People who are happy at work take fewer sick days. That's the whole secret.
Norway spends over 271 billion kroner per year on sick pay, work assessment allowance and disability benefits (Ministry of Finance, 2025). More than the entire defence budget and justice sector combined. 70 percent of new AAP recipients come from sick leave, and 80 percent of new disability benefit recipients come from AAP. Every sick leave that isn't resolved risks becoming permanent. We could significantly reduce that amount — without cutting services or pressuring people harder.
Instead, we should do the opposite: invest in good leadership, better workplace culture, and people who thrive at work. It costs less than what we currently spend, and it's the only thing that truly works.
Sick leave every year
74.9 bn
paid out
Disability benefits every year
140.7 bn
paid out
Combined total
Over 271 billion kr
— more than the entire defence budget
If we simply reduced sick leave in the public sector by one percentage point — from 6.9% to 5.9% — we would save 7.5 billion kroner per year. This is not magic. It's entirely achievable.
The municipal sector has 8.1% medically certified sick leave, compared to 5.8% nationally (KS, 2024). But when you control for gender, age, and occupational composition, nearly the entire gap disappears (PROBA analysis). Municipalities employ more people in physically and emotionally demanding roles — kindergartens, nursing homes, home care. In addition, women have a higher biological risk for autoimmune diseases, chronic pain conditions, and mental health disorders — diagnoses that significantly contribute to the gender gap in sick leave (NAV, 2024).
One in three employees on sick leave report that workplace conditions are the cause (STAMI, 2024). Role conflict, emotional demands, and unsupportive leadership alone account for 15% of long-term absence (STAMI). Employees who experience control over their own work and support from their manager have documented lower absence. Sick leave has many causes — biological, personal, and work-related. But working conditions are the factor employers and policymakers can actually improve.
Not running faster
When we talk about efficiency, we don't mean pressuring staff harder or increasing workload.
Not doing more with fewer people
A department with a low budget that must accomplish the same with half the staff ends up with high sick leave and poor results.
Not cutting and hoping
Budget cuts without investment in solutions only create stress and frustration — and higher sick leave.
Not judging by numbers alone
A department with low costs and 15% sick leave is NOT efficient — it's poorly managed. Efficiency must always include sick leave in the calculation.
Efficiency means people should thrive at work — and as a consequence, organizations and businesses will function better.
Better workplace culture
People are satisfied, social bonds are strong, tasks are manageable
Lower sick leave
People take fewer sick days because they feel good and aren't exhausted
Lower costs
Fewer benefits paid, higher productivity, better quality
The only thing that really works is good leadership. A skilled manager who understands people, organizes work sensibly, and builds trust — that's the fastest path to better workplace culture. A study of 53,157 Danish workers found that lowest leadership quality yielded 61% higher risk of long-term absence (Eriksen et al., 2020). In Danish hospitals, high leadership quality yielded 27% lower risk of long-term absence (Clausen et al., 2022). Leaders who support employees' basic psychological needs achieve lower sick leave (Stenling et al., 2024).
Being the best at your trade doesn't mean you're good at leading people. These are two completely different skillsets:
Both roles should have equal status and respect. One shouldn't be seen as more prestigious than the other. And people should choose their career path based on what they're good at — not because leadership is the automatic next step for talented professionals.
Our first and most important investment is a massive push to develop leaders in the public sector. It's the cheapest investment, it gives the fastest returns, and it's Phase 1 of our implementation plan.
We want to learn from the military: give people the goal and the framework, but trust them to find the way. This kind of leadership removes unnecessary barriers and gives people the freedom to do their jobs right.
After every project or period, the whole team talks openly about what worked and what didn't — regardless of position. This makes organizations learn and improve faster.
Leaders should be evaluated on workplace culture and satisfaction, not just budget and output. Poor workplace culture means poor results anyway — and higher costs through sick leave.
Leaders need training in workplace psychology, conflict resolution, and motivation. You don't learn this just by being good at your trade.
We invest in this from day one — and it pays off quickly.
A 25-year-old and a 58-year-old are not the same — and that's a strength, not a problem. They have different abilities, energy levels, and strengths at different life stages.
Young people (20–40)
Strength: Intensity, pace, energy, eagerness to learn
Best suited for: New challenges, innovation, experimentation
Experienced workers (50–70)
Strength: Experience, perspective, judgment, stability
Best suited for: Mentoring, coaching, quality control, leadership
The first time society invests heavily in individuals is through education in their 20s. We want to create a second major investment — available from age 40 to 60: reskilling.
A structured 6–12 month program that gives you pedagogy, coaching, or leadership skills, on top of the experience you already have. The goal is to move people from roles their bodies or industries no longer support, to roles where their experience is invaluable.
Reskilling is financed as a life-stage support through the employment agency — same model as student finance: basic stipend plus progression bonus. The program costs about 200,000 kroner per person. The alternative — sick leave, early retirement, disability — costs millions.
Reskilling solves three problems at once: it gives senior workers a dignified and meaningful end to their careers, it solves the shortage of teachers and mentors with practical experience, and it reduces sick leave and early retirement.
The goal is for reskilling at 55 to become as natural as military service at 19.
The most physically demanding jobs need relief. Not by cutting staff or pressuring them harder — but by removing what wears them out.
Major investment in robotics and automation of the most strenuous work — heavy lifting in healthcare and elder care, repetitive tasks in manufacturing, work that damages the body.
People should be able to rotate between tasks that use their bodies differently, so no single part gets overworked.
People in the most physically demanding jobs should be able to work fewer hours than others — with wage subsidies from employers and society.
The principle: We should not have people being worn out by their work — but we recognize it exists today, and we'll support them while we work to eliminate the root causes.
Take care of employees
↓
Lower sick leave
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Lower costs
↓
Room for lower taxes
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More freedom for people
Job satisfaction is not a goal in itself. It's not a luxury concept for idealists. It's the most effective and cheapest path to a rich and free society.
When people are happy at work, they thrive, take fewer sick days, and work better. Costs go down. And when costs go down, we can lower taxes and give people more freedom to build lives that matter to them.
Job satisfaction is just one of many topics in our party platform. See our full policy on work life, health, technology, and more.
Read the full party platform