NORWAY Trends and Developments
Introduction Norwegian employment law and judgments from both the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal have evolved on specific topics during the last year. The legisla - tive changes were imposed by the Norwegian Labour Party’s policies through the Norwegian government, while judgments from the courts are of course based on individual cases. The main trends in the labour market and workplaces continue after the pandemic years, focusing on the following: • working environment, claims for harassment and whistle-blowing cases; • challenges connected to a continuous rise in sick leave rates; • possibility of remote work; • use of AI in the workplace; and • challenges connected to employees from different generations. The main legal changes seen this year relate to: • psychosocial working environment; • classification of independent contractors versus employees; and • company-specific age limits. Legal Acts New legal requirements regarding working environment The Norwegian Parliament recently adopted amend - ments to Section 4-3 of the Working Environment Act regarding requirements for the psychosocial working environment. The background for these changes is a report from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority published in 2023. The report revealed, among other points, that the Working Environment Act’s regulation of the psychosocial working environment is fragment - ed and difficult to understand. This highlighted the need for more systematic and targeted prevention, as well as increased competence among HSE person - nel. Psychosocial conditions have a major impact on health and sickness absence, while the prioritisation of the topic varies between industries. The report also highlighted growing international attention regarding psychosocial requirements within organisations, and
emphasised the need for clearer regulatory require - ments, as well as improved training for managers and elected representatives. The changes involve a linguistic addition and defini - tion of various working environment factors of the Section’s first and second paragraphs. The list is not exhaustive, but specifies the following factors that the employer must be more attentive to. • Unclear or conflicting demands and expectations of work performance. • Emotional demands and strains when working with people. • Workload and time stress that means there is an imbalance between the work to be done and the time available. • Support and help to conduct the work. The amendment is not intended as a substantive change to current law, but rather to clarify the require - ments for the psychosocial working environment. Nevertheless, there is reason to question whether the changes entail an increased/expanded responsibility for employers. Unions have generally been positive about the chang - es, while employers have expressed concern that responsibility is being extended in a way that may have unintended consequences. Several consultation responses pointed out that the new criteria appear subjective and unsuitable as legal standards, which in turn can create a lack of clarity about what is actu - ally required of the parties in a working environment. Company-specific age limits will be abolished from 1 January 2026 The age limit, as in when the employer can terminate the employment relationship without any other cause than age, is by law 72 years. Until the end of this year, Norwegian law has allowed company-specific age limits to be set at 70 years. From 1 January 2026, company-specific age limit will be abolished. As a result, all employees will have the right to stay in their positions and work until the age of 72. Dismissals due to age given before the age of 72 will be considered unjustified and illegal, unless
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