Contract Types

Contracts can be Fixed Term and Indefinite. Fixed Term contracts can be for a maximum of 3 years. Often Norwegian contracts will be subject to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Probation

Most probation periods are set at 6 months which is the maximum permitted.

Working Hours

The normal working week is 40 hours over a 5 day week.

Overtime

All overtime in excess of 40 hours per week should be paid at the overtime rate as specified in the contract or CBA. Commonly this rate is 140% of salary. There are strict limits on the amount of overtime which can be worked in a given period, for example, no more than 25 hours in 4 weeks or 200 hours in 52 weeks.

Other Financial

Employers must have occupational injury insurance in place.

In Norway holiday pay is in addition to the gross salary. However, employees do not receive pay during their annual leave.

Employers must establish an occupational pension scheme and contribute 2%; however, most employers pay between 5% and 10%.

Corporation Tax 2024: 22%

Consumption Tax: 25%

Employers’ Social Security

• 0 – 14.1% (Generally 14.1%, but depends on the area)
• Additional 5% payable on gross salaries over NOK 850,000

Employees’ Contributions

• 8.2% Social Security
• 5.1% Pension

Income Tax Rates

• 22% flat rate on all income plus
• 208,051 to 292,850 NOK – 1.7%
• 292,850 to 670,000 NOK – 4%
•  670,000 to 937,900 NOK – 13.6%
•  937,900 to 1,350,000 NOK – 16.6 %
•  Over 1,500,000 NOK – 17.6%

Notice

Notice periods are dependent on the employee’s age and their seniority. With up to 5 years’ service 1 month’s notice is required, rising to 2 months’ notice after 5 years and 3 months thereafter. After the age of 50, 4 months’ notice is necessary rising by one month every 5 years. Notice is counted from the first day of the month following when the notice is given. Thus if 1 month’s notice is given on the 2 March, then it would expire on the 30 April. In practice, most companies give 3 months’ notice unless they are obliged by law to offer more.

Employers cannot demand that employees take unused leave during their notice period (when notice is given by the employer) unless the notice period is in excess of 3 months.

If the employee is terminated then he can demand to take remaining holiday during the “main holiday period” (June to September); this does not apply when the employee gives notice.

Employees must give a minimum of 1 month’s notice by law.

Payment in lieu of notice is subject to agreement and to the terms of the contract.

Process

The termination process will depend on the terms of the contract and any CBA in place. The employer should have strong grounds for dismissal, and generally will seek to come to an agreement in such cases.

Severance Pay

There is no legal requirement to pay severance pay but companies will often offer a payment to encourage the employee to accept the termination.

During Probation

14 days’ notice is required by both parties.

Paid Public Holidays: 10

January 1st – 1st January

No day given in lieu

Maundy Thursday – 28th March

Day given in lieu n/a

Good Friday – 29th March

Day given in lieu n/a

Easter Monday – 31st March

Day given in lieu n/a

Labour Day – 1st May

No day given in lieu

Ascension Day (Thursday 40 days after Easter) – 9th May

Day given in lieu n/a

Constitution Day – 17th May

No day given in lieu

Whit Monday – 20th May

Day given in lieu n/a

All Saints’ Day – 5 November

No day given in lieu

Christmas Day – 25th December

No day given in lieu

Annual Leave

All leave entitlement based on 5 day working week. Public holidays falling on Sunday not included. Number of days quoted are working days unless stated otherwise.

Paid legal entitlement (working days)

In Norway statutory leave entitlement is dependent on union membership. Those who belong to a union are entitled to 25 days, those who are not are only eligible for 21 days, but many companies will give 25 days. Employees who are over 60 are entitled to 31 days’ leave per year.

Holidays are not paid in Norway, with a holiday allowance being paid instead. This allowance is earned during the previous year and is based on the salary earned during that year. Thus during the first year of employment the employee has no right to holiday pay. If an employee moves jobs then holiday in the first year is provided by the previous employer. Holiday pay is paid at the salary rate when accrued.

Leave entitlement is not pro rated in Norway in the year of joining. Instead, if an employee joins before 1st September, they will be entitled to the full annual leave amount. Joiners after 1 September are entitled to 5 days.

Employees in Norway have the right to take 15 days’ holiday during the “main holiday period” which is from the 1st June to the 30th September.

 Carry over permitted

By agreement, up to 12 days’ annual leave may be carried over to the following year. If an employee is prevented from taking leave, due to illness, or because the employer prevented him from taking his holiday, then he must be allowed to carry unused leave over to the next holiday year.

Sick

Paid sick leave is available for 52 weeks. The employer pays from day 1 to 16 and thereafter it is paid by the government. It is a mandatory requirement to have a doctor’s certificate from the 4th day of sickness.

Maternity

Norwegian new mothers are entitled to 59 weeks of maternity leave paid at 80%. If the employee only uses 49 weeks of this leave, then they are paid at 100%. For multiple births, an additional 21 weeks’ leave is available for twins and 56 weeks for the birth of three or more children, paid at 80%, or 17 weeks for twins and 46 weeks for three or more children, paid at 100%. Maternity leave can be shared with the mother’s partner.

Mothers are entitled to 3 weeks’ leave before the birth and it is mandatory to take the first 6 weeks after the birth.

New adoptive parents have the same rights, except for the 3 weeks of leave before the birth.

Paternity

New fathers and other partners are entitled to 2 weeks’ leave at the time of the birth. Many companies will pay salary during this period but if not the employee can claim via parental benefit.

Parental

The maternity leave entitlement can be shared between the partners. Parents can also take an additional 12 months’ unpaid leave (each).

Study Leave

After 3 years’ service, employees are entitled to 3 years’ unpaid study leave.

Carer Leave

Each parent is entitled to 10 days’ leave in the event that their child or the child’s carer is ill.

Medical

Some employers provide an allowance for employees’ private medical insurance.

Pension

The majority of employers are obliged to establish an occupational pension scheme which supplements the state provision. Typical employer contributions to such schemes are 5 to 10%.

Other

Many employers provide allowances such as meal allowances which is usually between 450 to 1,000NOK per month and gym allowance of between 150 to 600NOK per month. Other common benefits are transport and phone allowances.