Jens Kristian Johansen

Proper holiday planning is essential for employers in Norway, especially as summer approaches. While the warmer months may still seem far away, now is the time to start organizing employee vacations to ensure compliance with the Holiday Act and to avoid potential disruptions to your business operations. Failure to plan effectively can lead to significant costs for employers if employees do not take their statutory holiday.

The end of a calendar year is approaching. In this connection, several questions often arise regard-ing any remaining holiday days and in some cases also the payment of holiday pay.

Downsizing can be a complex process. There are many considerations to take into account in order to ensure an orderly process where the employer is understood by the employees.

The Norwegian holiday leave and holiday pay ensures that employees have a statutory right to holiday leave every year regardless of what kind of arrangements the employer decides to provide the employees with. The system can however seem complicated. In this article we explain the fundamentals of the Norwegian holiday leave and pay system and clear up some common misunderstandings.

The first paragraph of section 14-9 in the Norwegian Working Environment Act establishes the fundamental principle regarding permanent employment. According to the Norwegian government, a high percentage of permanent employment will contribute to more productive, adaptable, and competitive businesses.

Safety representative arrangements are a crucial part of companies' efforts to ensure the safety, health, and welfare of employees. Chapter 6 of the Working Environment Act contains a duty to appoint safety representatives, and currently, exceptions to this duty are only permitted in busi-nesses with fewer than ten employees. From January 1, 2024, the scope of the safety representa-tive arrangement will be expanded.

In recent years, there have been several proposed and implemented changes to the Working Environment Act, including stricter regulations on hiring, especially with regards to temporary employment. On June 16th, the government presented proposals for new changes, covering the use of trial periods, the right to written justification statements if part-time or temporary employees request more predictable and secure working conditions, as well as the requirements for written employment contracts and the consequences of deficiencies in these contracts.

The last decades, there has been a societal and technological development that has contributed to creating great flexibility in everyday working life. It has become increasingly common to use a home office, and many have a working day where they combine work from their private home with their permanent workplace. With the increased use of home offices, it is important that employers familiarize themselves with the rules that apply to home working.

Hjort acted as lead counsel to Sopra Steria, a leading European IT company listed on Euronext Paris, in connection with the acquisition of shares in Marin IT AS and its global subsidiaries.

We are now entering the most common period for summer vacation and payment of holiday pay. Questions often arise about determining vacation and what payments the employer should take into account when calculating the basis for holiday pay.

On May 25, 2023, the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion decided to implement an approval scheme for temporary employment agencies. The approval scheme is an extension of the tightening of access to hiring labor from staffing agencies, which came into effect on April 1, 2023. 

Until July 1st, businesses should review their agreements to determine if any changes need to be made.

The Supreme Court issued its decision in the so-called “tips case”, where employees at Hotel Bristol and Oslo Plaza Hotel were granted the right to keep the tips they received from customers without the employer being able to deduct costs for mandatory employer's contributions and administration.

The Norwegian labour authorities have tightened the rules for hiring workers from temporary employment agencies.

New provisions regarding part-time employees came into effect on January 1, 2023. The changes entail that part-time employees have priority over external hiring within the enterprise. The priority right is also extended to include extra shifts and similar short-term work. Additionally, employers are required to document in writing the need for part-time employment and to discuss with union repre-sentatives before making decisions about part-time employment.

The Easter holiday is approaching and many employers and employees have questions regarding the holiday from work during this corona pandemic. How is holiday allowance affected for companies with employees that have been temporarily laid off? Is an employee entitled to change or delay a holiday request that has already been approved because of quarantine or travel restrictions? When should an employee receive their holiday pay?