Skip to content

Compliance

Norway employment compliance: a guide for employers

What employers hiring in Norway need to know: employment contracts, collective agreements, onboarding, working time, payroll, benefits and ending employment.

Read in Norwegian
Norway employment compliance: a guide for employers

Norway rewards an employer that gets the paperwork right early. A written employment contract, occupational injury insurance and a mandatory occupational pension all carry exact rules, and several of them changed recently: the deadline for a written employment contract dropped to seven days in 2024, and the general ground for a fixed term with no stated reason disappeared the same year. What trips employers up is how days are counted. Annual leave counts Saturdays as working days, while the employer’s sick pay period runs in calendar days.

Key takeaways

  • Every employment relationship needs a written employment contract, due as soon as possible and no later than 7 days after the employee starts, for an engagement over one month.
  • Annual leave is 25 working days, and Saturdays count as working days. Statutory holiday pay is 10.2 percent of last year’s pay, and the 12 percent rate comes from a collective bargaining agreement instead.
  • Employers pay sick pay for the first 16 calendar days of an absence, and a repeat absence within 16 days continues the same employer-paid period.
  • Ordinary working hours are capped at 9 hours in 24 and 40 hours in seven days. Total working time can never exceed 13 hours in 24 or 48 hours in seven days, whatever is agreed.
  • A mandatory occupational pension, where it applies, costs at least 2 percent of pay up to 12 times the National Insurance basic amount (12G).
  • Norway has no general statutory minimum wage. Only specific industries have one, set through regulations that extend a collective bargaining agreement.

What must an employment contract in Norway include, and by when?

Every employment relationship in Norway needs a written employment contract, with no exception for short or casual work. For an engagement lasting more than a month, the employer gives it as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the employee’s first day, a deadline cut from one month since 1 July 2024. For an engagement under a month, and for a worker supplied by a staffing agency, the contract must already exist when work starts.

The employment contract states:

  • The parties and the workplace.
  • The job title, main duties and start date, with the reason for a fixed term if there is one.
  • Probation terms, if the employer and employee agreed on a probation period.
  • Pay, including any add-ons paid separately from base salary.
  • Working hours, breaks and shift arrangements, including overtime pay.
  • Notice periods and the process for ending employment.
  • Annual leave and holiday pay rules.
  • The collective bargaining agreement that applies, if one does.
  • Employer-funded insurance and pension schemes.

If the employment contract is silent on whether the role is fixed-term, the employee is treated as permanently employed unless the employer shows otherwise. The same rule protects an employee’s claimed working hours when the employment contract does not state them.

Probation can last six months at most, or half the length of a fixed-term contract if that is shorter. A fixed-term contract needs one of five lawful grounds: work of a temporary character, covering for an absent employee, a work-practice placement, a labor-market scheme run by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), or an organized-sport role. Since 1 January 2024, the earlier general ground that let an employer agree a fixed term of up to twelve months with no stated reason no longer exists. An employee who has worked under one of the remaining grounds for more than three years continuously counts as permanently employed.

Employers should check the written employment contract against every item above before a new hire’s first day, and confirm which of the five fixed-term grounds applies before using one.

Does a collective bargaining agreement bind the employer?

A collective bargaining agreement normally binds an employer only through membership of an employers’ association or through the employer’s own signature. An undertaking outside any such association does not become bound just because its competitors are.

The exception is general application. Under the General Application Act, the Tariff Board can extend parts of a collective bargaining agreement to every employer and employee in a sector or area, including one that signed nothing and belongs to no association. Whether general application reaches a business depends on the sector its employees actually work in, not on how the company describes itself, and each sector has its own regulation.

General application is also the only route to a statutory minimum wage in Norway. It applies in ten named industries:

  • Motor trade
  • Construction sites
  • Electrical trades
  • Fish processing
  • Road haulage
  • Agriculture and horticulture
  • Accommodation and catering
  • Coach and passenger transport
  • Cleaning
  • Shipyard industry

Outside those ten, Norway has no general statutory minimum wage, and pay is set by the individual employment contract or by whichever collective bargaining agreement binds the specific undertaking.

Once an employer is bound, whether through membership, signature or general application, an individual employment contract can never give worse terms than the agreement sets, even where the employee agreed to them.

For more information, see how collective agreements work in Norway.

What must an employer do before a new employee’s first day?

Most of the setup for a new hire happens before their first day, because a few obligations attach the moment a business starts employing anyone.

