Employment Law

We assist employers in drafting and adapting all types of employment agreements, engagement structures, and staffing arrangements, as well as implementing workplace policies at both national and international level. We have particular expertise in executive service agreements, non-compete and non-solicitation clauses, and incentive and bonus schemes.

We help organisations navigate complex issues at the intersection of management prerogative and employee rights. Many workplace conflicts could be avoided through clear expectation management and precise definition of each party’s rights and obligations. Our advice contributes to lower conflict levels and reduced sickness absence. We also have extensive experience advising on workplace accidents and regulatory inspections, including structured communication with supervisory authorities and the police.

As Norwegian businesses become increasingly international — through foreign ownership and cross-border workforce mobility — the demands on HR and employment management grow substantially. We handle legal challenges relating to rights and working conditions across borders (posting and secondment of workers), and the adaptation of global policies to Norwegian law and practice.

Through our international network partnerships, we have access to relevant expertise wherever it is needed. One of our key networks is Ius Laboris, a global alliance of employment and pensions lawyers. This network enables our Norwegian clients to receive fast, consistent handling of legal questions arising in a globalised labour market.

Our lawyers advise employers and organisations on all aspects of collective employment law, including negotiations and dispute resolution before Norway’s Labour Court.

Our lawyers regularly assist both employers and employees with individual and collective pension issues. These include transitioning from defined-benefit to defined-contribution schemes, drafting individual and collective funded and unfunded pension agreements, operational pensions and resolution of disputes. We also advise on disputes between businesses concerning liability for pension-scheme costs. In the latter type of case, we often liaise with an actuary.

We have extensive expertise in and experience of drafting and litigating non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts.

In 2016, our lawyers published Konkurransebegrensninger i arbeidsforhold (“Restraints of Trade in Employment Relationships”), which is regarded as the standard reference work in this area of Norwegian law.

Our lawyers are experienced in handling all legal issues connected to the termination of employment. We act for both employers and employees in matters involving dismissals, suspensions, temporary lay-offs, summary dismissals, and other disciplinary measures. We handle the full process — from initial assessment and procedural requirements through to litigation before the courts.

We advise on workforce reductions and organisational restructuring, including obligation to consult, selection criteria, redundancy processes, and severance arrangements. We have extensive experience representing companies in complex change processes — both those driven by economic necessity and those triggered by mergers, acquisitions, and corporate reorganisations.

All companies have a duty to provide an appropriate working environment and ensure that their businesses are run properly. An important aspect of this duty is the provisions of the Working Environment Act on the right to report suspected wrongdoing without repercussions.

Companies are obliged to draw up routines for internal reporting, and to establish other mechanisms to facilitate whistleblowing. We are regularly asked to assist with the development of such guidelines.

We have extensive experience of conducting independent reviews and investigations into reported matters, as well as full external enquiries. In addition, we regularly advise whistleblowers and persons or companies accused of wrongdoing.

All employers in Norway must comply with the Personal Data Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For over twenty years, we have advised businesses on the data protection implications of working conditions. This includes employer monitoring of employees with regard to daily activities and in conflict situations, access to emails and other electronically stored materials, investigation assignments, transfer of personal data outside the EEA/EU (including cloud services), evaluation and establishment of data security procedures (including documentation requirements related to information security and internal control) and assistance with supervisory and complaints cases involving the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and the Norwegian Privacy Appeals Board.

When cases cannot be resolved through mediation, disputes are often settled in court. Our team includes leading Norwegian litigators, many of whom are admitted to the Norwegian Supreme Court.

Our lawyers have extensive experience of litigating employment disputes before the ordinary courts, arbitration tribunals and the Labour Court.