Employment contracts in Norway

Minimum requirements

The WEA requires the employment contract to be in writing and must contain factors of major significance for the employment relationship. As a minimum, it must include:

1. the identity of the parties;
2. the place of work. If there is no fixed or main place of work, the contract of employment shall provide information to the effect that the employee is employed at various locations or can freely decide on their place of work, and state the registered place of business or, where appropriate, the home address of the employer;
3. a description of the work or the employee’s title, post, or category of work;
4. the date of commencement of the employment relationship;
5. if the employment relationship is of a temporary nature, its expected duration and the basis for the appointment, cf. Section 14-9;
6. any provisions relating to a trial period of employment, cf. section 15-3, seventh paragraph and section 15-6;
7. the employee’s right to holiday and holiday pay, the provisions concerning the fixing of dates for holidays, and any right to other paid leave from the employer;
8. the periods of notice applicable to the employee and the employer and procedure upon termination of the employment relationship;
9. the pay applicable or agreed on commencement of the employment relationship, any supplements and other remuneration not included in the pay (for example, pension payments and allowances for meals or accommodation), method of payment, and payment intervals for salary payments. The different elements must be specified separately;
10. duration and disposition of the daily and weekly working hours. If the work is to be performed periodically or the daily and weekly working hours will vary, the contract of employment shall provide information to this effect, and stipulate or provide a basis for calculating when the work shall be performed;
11. length of breaks;
12. agreement concerning a special working-hour arrangement, cf. section 10-2, second, third and fourth paragraphs;
13. arrangements for shift changes, cf. section 10-3, and arrangements for work exceeding the agreed working hours, including payment for such work;
14. information concerning any collective pay agreements regulating the employment relationship. If an agreement has been concluded by parties outside the undertaking, the contract of employment shall state the identities of the parties to the collective pay agreements;
15. the identity of the hirer if the employee is hired out from a temporary-work agency. The information must be provided as soon as the identity of the hirer is known;
16. right to competence development that the employer may offer; and
17. social security benefits under the auspices of the employer as well as the names of institutions that receive payments from the employer in this regard.

The information referred to in (7) to (11) and (13), (16) and (17) may be given in the form of a reference to acts, regulations, or collective pay agreements regulating these matters.

If the employer has not stated that the employment relationship is temporary, cf. first paragraph (e) and section 14-5, it shall be assumed that the employee is permanently employed unless employment is considered highly probable.

If the employer has not stated the scope of the post, cf. first paragraph (j) and section 14-5, the employee’s claim regarding the scope of the post shall be used as a basis unless otherwise considered highly probable.

Fixed-term/Open-ended Contracts

The main rule is fixed employment. If a person is employed temporarily, certain requirements in the Working Environment Act must be met, for instance that the employee shall work for someone who is temporarily absent or that the nature of the work justifies the use of a fixed term contract. If the requirements are not met, the consequence is that the employee is considered permanently employed. The same rule applies for employees who have a fixed term contract for more than four consecutive years in the same company.

In addition, temporary employment  on a general basis is possible under certain conditions. This means that the worker is temporarily employed without the employer having to justify the need for temporary employment. This type  of temporary engagement may not exceed 12 months. After 12 months, the employment contract may be terminated, or the employee may be employed permanently or in one of the temporary engagements described above. If the employee is not offered a new position, the employer cannot hire a new person temporarily on a general basis to perform the same type of work.

Temporary employment engagements shall not exceed 15% of the total number of employees in the undertaking, of course it is always permissible to enter into such engagement with at least one employee in the company.

Trial Period

An employment contract may include a “trial period” for a maximum of six months.

Pursuant to the recently updated regulations, the maximum duration of a trial period will be limited to half the length of the employment relationship if it is temporary and shorter than 12 months.

Also, if an employee’s contract is renewed for the purpose of continuing in a position essentially similar to the previous position (with the same employer), the renewal itself will not permit a new trial period. The amendment is merely a codification of case law and does not entail any material changes.

Nonetheless, in the event of renewing an employment contract for permanent employment, it is still permitted to agree upon a new probationary period if the combined duration of the employee’s prior employment and the new probationary period does not exceed six months. This rule is ultimately aimed at situations where the employee has had a short-term temporary employment (with an even shorter initial probationary period) and he/she is subsequently offered a similar permanent position.

To be valid, the trial period must be regulated in the written employment contract. During the trial period, the material threshold for a legal dismissal with notice period due to circumstances related to the employee is considered to be somewhat lower. The notice period within the trial period cannot be shorter than is 14 days, and runs from day to day. The trial period may be extended if the employee is absent during parts of the trial period, and such absence is not caused by the employer, provided that the employee has been informed of this extension possibility in writing at the time of his appointment. This is normally done by including a clause in the written employment contract. Also, the employee must receive written information about the prolongation prior to the expiration of the trial period.

Notice Period

During the trial period, the notice period is only 14 days. The employment contract may provide for a shorter or a longer notice period. The notice period may also be agreed upon through collective agreements. Notice of termination given during the trial period runs from the date the employee received the notice.

Notice of termination given to the employees hired on a permanent basis must be minimum one month and starts on the first day of the month following the date the employee has received the notice in writing. For employees who have been employed for at least five consecutive years with the same employer  when termination is given, a mutual period of notice of at least two months applies. If an employee has been employed for at least ten consecutive years with the same employer when terminated, the mutual period of notice is at least three months. It is common for employment contracts  to have a mutual notice period of three months.

If an employment contract is terminated after at least ten years of continuous employment with the same employer, the notice period is prolonged to at least four months if it takes place after the employee has reached 50 years of age, at least five months after the age of 55, and at least six months after the age of 60.