  1. Register as an employer. A business registers in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities and flags itself as an employer, which starts the duty to pay the employer’s National Insurance contribution once it pays wages.
  2. Take out occupational injury insurance. This is mandatory for every employer, with the state itself the only exemption.
  3. Set up the mandatory occupational pension (OTP), where the thresholds are met. A business with at least two employees each working three-quarters of full time or more, or one non-owner employee at that level, or several part-time employees whose combined hours add up to at least two full-time-equivalent years, has six months from meeting the threshold to set the scheme up.
  4. Join an occupational health service if the risk assessment calls for it. The duty is risk-based, decided as part of the employer’s own systematic health-and-safety work, and a regulation compels membership regardless of that assessment in a set of higher-risk industries. Arbeidstilsynet, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, publishes which industries the regulation covers.
  5. Written employment contract. The employer gives it, covering the items in contracts, no later than seven days after the employee starts, for an engagement over a month.

Once the employee starts, the first monthly employer report (a-melding) registers both the business and the employee automatically in NAV’s employer and employee register. No separate registration step exists, and the report stays due every month afterward, even in a month with no pay event.

Which labor laws are specific to Norway?

Ordinary working hours are limited to 9 hours in 24 and 40 hours in seven days. Above that, three tiers of overtime apply, and every tier sits inside one absolute ceiling that no agreement can lift.

Basis Per 7 days Per 4 weeks Per 26 or 52 weeks
Without any agreement 10 hours 25 hours 200 hours / 52 weeks
Written agreement at a tariff-bound undertaking 20 hours 50 hours 300 hours / 52 weeks
Dispensation from the Labour Inspection Authority 25 hours — 200 hours / 26 weeks

That ceiling holds regardless of any agreement: total working time, ordinary hours and overtime combined, can never exceed 13 hours in 24 hours or 48 hours in seven days. The overtime supplement is at least 40 percent of ordinary pay. Daily rest is 11 hours, and weekly rest is 35 hours.

The duty to keep an overview of hours worked applies to every employee, including one on a fixed salary. Norway has no general statutory minimum wage; only specific industries have one, set through regulations that extend a collective bargaining agreement (see collective agreements).

For more information, see the working time rules in Norway.

How does an employer set up payroll in Norway?

Once an employer is registered and insured (onboarding), payroll runs through the same steps every payday.

  1. Withholding. The employer deducts income tax from gross pay and pays it no later than the next business day after payday.
  2. The employer’s National Insurance contribution. The rate depends on the zone the business operates in. The Oslo-region rate is 14.1 percent of pay, and other zones are lower.
  3. The monthly employer report. Filed by the 5th of the month, or the next business day if the 5th falls on a weekend or public holiday, whether or not any wages were paid that month.
  4. Payslip. Given at or immediately after each payment, showing how pay was calculated, the holiday pay basis and any deductions. Pay is due at least twice a month unless the employer and employee agreed otherwise.
Obligation Deadline
Withholding tax paid Next business day after payday
Monthly employer report 5th of the month
Employer’s National Insurance contribution 15 Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov
Annual pay summary to the employee 1 February

For the full calendar of payroll deadlines, see the Norway HR compliance calendar.

Which benefits must an employer provide?

The statutory benefits in Norway are annual leave and holiday pay, sick pay, parental leave, a mandatory occupational pension where the thresholds are met, and occupational injury insurance.

Benefit What the employer must do
Annual leave 25 working days a year. Saturdays count as working days
Holiday pay 10.2 percent of last year’s pay, paid on the last ordinary payday before leave. 12 percent comes from a collective bargaining agreement, for a fifth week
Holiday pay, over 60 A further 2.3 percentage points, capped at six times the National Insurance basic amount (6G)
Sick pay Employer pays the first 16 calendar days of an absence. A new absence within 16 days of the last one continues the same period
Parental leave Paid by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), not the employer: 49 weeks at full rate or 61 weeks and a day at a reduced rate, for one child
Occupational pension (OTP) At least 2 percent of pay up to 12G, where the headcount thresholds are met
Occupational injury insurance Mandatory for every employer except the state

The National Insurance basic amount is reset every 1 May, and NAV publishes the new figure. At 136,549 kroner from 1 May 2026, six times that amount is 819,294 kroner.

Parental leave is paid by NAV, not funded by the employer, though an employer that advances full salary during the leave can reclaim the benefit from NAV instead. Fifteen weeks are reserved for each parent at the full rate, or nineteen weeks each at the reduced rate, with the remainder shared between them. The employee gives notice of parental leave at least a week ahead for leave over two weeks, four weeks ahead for leave over twelve weeks, and twelve weeks ahead for leave over a year.

