Cross-Border Remote Work FAQs Norway
Assume that a foreign national employee of a foreign company wishes to work remotely for a period of time in your country performing services exclusively for the foreign company and not interacting with the local market in your country.
Work authorisation
A. Is work authorisation required? If so, please provide a brief description of the type of visa, procedure, processing time, etc.
Depends on nationality. EU/EEA employees can move to Norway and start working immediately but are obligated to register at the police within three months of arrival to Norway. Non-EU/EEA workers need a residence permit. The main requirements are that the employee is a skilled worker meaning that the employee obtains a higher education or has completed vocational training and has obtained employment/ received a job offer. Working for a foreign company that does not have a legal entity in Norway requires that the foreign company have a contract with an enterprise in Norway to carry out an assignment in Norway.
Risk of 'permanent establishment'
B. Is there risk of 'permanent establishment' consequences for the foreign company by virtue of the remote worker’s activities? If so, what are the main factors determining the exposure.
Highly unlikely. Companies based outside of Norway may be subject to taxation in Norway for income generated from activities they conduct or are involved in, and which is operated or managed from Norway.
When a company or self-employed person resides in a country with which Norway has entered into a tax treaty, the condition for tax liability in Norway is that the business income arise from business activities conducted through a permanent establishment in Norway.
A ‘permanent establishment’ refers to a fixed place of business where a company or self-employed individual runs the business all or some of the time. The business must also have been operating for a sufficient period of time.
Examples of permanent establishments are:
- a place of management
- a branch
- an office
- a factory
Local social security and other payroll requirements
C. At what point and under what circumstances would the remote worker become subject to local social security and other payroll requirements? Can such requirements be fulfilled by a foreign company, and if so by what mechanisms?
The default rule is that even a remote worker is a compulsory member of the National Security if he is:
- Resident in Norway. A person is considered resident in Norway if the duration of the stay is supposed to last, or has lasted, for 12 months or longer,
or
- Considered to work/be an employee in Norway. This also may apply to an employee working remotely in Norway for a foreign employer.
If a person is deemed to be a compulsory member under these criteria, the applicable rules may vary depending on their country of origin - specifically whether they are from a Nordic or EEA country, from a country that has an agreement on national insurance/ social benefits with Norway, or from a country outside the EEA without such an agreement on national insurance/social benefit.
For employees from countries outside the EEA without an agreement on national insurance/social benefits, the default rule applies.
For employees from countries within the EEA, the employee is compulsory member of the National Insurance, unless
- the employee is regarded as a posted worker from the employee’s home country in accordance with the law in the employee’s country or
- if the employee performs at least 25 % of his work in the country he usually resides in.
In both cases, he will still be affiliated with his home country’s social security.
For employees from countries outside of the EEA with an agreement on national insurance/social benefits with Norway, the employee is also, as a main rule, compulsory member of the National Insurance, unless the employee is a posted worker from the employee’s home country in accordance with the law in his home country.
From a practical point of view, the remote worker and/or the foreign employer must clarify social security affiliation with the social security authorities in the employee’s home country, before travelling to Norway.
If the remote worker is a member of the National Insurance, the foreign company will as a default rule be obligated to
- report the employee’s salaries
- payroll withholding tax
- pay employer’s National Insurance contributions.
- Register the employee with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) via the A-melding.
In order to perform these tasks, the foreign employer must have a Norwegian organization number, which is obtained by registering as a Norwegian branch of a foreign company (NUF) or a private limited company (AS).
These above is based on a strictly legal perspective. In practice, revealing that an employee indeed temporarily works remotely from Norway appears to be a difficult exercise.
Local employment law requirements
D. At what point and under what circumstances does the remote worker become subject to local employment law requirements such as is wage-hour, local holidays, annual leave, maternity leave, disability leave, protection against unfair dismissal, etc.
This depends on the rules on choice of law. Norwegian choice of law rules are, as the clear main rule based on case law and follow the so-called “Irma Mignon formula” which the Supreme Court established in Rt. 1923 II p. 59, according to which the laws of the country to which the case “has its strongest connection” shall be applied.
In assessing this connection, relevant factors include, among other things, the country in which the work is performed, where the employment contract was entered into and the language in which it was entered into, the parties ‘joint affiliation with a country’s legal system and the parties’ assumptions and course of action.
