Occupational Injury Insurance In Light Of The Covid-19-outbreak

• Published date: 08 February 2021
• Subject Matter: Insurance, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Insurance Laws and Products, Government Measures, Insurance Claims
• Law Firm: SANDS Advokatfirma

Employers are required to take out insurance policies for their employees to cover occupational injury and disease. Due to the Covid-19-outbreak, the government has adopted regulatory amendments and issued some clarifications concerning coverage under occupational injury insurance schemes.

What is the regulatory framework?

The purpose of the insurance is to compensate employees for the particular risk associated with the work performed. The insurance covers injuries and illnesses which i) are inflicted during work, ii) at the employee's workplace, and iii) within the employee's work hours, pursuant to the Norwegian Occupational Injury Insurance Act (Nw. yrkesskadeforsikringsloven) section 10. In terms of which illnesses are covered by this insurance scheme, this is provided by regulations to the Norwegian National Insurance Act (Nw. folketrygdloven) section 13-4, cf. the Occupational Insurance Act section 11 (1) b.

How does the occupational injury insurance scheme cover Covid-19 incidents?

As a response to the Covid-19-outbreak, the following regulation amendments and clarifications have come about:

1. Corona contagion and Covid-19 has been added to the list of diseases covered by occupational injury insurance Healthcare workers...