The Holiday Act violates the EEA agreement, according to law experts

Many graduates cannot afford holidays due to lack of income. This violates the EEA agreement, according to law experts. The Ministry must look at changes.

The Danes have had the same holiday law as Norway, but this will change from next year. Following orders from the EU, all Danes are entitled to four weeks’ paid leave during a working year.

According to the lawyers Ragnhild J. Nakling and Julie Piil Lorentzen in the law firm Wiersholm, the Norwegian holiday law is almost exactly the same as the one the Danes now have to change, writes Aftenposten.

– “We urge the government to look at the holiday law. It should be high on the list of things to look at,” Nakling tells the newspaper.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs informs Aftenposten that they will now consider the Norwegian regulations.

The Norwegian Holiday Act distinguishes between the right to holiday pay and the right to vacation. You get holiday money, and not salary, during the holidays, but in order to get holiday money you have to have earned the right to them the year before. Many people who have not earned holiday allowance therefore drop out to take the holiday weeks that they are entitled to.

The employment law directive is part of the EEA Agreement, and Article 7 of the directive requires Member States to ensure that all workers are paid at least four weeks of annual leave.

– “The right is a particularly important principle in the EU’s social policy regulations and is a provision from which no exception can be made,” says Lorentzen.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today