Norway has a mixed economy in which most companies are private and many national services, including health care and education are provided by public sector organisations.

As elsewhere in Europe, many nationalised business monopolies have recently been privatised and their markets opened to competition. For instance, in November 1994, the Telecommunications Administration was reorganised as a private company, Telenor AS, with the shares owned by the State, and in January 1998 the telecommunications market was deregulated. In December 1996, Norwegian Railways was reorganised into two private companies, with shares owned by the State: an operating company, NSB BA, and a permanent way and fixed facilities agency, the Norwegian National Rail Administration (NNRA). Private companies now compete with Telenor in telecommunications and private operators may now compete with NSB BA and operate trains on NNRA rails.

Today, nearly 53% of the Norwegian population works, the eighth highest figure in the world. Less than a tenth of the workforce is employed in agriculture, forestry or fishing – the traditional occupations of centuries gone by. Most now work in the industrial sector or in the service sector. The service sector is gaining. In 1980, it employed 8 in 10 women and 5 in ten men. Now, three-quarters of all work is in the service sector, though private health care and private education are increasing. Nearly a third of the workforce is employed in the public sector, about the same proportion as in Denmark and in Sweden.

With few exceptions, all jobs are open to all persons qualified for them, regardless of sex, ethnic background or religious beliefs. Work permits (Chapter 2) are required for all foreign nationals, except for citizens of other Nordic countries (Denmark, The Faroes, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Åland Islands), but foreigners are treated equally with Norwegians in applying for work. Women and men have equal rights in work, education and care for children in the home. Increasingly, women work outside the home and men take more responsibility for housework and child care and upbringing. The proportion of women in executive positions has lagged behind that of women in the workforce in general. But there have been noteworthy exceptions. In 1981, Gro Harlem Brundtland became the first woman Prime Minister, and in 2004 Gro Smesrud became the first woman chief of an Oslo police station.

Unemployment is low, about 4.5%, as are vacancies in many parts of the country. Moreover, vacancies often remain unfilled due to skill shortages among job applicants. Consequently, inexperienced young people, women who have been at home for several years, older people and immigrants who have yet to learn the language often have difficulty finding jobs. However, numerous skills upgrading programmes are available to better equip people for the labour market.

Compared to many other countries, annual vacations are long, four weeks plus one day for all employees and five weeks for all employees age 60 and older. The average work week is 37.5 hours, and the average work year is 1,725 hours.

Child labour (Barnearbeid)

Children less than 15 years old cannot be employed in ordinary work, such as performed by adults. They can take light jobs, such as delivering newspapers outside school hours. The working hours for young persons 15 to 18 years old cannot include night work or overtime, and their employment is subject to specific safety regulations. School pupils up to 18 years old must have four weeks of vacation (Chapter 23) each year, of which three weeks must be in summer.

Collective bargaining and labour disputes (Tarifforhandlinger og arbeidskonflikt)

The employer organisations and the unions have a basic agreement (hovedavtalen) that sets forth the rules for collective bargaining and for resolving labour disputes, as well as specifies how management–labour relations are to be conducted.

Wages and working conditions are negotiated in a yearly National Agreement on Wages (Tariffoppgjøret). While negotiations are in progress, both the employer organisations and the unions may press their demands and take action if necessary. The agreement reached (tariffavtale) is valid for a contract period (tariffperiode) of two years but can be renegotiated or terminated after one year.

Strikes or lockouts during the contract period are unlawful, and persons involved in them are legally responsible for compensatory claims that may be made by the other party, such as for loss of income. Strikes and lockouts usually occur in the spring, just before the yearly negotiations. But unlawful strikes or lockouts are seldom. Moreover, in terms of working days lost each year per 1,000 employees for the 23 OECD (Chapter 20) countries, Norway is just the median country.

Commercial terms (Forretnings vilkåi)

The standard delivery terms first compiled by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1936 are used in all international trade. They are called “Incoterms” in all languages and were updated most recently in 2000. There now are 13 Incoterms in four categories:

• E-terms: a seller makes goods available to a buyer at the seller’s own premises; one term, EXW (Ex Works).
• F-terms: a seller agrees to deliver goods to a carrier designated by a buyer; three terms: FCA (Free Carrier), FAS (Free Alongside Ship), FOB (Free On Board). Note: Norway uses this international definition of FOB, which differs from that used in the USA and Canada, where FOB means “Ex Works”.
• C-terms: a seller contracts for transportation to a buyer but assumes no responsibility and bears no additional costs after despatch; four terms: CFR (Cost and Freight), CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight), CPT (Carriage Paid To), CIP (Carriage and Insurance Paid To).
• D-terms: a seller bears all costs and risks in transporting goods to the destination country; five terms: DAF (Delivered At Frontier), DES (Delivered Ex Ship), DEQ (Delivered Ex Quay), DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid), DDP (Delivered Duty Paid).

Incoterms publications are stocked by the ICC committees round the world. The Norwegian Committee is ICC Norway, Drammensveien 30, PO Box 2900 Solli, 0230 Oslo, Tel: 22541700, Fax: 22561700, www.iccnorge.no, post@iccnorge.no.

Company organisation (Foretaksform)

As elsewhere in Europe, there are four general types of company organisation.