Several legal sources state that Norwegian conflict-of-law rules must be harmonized with EU law. Accordingly, where there is no direct conflict, EU conflict-of-law rules must be applied. This is stated, among other things, in the Supreme Court’s statements in Rt. 2009 p. 1537 (The bookseller in Kabul), which is followed up in Rt. 2011 p. 531 and HR-2016-1251-A et al.
The rules on the choice of law for international working conditions in the EU are set out in art. 8 of the Rome I Regulation of 2008, Regulation No 593/2008.
As a starting point, the parties are free to agree on which country’s law shall govern the employment relationship, cf. art. 8 (1), first sentence of the Rome I Regulation. This reflects the principle of party autonomy, which is also recognized under Norwegian law. If the parties to an international employment relationship have agreed on the choice of law in the employment agreement, for example that Norwegian law shall apply, this is also the starting point. However, art. 8 no. 1 second sentence, establishes an important limitation: if the choice of law means that the employee loses protection that he would have had if the relevant choice of law had not been made, the rules of the law of the country that would have been applied given that the choice had not taken place, will apply.
Remote foreign worker
E. Are there special requirements governing remote work in your country which would cover the remote foreign worker?
Provided that Norwegian law applies, the Regulations on working remote (FOR-2002-07-05-715) sets out certain requirements for working remote, when the work is not brief or temporary. Among other things, the regulation sets out requirements for a separate agreement in addition to the employment agreement.
Income tax
F. What is the employee’s exposure to local income tax, and under what circumstances is the foreign employer required to arrange for withholding of income tax?
The rules concerning tax residence upon moving to Norway apply to those who have not previously been resident in Norway. The rules also apply to employees who have been residents in Norway before, if previous emigration has been approved for tax purposes.
If the employee spends more than 183 days in Norway during a twelve-month period, the employee will become a tax resident in Norway. The same applies if the employee stays in Norway for more than 270 days within a thirty six-month period. These calculations include all whole or partial calendar days spent in Norway.
If the employee stays in Norway for more than 183 days during the year when they first move to Norway, they will be considered a tax resident from their very first day in Norway. However, if these 183 days are spread across two income years, the employee will become a tax resident from January 1st the second year. (The employee will have limited tax liability in the year before. This means the employee is only liable to pay tax on certain income related to Norway.)
If the Employee spends more than 270 days within a thirty six-month period in Norway, he/she will be considered a tax resident from January 1st of the year in which the stay exceeds 270 days. (You will have limited tax liability in the preceding year(s).)
Claim for workplace injury
G. Would the remote worker be entitled to bring a claim for workplace injury in your country?
If covered by Norwegian law and Norwegian occupational injury insurance – in principle yes. Depends on what type of injury and further what kind of social benefit/insurance that will be relevant/in question.
National healthcare system or insurance
H. Would the remote worker be covered under the local national healthcare system or insurance?
Yes, if the employee is a member of the National Insurance Scheme.
Data privacy and security
I. Is a foreign employer subject to data privacy and security requirements regarding protection of employee personal information for a foreign employee working remotely in your country?
As long as the employer has an establishment within the European Union, GDPR will apply. Furthermore, GDPR also applies to employers who are not established in the European Union if the processing of the employee’s personal data is connected to the monitoring of the employee’s behaviour while the employee is working in Norway. This must be assessed specifically in each case.
Foreign remote worker
J. Has there been any litigation or specific law or regulation regarding the foreign remote worker in your country?
In 2023, Norway entered into a new agreement on home office work for employees within EU, EEA and Switzerland. The agreement only applies to an employee working in two countries, where one of the countries is where the employer is resident, and the other country is where the employee is resident and works. This agreement states that the employee can decide to be affiliated with the social security scheme where the employer is located, as long as the employee performs less than 50 percent of the work on home office in the country where the employee is resident.
The agreement entered into force on 1 July 2023 for Norway and applies to all other countries that had signed the agreement prior to this date.
Citizenship
K. Would any of the above answers change if the remote worker (a) is a citizen of your country, or (b) engages in activity interacting with the local market?
a) A Norwegian citizen will not need residence permit/visa working remotely in Norway etc. The other answers will not necessarily change.
b) Not necessarily, however, this can affect the foreign enterprise’s tax liability to Norway, for instance if such activity results in “permanent establishment” status, discussed above.
