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Fathers taking paternity leave after July 1 of next year can expect the “father’s fee trap” to be removed. The government is submitting proposals for consultation now.
The Minister for Children and Families, Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, has recently taken paternity leave to be with his son Bjørn Wilhelm. Photo: Private
An amendment to the law that could eliminate the so-called “parental fee trap” was sent for consultation on Monday. As Aftenposten has highlighted in several articles, many parents have lost the parental benefits to which they were entitled. They have submitted an application too late. In the first eight months of this year alone, 485 parents fell into this trap.
When the law is changed, the requirement that parents must take parental leave continually disappears. It is this requirement that has led many parents into the trap: if the father is not going to withdraw his quota immediately after the mother’s paid leave and requests to withdraw his quota after the mother has left the leave, then no paid, loses parental benefits.
– With free access to postponement until the child reaches three years of age, parents are prevented from losing acquired rights, it is stated in the proposal that is now sent for consultation.
Free forwarding, with certain exceptions
The proposed amendment to the law simplifies the regulations. Both parents have the opportunity to choose when they want to withdraw parental benefit.
– So parents do not have to request a postponement. They can inform Nav when they want to withdraw parental benefits. That is the main message of the consultation note. But there are some limitations:
- Three weeks before birth is reserved for the mother and cannot be postponed.
- The same applies to the first six weeks after birth. Here, certain exceptions are given for illness, for example, if the mother and / or child are hospitalized after birth.
- Therefore, the remaining weeks can be freely postponed until the child is three years old. But parents must ensure that the parental benefit of the first child is withdrawn before the period of benefit of the second begins. Otherwise, one can lose these days.
Can be changed from next summer
The Minister of Children and Families, Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF), affirms that the proposal will be sent for consultation until December 22 of this year. You promise to send the invoice to the Storting “as soon as possible” after that time. The aim is for the Storting to consider the matter before the summer. If everything goes according to plan, the law can be changed as of July 1 of next year.
The proposal provides benefits to various groups
The current regulations say something about when and on what basis the withdrawal of parental benefits can be postponed. With the free withdrawal, all of these will be removed. This means a simplification for Nav and benefits for some parent groups.
Current rules provide benefits for full-time workers. Full-time work has been a valid reason for postponing leave.
Therefore, the changes now proposed will also be important for parents who wish to postpone the parental benefit period for reasons other than full-time work.
For example, there may be parents who work part-time, are unemployed, or are students who want a postponement for the sake of an educational course.
Also clean the Christmas trap
Today, it is also the case that legal holidays grant the right to defer parental benefits, but not a collective agreement. Under the Holiday Law, the legal requirement is four weeks and one day. Fixed rate vacations may be longer.
If the mother, during her period extension, takes a five-week fixed-term vacation before the father begins abstinence, it can create problems. The days on which the mother takes vacations not required by law do not constitute a basis for the postponement. According to current regulations, the family loses four days of the parental benefit period if the father has not requested a postponement in advance.
Could have been cleaned many years ago
The proposed legislative change has already been on the table once before. It was sent for consultation in December 2012 when the red-green government ruled. A proposal to amend the law was sent to the Storting in 2013. But as Aftenposten mentioned earlier, the proposal was withdrawn by the new Conservative / FRP government. The reason was that the bill also contained other proposals that the new government did not want.
– Why does the proposal need consultation now when it has been before?
– Because it was so long ago, says Ropstad.
Many more parents than you thought have lost all or part of their parental fee. Many parents have sent complaint letters to the ministry every year, but the signal from there was long that there were no plans to change the regulations. Until Aftenposten shed light on the case and shed light on how many were affected, Ropstad had no plans for changes.
The fact that Nav has gotten a better overview of how many people lose their rights means that it is confident that it is right to change the law.
– Several thousand parents may have lost parental benefits after the government withdrew the bill in 2013. What do you think about it?
– I wish this part of that proposal had already been approved, he says.
– I really hope this means that more people can spend valuable time with children, he says about the bill that is now being sent for consultation.
