Employment Regulations
Norway’s employment law is codified by the Norwegian Employment Act of 2005. The Employment Act requires the employment contracts to be in writing. It is interpreted by the general courts. It is recommended that professional advice be sought when employing in Norway.
Key Factors to Consider When Employing in Norway:
There are several key areas to be aware of within Norway’s employment regulatory framework, especially for companies that plan to initiate a full local office and human resources department. These challenges can be mitigated by use of a locally sourced payroll provider who is familiar with all of the local laws and rules for both local employees as well as foreign nationals.
Contracts
The Working Environment Act requires a written contract of employment to be provided in all employment relationships. This applies both to permanent and temporary work – irrespective of the duration of employment.
The contract must state factors of major significance for the employment, such as a description of the place of work, the work to be performed, the trial period, the wage and wage-payment procedures, whether the position is permanent, fixed-term or temporary, the duration and disposition of the agreed daily and weekly hours, length of breaks, supplements and other remunerations not included in the pay, the number of vacation days and holiday pay, the period of notice required upon termination of employment and any relevant information concerning collective agreements regulating the employment relationship.
Employee Entitlements
Working on Sundays
According to the Norwegian Working Environment Act, working on a Sunday of any other public holiday is not permitted, however there are several exceptions that have been made.
Anyone within the allowances, who chooses to work on a Sunday, must in return be given the following Sunday as a day off, the worker must also be given extra pay for any hours worked on a Sunday or public holiday.
Time Off Work
Employees in Norway are entitled to receive paid annual leave from their work, each year. Annual leave allows individuals to take time off away from work, yet still get still receive a wage. In Norway workers from both the public and private sector are entitled to 4 weeks and 1 day of leave. In certain areas of work, it has been agreed that workers are entitled to an extra 4 days of holiday. Employees who are over the age of 60 years old are entitled to receive an extra week of annual leave.
All workers in Norway are entitled to annual leave, yet in order to be eligible for payment while using their leave, employees must carry out a certain amount of work. If an employee has been with a business for a whole qualifying, working year (Calendar Year), then they will be entitled to receive their full working wage. However if the employee has only been with the business for a short while then they will only receive a wage equivalent to how long they has worked of the company.
Medical Leave
If an employee feels that they are too sick to come into work then they are entitled to self certified sickness absence. An employee is allowed to inform their employer that they are too sick to attend work for 3 days before requiring a doctor’s certificate, to declare it.
If the employee feels that they are still too ill to attend the workplace after eh 3 days period has ended then they must contact their doctor, who will then carry out an assessment of the patient and decide whether they are eligible for more time off work and a doctor’s certificate.
Employees may only have 4 self certified sickness absences in each 12 month period of time. The employee may also only be eligible for self certified leave once they have been working at the business for a total of 2 months.
Employment Termination
In Norway an employee can choose to end their employment contract at any time, however they must give notice and work for the full amount required by there employer. If the employee does not work the full notice period or chooses to not carry out their duties properly, then they will not be entitled to any wages earned during their notice. All employers have different notice periods in which they ask their employees to work, once their employment contract has been terminated. By law the notice period will not begin until the start of the following month of the termination; therefore if an employee chooses to end their contract on the 3rd of the month then they will have to complete the rest of the month before their notice period will begin, on the 1st of the next month.
Before an employee’s contract has been officially terminated, they will be expected to attend a meeting with their employer in order to discuss the termination. If the employee is leaving through the choice of the business then the employer will take the meeting as an opportunity to explain to them exactly why they are being removed from the company. If the employee is a member of a union then they can choose to have a union representative attend the meeting with them.
By law, a business can choose to end their employee’s contract for a range of reasons, such as cut backs within the company, or the employee failing to for fill their job roll. However it is illegal for an employer for end a contract due to a dislike of the employee. Any notice of termination must be put into written form with information on the employee’s right and deadline for filing a lawsuit against the company.
Probation Period
The probation period may be agreed for up to six months. If an employee has been absent from work during the probation period, the employer may extend the agreed trial by a period corresponding to the period of absence.
Such an extension may only take place when the employee has been informed of this possibility in writing at the time of his appointment, and when the employer has informed the employee of the extension in writing prior to the expiration of the probation period.
The right to extend the probation period shall not apply to absences caused by the employer. The Ministry may issue regulations permitting agreement on a probation period longer than six months in the case of certain groups of employees.