For more information, see holiday pay in Norway and sick pay in Norway.

How does an employer end an employment contract lawfully?

Ending an employment contract is only lawful with an objective reason tied to the business’s circumstances, the employer’s circumstances, or the employee’s own conduct or performance. Before deciding to dismiss, the employer discusses the grounds, and any choice among several employees, with the employee and their representative, so far as that is practically possible.

The compliant steps are:

  1. Consultation. The employer discusses the grounds for dismissal with the employee, and with their representative if they want one.
  2. Written notice. The employer gives the notice of termination in writing, delivered in person or by registered letter. It takes effect once the employee receives it.
  3. State the required information. The notice tells the employee about the right to demand negotiation, to bring a claim, and to stay in the role while a dispute is resolved, along with the applicable deadlines.
  4. Give reasons on request. If the employee asks, the employer states the grounds for the dismissal, in writing if the employee wants that too.
  5. Final pay. The employer pays final pay, including any accrued holiday pay, on the last ordinary payday before the employee leaves.
Length of employment Employer’s notice period
Any length 1 month, minimum
Over 5 years 2 months
Over 10 years 3 months
Over 10 years, employee turned 50 4 months
Over 10 years, employee turned 55 5 months
Over 10 years, employee turned 60 6 months
  • Resignation under the age-based periods. An employee covered by the 4-, 5- or 6-month periods can still resign on 3 months’ notice.
  • Probation notice is 14 days, mutual, but only where the employment contract sets out an agreed probation period in writing. Without that written clause, the ordinary tenure-based notice period applies from the first day.
  • Collective bargaining agreements. One can set a shorter period than the 1-month default, but no agreement made before a dismissal can undercut the tenure- or age-based periods above.

Employers should confirm a written, dated probation clause exists in the employment contract before assuming the 14-day notice period applies to a new hire.

