Working in Norway: Everything You Need to Know About Contracts, Pay, Holiday Leave and Working Hours

The Legal Backbone of Working in Norway in Summary

The Norwegian system is unusual in that it does not have a national minimum wage. But the Working Environment Act is the country's principal employment law.

It says you are entitled to 25 working days' holiday in any calendar year. 'Working days' counts Saturdays, so all employees get 4 weeks and 1 day of paid time off at minimum.

When it comes to working time, the Act sets out the rules but leaves the detail to be handled in sector-specific collective agreements. These are binding on everyone in that sector.

The Holidays Act regulates holiday pay, feriepenger in Norwegian alongside the Working Environment Act. When you leave on holiday, feriepenger is paid in place of, not in addition to, your normal wages.

This holiday pay is calculated on the basis of the wages you earned in the preceding 12-month period, but subtracts payments that are not normal wages - such as allowances, profit share, or pay for work outside your normal hours.

The law requires that your paycheck lists this calculation for you, meaning you can check the numbers and raise a question if they don't look right.

Statutory holiday pay is a minimum of 10.2% of wages for the qualifying period, so it's clear that collectively agreed holiday pay would generally be higher. Qualifying employees aged over 60 get a higher rate of 12.5%.

Holiday Leave and Feriepenger: What Your Employer Owes You

All full-time employment contracts, shore or offshore, will cover the minimum 25 working days' holiday and holiday pay.

So what is the 'working day' for holiday? Holidays are measured in virkedager, so five working days from Monday to Friday count as four full weeks plus one day.

Your employer must lay out what percentage of your pay counts as the holiday allowances, the feriepengegrunnlag, in your pay-check. Then at the start of the following year, the company pays you the allowance as holiday money, while you remain employed.

This minimum holiday pay rate is 10.20%, covering normal pay received in the preceding 12 months. Normal pay does not include pay under certain headings:

• travel or cost-of-living allowances
• profit-sharing on projects
• overtime

If a source gave you a 10% performance bonus, that money is excluded from the holiday pay calculation.

For employees over 60, the minimum holiday pay rate is 12.5%.

For employees on longer contracts, tariffavtaler or company collective agreements will state a higher rate. Some of these higher rates are outlined in collective agreements.

Holiday Pay on NAV Benefits and Unemployment

Working in Norway, you are entitled both to holiday pay from your employer, and to holiday bonus payments from NAV, the Labour and Welfare Administration, if you receive some kinds of welfare benefit for more than two months in the 12-month qualifying period.

If you are unemployed or on sickness benefit, you will receive 9.5% of your benefit payments from the preceding year. Your NAV office will lay out the payment and the calculation in your benefit papers, and will pay out the holiday pay before the end of May.

NAV will pay out holiday bonus payments only if you were in receipt of benefits for at least 20% of the 12-month qualifying period, so you need to work the numbers in mind:

| Benefit | Number of weeks | |-----------------------------------|-----------------| | unemployment benefit (dagpenger) | more than 8 | | sickness benefit (sykepenger) | [TO VERIFY] | | parental leave (barnetilsyn) | [TO VERIFY] | | social assistance (sosialstøtte)| [TO VERIFY] |

No General Minimum Wage: Why Collective Agreements Matter

The Working Environment Act lays down no general minimum wage for employees in Norway.

Instead, pay floors are usually set by sectoral tariffavtaler, or tariffavtaler, collective agreements in Norwegian. These sectoral agreements are widely respected and joined by most companies.

The agreements also cover overtime rules and notice periods, among other day-to-day aspects of work.

Tariffavtale Rules on Notice Periods and Working Hours

Collective agreements contain the detail on working hours and notice periods that the Working Environment Act sets as minimum.

The working hours are laid out in detail. For anyone assigned to work offshore, as for instance with energy workers on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, rules for notice periods will be strict.

Notice to terminate contract will be a minimum of one month, to be served by the end of a calendar month.

Unexplained failure to pay wages may allow a worker to terminate with short notice.

For senior offshore workers, notice can be up to six months.

So individual companies may offer extra benefits. Employers may pay a war risk bonus, or provide larger housing allowances.

But in the daily working lives of their employees, tariffavtaler are the rules.

Reading Your Norwegian Contract Against the Rules

Having worked in Norway, you are entitled to these at minimum:

• paid holidays. At minimum, 25 working days, so four weeks plus a day
• holiday pay. At minimum, 10.2% of pay earned in the qualifying period, so excluding variable pay
• payout of holiday pay. Paid within one week of the holiday start
• holiday pay on certain benefits. Paid by NAV if you were in receipt for two months in the qualifying year

Any valid employment contract will state arrangements and calculations for holiday entitlement, holiday pay and notice periods, or refer to an applicable tariffavtale.

If any of these are missing, raise a question with your employer. You have these rights by law, and as an employee, must treat Norwegian law as the last word.

Failing which, contact the Labour Inspectorate, the Arbeidstilsynet, who will be able to offer you the protection your employer should have.