has the following absence:

| Absence | Date |
| --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | March 1-14 |
| Recovered | March 15 |
| New sick leave | March 25 |

There are 10 days between the absences. Capitech therefore links the absences as one continuous sick leave period.

If the new sick leave starts April 2, it is 18 days after recovery. This is then registered as a new absence period and a new employer's period in Capitech, regardless of whether work was actually resumed in the period between.

## Vacation and sick leave

Sick leave and vacation are handled as separate processes.

Vacation does not affect the calculation of continuous sick leave or the employer's period in Capitech Flow.

NAV has its own rules for sickness during vacation, and these must be assessed outside the Capitech calculation.

## Special cases for continuous sick leave

Capitech considers sick leave to be continuous when there are fewer than 16 calendar days between two absences.

The assessment is done automatically based on:

-   to date in one absence
-   from date in the next absence

In certain situations, this may differ from NAV's regulations. This means that Capitech may:

-   link absences that should not be considered continuous
-   not detect absences that should have been linked

Such cases must be assessed and handled manually by a manager or HR.

### Special case: First scheduled working day

In some cases, a sick note starts before the employee was actually supposed to be at work, for example, after a weekend or days off.

Then the distance between two absences may appear shorter in the system than it is in practice.

Example:

| Absence | Period |
| --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | February 1-7 |
| Sick leave 2 | February 21-28 |

Capitech links these together because there are fewer than 16 calendar days between February 7 and February 21.

If the employee first had a planned workday February 26, there are in practice more than 16 days between the last day of absence in the first sick leave and the first actual day of absence in the next.

According to NAV rules, this may be a new sick leave period, even if Capitech links them together.

In such borderline cases, sick leave 2 should be registered with a from date equal to the first actual day of absence. This ensures that the absences are not incorrectly linked.

### Special case: Periods of leave

There may be longer periods without planned work between two sick leaves.

This may apply, for example, to:

-   shift schedule
-   on-call work
-   fixed periods off

Even if there are more than 16 calendar days between sick leaves, NAV may in some cases still consider the absence continuous if the employee has not returned to work in the period between.

Capitech only assesses the number of days between absences and therefore does not automatically detect all such cases.

Example:

| Absence | Period |
| --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | February 1-7 |
| Period off | February 8-28 |
| Sick leave 2 | March 1-14 |

If the first scheduled workday in sick leave 2 is March 3, and the employee has not returned to work between absences, NAV may consider this as one continuous sick leave period.

The employer's period can then be calculated as follows:

**February 1-7 = 7 days**  
**March 3-11 = 9 days**  
**Total = 16 days employer's period**

This must be handled manually based on whether the employer's period has already been completed in the first part of the period.

#### If the employer's period is completed before the period off work

If the employer's period has already been completed in the first part of the sick leave, you should use an absence code corresponding to **Sick leave outside the employer's period** in the second part of the period.

Then no paid hours are calculated in the column **Paid.**

Example:

| Part | Period | Assessment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | February 1-21 | The employer's period is completed |
| Leave period | February 22-March 14 | No work |
| Sick leave 2 | March 15-28 | Use absence code corresponding to Sick leave outside employer's periode |

#### If the employer period is not completed before the period off work

If the employer period is not completed in the first part of the sick leave, the employer's period shall continue in the next part.

Use an absence code corresponding to **Partially paid sick leave**, and manually override which days should be paid in the column **Paid** on the daily transactions.

Example:

| Part | Period | Assessment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sick leave 1 | February 1-7 | 7 days in the employer's period |
| Leave period | February 8-28 | No work |
| Sick leave 2 | March 1-14 | First planned working day is March 3 |

The employer period will be:

**February 1-7 = 7 days**  
**March 3-11 = 9 days**  
**Total = 16 days employer period**

Hours in the column **Paid** after March 11 must be overridden to 0 on the daily transactions.

## Important about absence codes

The naming of absence codes may differ from one organization to another.

This is why the wording **equivalent to Partially paid sick leave** and **equivalent to Sick leave outside the employer's period** is used.

You can find your absence codes under:

**Admin > Absence > Absence codes**

## Sick pay basis

Capitech calculates hours to be paid during absence. Capitech does not calculate the actual sick pay basis.

The sick pay basis is normally determined according to NAV rules, based on the employee's income. The National Insurance Act has its own provisions regarding the sick pay basis, including for the employer period.

## References

#### [NAV Sickness benefits during the employer period](https://www.nav.no/arbeidsgiver/sykepenger-i-arbeidsgiverperioden)

**Version updates**

Flow 15.58.0 Nov. 2025: **Absence | Calendar with sick leave period**

Flow 15.57.0 **Oct. 2025: Absence | Partially paid**