Norway: Proposal to Abolish Company-Specific Age Limits

Under the Working Environment Act, an employer may legally terminate an employment relationship when the employee reaches the age of 72, without requiring any further justification.

A lower age limit may be decided and applied where necessary out of regard for health or safety. Additionally, employers have the option to establish a company-specific age limit of 70 years, provided that the age limit is made known to the employees, if it is applied consistently by the employer and if the employee is entitled to a satisfactory service pension scheme.

The government has proposed to remove the access of internal company age limits. If the proposal is adopted, all employees will have the right to work until they reach 72 years of age, unless specific health and safety requirements apply to their profession.

One of the main reasons behind the proposal is that the age limit for public sector employees is set to increase from 70 to 72 years. The government aims for 72 years to become the standard retirement age across the labour market and highlights several challenges associated with internal company age limits. They argue that the current system may lead to employers losing valuable expertise due to the strict enforcement of these limits. Internal age limits also provide little flexibility in cases where both the employee and the company wish to extend the employment relationship.

The deadline for submitting responses to the proposal was in January. If the change is adopted, employers will no longer be allowed to enforce a company-specific age limit. The general age limit of 72 years will apply to all employees.