Staff welfare - Norway

Updated 11/2012

Legal requirements

The labour market is regulated by a number of laws. At the centre is the Working Environment Act containing rules on employment, leave, discrimination, health and safety and the environment. The Working Environment Act is administered by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.

Working Environment Act

Other relevant acts:

Gender Equality Act
Holidays Act
Wage Guarantee Act

Social requirements

Discrimination and equal treatment

Discrimination at work is covered by several laws, but the most important are the Working Environment Act, the Gender Equality Act and the Act on ethnic discrimination. These acts, which are based on provisions in the constitution and international conventions on human rights, give employees and job-seekers specific protection under the law.

Fact pages from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority
Working Environment Act, Chapter 13 on equal treatment
Gender Equality Act
Anti-discrimination Act
Anti-discrimination and Accessibility Act

Health and safety

A number of different Acts lay down rules to the effect that products and services must satisfy various safety and quality standards. The are requirements relating to premises, protective equipment and the organisation of work to safeguard the external environment and provide security for people at work. A common collective term for this is HSE (health, safety and environment).

Under the Internal Control Regulation (Regulation relating to systematic health, environmental and safety activities in enterprises) the person responsible for the business undertakes to maintain systematic compliance with requirements laid down in the following:

Working Environment Act
Fire and Explosions Act
Pollution Control Act (where the business employs staff)
Gene Technology Act
Act concerning the the supervision of electrical installations
Product Control Act
Norwegian Civil Defence Act
Radiation Protection Act
Internal Control Regulation

Working environment regulations with HSE requirements (valid as of 1 January 2013):

Regulation concerning organisation, management and co-determination.
Regulation on the design and equipment of workplaces (Workplace Regulation)
Regulation on the execution of work, use of work equipment and associated technical requirements (Execution of Work Regulation)
Regulation on thresholds and limits for physical and chemical factors in the working environment and infection risk groups for biological factors (Thresholds and Limits Regulation)
Regulation on the construction, design and production of technical equipment not covered by the Machinery Regulation (Producers Regulation)

Employers are responsible for the whole working environment, which includes ensuring that nobody is exposed to smoke in the workplace. Everyone is entitled to a smoke-free working environment.

Fact pages from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority

National insurance

The purpose of national insurance is to provide financial security by guaranteeing an income and compensating for specific expenses in the event of unemployment, pregnancy and childbirth, single parenthood, sickness and injury, disability, old age and death.

National Insurance Act

Working environment legislation

Employment contracts

A written contract of employment must be signed for any employment.

Managing staff - Norway
Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority - Model employment contracts in several languages

Working conditions

Norway does not have a statutory minimum wage. However, a specific regulation on collectively agreed minimum wages on construction sites has been introduced.

Fact pages from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority

Rules on working hours and breaks are governed by agreements between employer and employee, and by the provision of the Working Environment Act on working hours.

Fact pages from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority

Social security

Employees must cover sick pay for employees for the first 16 days of absence through sickness (the employer period). After this, social security takes over.

NAV on reporting sick
Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority - Monitoring sick leave
Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority - Occupational health insurance
NAV on inclusive working life

A disability benefit should provide a basic income for people whose earning capacity has been permanently reduced by illness, injury or disability.

NAV - Disability benefits
In the event of unemployment, workers are entitled to a daily allowance.
NAV - Daily allowance
NAV - Information on unemployment

Litigation

Employers and employees are responsible for collective agreements and avoiding industrial unrest. Society and outsiders may basically tolerate the inconvenience brought on by a labour conflict. Norway recognises the right to strike in connection with the establishment or amendment of collective agreements, except for civil servants and members of the armed forces.

The right to impose a lock-out is equivalent to the right to strike. Where a labour conflict results in danger to life and health or other serious harm to society, the Arbitration Board can intervene in the dispute with compulsory arbitration.

Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority - Arbitration Board

Mandatory social rules complete the requirements related to managing staff.

Staff — Norway

Businesses are free to go beyond the minimum social legal requirements at their own initiative.

Sustainability — Norway

Administrative procedures

Discrimination and equal treatment

Employers must work in an active, directed and planned way to foster gender equality and combat discrimination within their business.

In Norway, the responsibility for gender equality and combating discrimination rests with the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud can give guidance on how to work for gender equality and combat discrimination in working life. The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud will also answer questions on rights and obligations and deal with complaints of discrimination.
Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud

Health and safety

Employees must notify the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority and the nearest police authority of any accident causing serious injury or death. The employer must also send an incident report to NAV.

Fact pages from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority

The Regulation on health and safety work stipulates that anyone managing a business must systematically monitor the requirements laid down by the regulations for health and safety at work.

Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority - HSE
Altinn/Start and run a business - HSE

National insurance

Employers must notify the Register of Employers when the take on new employees or terminate existing contracts.

Employers are obliged to pay the employer's contribution towards wage costs. The employer's contribution helps to finance social security expenditure on things like pensions, sick pay, unemployment benefit, etc.

NAV - Registering employees
Altinn - Information on reporting and paying employer's contributions

Employers must send incident reports to NAV whenever an employee has suffered an occupational injury or illness.

NAV - Duty to report occupational injuries

Resources

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV) - Information on jobs, employment, pensions, healthcare and benefit schemes.

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organisation (NAV)

Altinn/Start and run a business, www.altinn.no, tel. +47 800 33 840, is a toll-free national information service for people establishing and running a business. The aim is to make it easier to launch and run businesses in Norway.

Altinn/Start and run a business

Check also the legislation on this topic in:

Staff welfare - Norway