Frequently asked questions

Is a written employment contract required in Norway, and by when must it be given?
Yes. Every employment relationship in Norway needs a written employment contract, with no exception for short or casual work. For an engagement lasting more than a month, the employer gives it as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the employee starts work, a deadline shortened from one month since 1 July 2024. For an engagement under a month, or for a worker hired through a staffing agency, the contract must exist immediately. It states the parties and workplace, the job title and start date, any fixed-term basis, probation terms, pay and any separate add-ons, working hours and breaks, notice periods, annual leave and holiday pay, the collective bargaining agreement that applies, and the employer-funded insurance and pension schemes. If the contract is silent on whether the role is fixed-term, the employee is treated as permanently employed unless the employer shows otherwise.
What are the lawful grounds for a fixed-term contract in Norway?
A fixed-term contract is lawful only on five grounds: work of a temporary character, covering for an absent employee, a work-practice placement, participation in a labor-market scheme run by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), or an organized-sport role such as an athlete, coach or referee. A narrower ground also lets some nationwide trade unions agree fixed terms for artistic, research or sporting work under a collective bargaining agreement. Since 1 January 2024, the earlier general ground that let an employer agree a fixed-term contract of up to twelve months without stating a reason no longer exists, so that option is not available today. An employee who has worked under one of the listed grounds for more than three years continuously is treated as permanently employed. When a fixed-term contract has run for more than a year, the employer gives written notice of the fixed term's end date at least a month before it, or the employee can stay a month past that notice.
Does a collective bargaining agreement bind an employer that never signed one?
It can. A collective bargaining agreement normally binds an employer only through membership of an employers' association or through the employer's own signature, and an undertaking outside any such association does not become bound just because its competitors are. The exception is general application. Under the General Application Act, the Tariff Board can extend parts of a collective bargaining agreement to every employer and employee in a sector or area, including an employer that signed nothing and belongs to no association. Whether general application reaches a particular business depends on the sector its employees actually work in, not on how the company describes itself, and each sector has its own regulation. Once an employer is bound, whether through membership, signature or general application, an individual employment contract can never give worse terms than the collective bargaining agreement sets, even where the employee agreed to them. The safest check is to confirm which regulations apply to a business's own sector before assuming none do.
Is there a statutory minimum wage in Norway?
Not as a general rule. Norway has no statutory minimum wage that applies across the economy. A minimum wage exists only in ten named industries, each set through its own regulation that extends a collective bargaining agreement to every employer and employee in that industry, whether or not they belong to an employers' association. The ten are the motor trade, construction sites, the electrical trades, fish processing, road haulage, agriculture and horticulture, accommodation and catering, coach and passenger transport, cleaning, and the shipyard industry. Outside those ten, pay is set by the individual employment contract or by whichever collective bargaining agreement binds the specific undertaking, and an employer with neither sets pay by agreement with the employee. Many countries answer the minimum-wage question once, with a single nationwide figure. Norway answers it industry by industry, so an employer checks whether its own industry is one of the ten before assuming a wage floor from another market applies here.
Is holiday pay in Norway 10.2 percent or 12 percent?
The Holidays Act sets 10.2 percent, and that is the statutory minimum. The employer pays it as holiday pay on the last ordinary payday before the employee's leave, calculated on pay received in the previous calendar year, for the statutory 25 working days of annual leave. The 12 percent rate is not in the Act. It is common practice, documented by Altinn, where an employer gives five weeks of leave instead of the statutory four weeks and one day, usually under a collective bargaining agreement or a company policy. An employee who turns 60 during the leave year gets a statutory supplement of 2.3 percentage points on top of the 10.2 percent, giving 12.5 percent, and that supplement applies only to the part of the holiday pay basis up to six times the National Insurance basic amount (6G). The base rate carries no such cap. An employer on a five-week collective bargaining agreement typically pays an employee over 60 14.3 percent in total.
How long is the employer-paid sick pay period, and what happens on a repeat absence?
An employer pays sick pay for the first 16 calendar days of an absence, weekends and days off included, and the National Insurance scheme, administered by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), pays after that. An employee qualifies for sick pay only after at least four weeks in work. For the first three calendar days of an absence, an employee can usually self-certify without a doctor's note, once they have worked there for two months. The repeat-absence rule decides whether a new illness restarts the employer's 16 days: a new absence beginning within 16 calendar days of the end of the previous one continues the same employer-paid period instead of starting a fresh one, counted from the last day of the previous absence. Sick pay is also capped: the sick pay basis cannot exceed six times the National Insurance basic amount (6G) a year, throughout the employer-paid period and afterward.
What is the mandatory occupational pension (OTP), and how much must an employer contribute?
Most Norwegian employers must run a mandatory occupational pension, known by its Norwegian abbreviation OTP. The duty applies to a business with at least two people each working three-quarters of full time or more, one non-owner employee at that level, or several part-time employees whose combined hours add up to at least two full-time-equivalent years. Once an employer meets one of those thresholds, it has six months to set the pension scheme up. The mandatory contribution is at least 2 percent of each member's pay, up to a ceiling of twelve times the National Insurance basic amount (12G), paid into the scheme once a year. The scheme also waives further contributions for a member who becomes at least 20 percent disabled, so their pension keeps building while they cannot pay in themselves. Employers sometimes assume contributions only start above a floor around one times the basic amount, but the law sets no such floor: the 2 percent applies from the first krone of qualifying pay.
How much notice must an employer give to end an employment contract in Norway?
The default notice period an employer gives is one month, rising with the employee's tenure and, separately, with their age. After five years of continuous employment, the employer's notice period is at least two months, and after ten years at least three months. Once an employee has ten years of continuous employment, age adds a further floor: at least four months after turning 50, five months after 55, and six months after 60, running alongside the ten-year requirement rather than instead of it. An employee covered by the age-based periods can still resign on three months' notice. During an agreed, written probation period, either side can end the employment contract on 14 days' notice, but only where the contract sets out that probation in writing; without that written clause, the ordinary tenure-based notice period applies from the first day. Before deciding to dismiss, the employer discusses the grounds with the employee and, where practical, their representative.

Sources

Disclaimer

Taito.ai does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. This article is for general information only. It describes the law as it stood on the date above and is not advice on any specific situation. Rates and thresholds change. Check with a qualified adviser before acting on anything here.

Keep reading

Additional resources

  • Collective agreements in Norway

    Collective agreements in Norway

    What binds an employer, and how general application reaches an undertaking outside any employers' association.

  • Working time rules in Norway

    Working time rules in Norway

    The overtime tiers, the absolute ceiling and the duty to track hours.

  • Norway HR compliance calendar

    Norway HR compliance calendar

    The statutory deadlines that repeat through the year.

  • Holiday pay in Norway

    Holiday pay in Norway

    The base rate, the over-60 supplement and how the basic-amount cap applies.

  • Sick pay in Norway

    Sick pay in Norway

    The employer-paid period, the repeat-absence rule and self-certification.

  • Annual leave in Norway

    Annual leave in Norway

    The working-day count, the over-60 rule and the main holiday period.