Sick leave follow-up: leader duties and conversation template
Last updated 2026-08-07
When an employee is on sick leave, the employer must make contact early, prepare a follow-up plan together with the employee and hold a dialogue meeting within the deadlines set by regulation. The leader’s most important task is nevertheless the conversation: showing care without asking about diagnosis, and finding out which work tasks can actually be done now.
What are the formal steps?
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Early contact | The leader makes contact shortly after the absence begins |
| Follow-up plan | Prepared together with the employee, with goals and measures |
| Dialogue meeting 1 | Employer convenes; physician may participate |
| Dialogue meeting 2 | NAV convenes for longer absences |
| Accommodation | Ongoing assessment of tasks, time and place |
Deadlines follow the National Insurance Act and the Working Environment Act and are adjusted regularly. Check current deadlines with NAV before planning meetings.
What can you ask about — and not?
- You can ask about function: what can you do now, and what is difficult?
- You can ask about accommodation: what would help you return?
- You must not ask about diagnosis or treatment.
- You must not request access to health information beyond a functional assessment.
Conversation template for the first follow-up conversation
- Open with care and purpose: “I am calling to hear how you are and what we can do from our side.”
- Clarify function, not diagnosis.
- Map tasks that can be done fully or partly.
- Agree what should go into the follow-up plan.
- Agree the next point of contact and who takes the initiative.
What are the most common mistakes?
Waiting too long to make contact, turning the conversation into a control, or promising accommodation you cannot deliver. All three make the return harder than it needs to be.
Frequently asked questions
Must I contact a sick-listed employee?
Yes. The employer has an active follow-up duty, and early contact is part of it. The contact should be about work and accommodation, not health as such.
What if the employee does not want to talk to me?
Document the attempts, offer alternative channels or HR participation, and inform the employee that a follow-up plan should still be prepared as far as possible.