Sole proprietorship (enkeltmannsforetak): one person provides all the capital and bears all the risk. There is no distinction between the owner’s private income and fortune and that of the company. Accordingly, the company profits are the owner’s income and are so treated tax-wise. There is no specific designation in a company name to indicate that it is a sole proprietorship.

General partnership (ansvasrlig selskap): two or more persons provide the capital and bear all risk. As opposed to a sole proprietorship, a general partnership is a juristic person (juridisk person) with its own income and fortune. General partnerships may be undivided, in which all partners are individually and collectively responsible for all liabilities, or divided, in which the overall liability of the company is divided between the partners. The undivided form is simply called ansvarlig selskap, abbreviated Ans. The divided form is called Ansvasrlig selskap med delt ansvar, abbreviated DA.

Limited liability company (aksjeselskap): the capital for the company is provided by several people, with the liability of each limited to the amount of share capital invested. A limited liability company is a juristic person (juridisk person) with its own income and fortune and its own responsibility for liability. There are two principal forms of limited liability companies. In terms of numbers of companies, the most common form is private ownership, in which the persons who provided the capital to found the company own it and are entitled to share its profits. The share capital at the time of founding must be at least NOK 100,000. This form of company is called Aksjeselskap, abbreviated AS, As, or as, sometimes with a slash between the letters, as A/S. A public limited company is a limited liability company that can offer its shares to the public, as by trading on a stock exchange. Shareholders share the profits of the company and are free to trade their shares. The share capital at the time of first public offer and stock exchange listing must be at least NOK 1,000,000. This form of company is called an Allmenne aksjeselskap, where the word allmenne means “the general public”, and the name is abbreviated ASA. In other words, all Norwegian companies traded on the stock exchange are ASA.

Co-operative society (samvirkelag): a co-operative society is a company owned and managed by a society of persons or groups of persons who intend not to make a profit but to provide benefits to the society’s members, such as do co-operative shops. The usual form is an Andelslag (”share society”), abbreviated AL.

Discrimination (Diskriminering)

Labour laws specifically state that there shall be no job bias on the basis of sex (kjønn), religious belief (trosbekjennelse), race (rase), skin colour (hudfarge), ethnic background (etnisk opprinnelse), lifestyle (leveform) or homosexuality (homofillegning).

Nonetheless, discrimination exists. If you feel that you are subjected to discrimination at work, you should notify your immediate superior. If your supervisor does not act, you should contact the safety representative (verneombud), the union representative (tillitsvalgt), the unions or the Labour inspection authority.

If you feel that you are subject to discrimination because of your sex – in most cases, because you are a woman – you also may contact the gender equality (Chapter 26) ombudsman (likestillingsombudet).

EEA nationals’ work rights (EØS arbeidsvilkåt)

The principal EEA provisions concerning individuals relate to work and residence. If you are a citizen of an EEA country, you may stay in Norway and seek work for a three-month period without having to obtain a work permit or a residence permit, provided that you can support yourself. If you find work within three months, you have the right to remain in Norway, but you must apply for a residence permit. As a job seeker from an EEA country, you are entitled to the same job placement services as are Norwegian job seekers. If you are entitled to unemployment benefit in your home country and have been registered there as wholly unemployed for four consecutive weeks, you may, before coming to Norway, apply to the employment service in your home country to have your unemployment benefits paid to you in Norway for up to three months. As a citizen of an EEA country, you also may study or set up business as a self-employed person in Norway under the same conditions and rules as Norwegian citizens. For further information, contact the nearest employment office.

Employer organisations (Arbeidsgiverorganisasjoner)

In addition to the State and municipal authorities as employers, five employer organisations represent employers in collective bargaining, promote legislation and policies conducive to business and set norms for member companies, such as standard pension agreements. They are the employers’ equivalent of the unions to which their employees belong.

The largest employer organisation is The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon – NHO), which has more than 16,000 member companies, ranging from small family-owned businesses to larger industrial enterprises, Middelthunsgt 27, PO Box 5250 Majorstua, 0303 Oslo, Tel: 23088000, Fax: 23088001, www.nho.no.

Confederation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises (Handels- og Servicenæringens Hovedorganisasjon), as its name implies, represents companies in the commercial and service sectors, Drammensv. 30, PO Box 2900 Solli, 0230 Oslo, Tel: 22541700, Fax: 22561700, www.hsh-org.no.

The Association of Local and Regional Authorities (Kommunesektorens interesse- og arbeidsgiverorganisasjorn) represents municipalities and counties as employers, Haakon Viis gt 9, Tel: 24136403, Fax: 24132991, www.ks.no, ks@ks.no.

The Norwegian Association of Publicly Owned Companies (Norges Arbeidsgiverforening for Virksomheter med Offentlig Tilknytning) represents private companies owned by the State, Kronprinsesse Märthas plass 1, PO Box 1511 Vika, 0117 Oslo, Tel: 24055600, Fax: 24055601, www.navo.no.

Church of Norway Employers’ Association (Kirkens arbeidsgiverorganisasjorn) represents parish councils and other employers dealing in church matters, Karl Johans gt 35, 0162 Oslo, Tel: 23310440, Fax: 23310450, www.ka.no, ka@ka.no.

Employment office (Aetat)

If you need help to find a job, seek courses or other measures to improve your skills, wish to apply for financial support, or are vocationally disabled and seek supported employment, your best single contact is the local office of Aetat, the State employment office.

Norway historically has been a leader in State assistance to the workforce. In 1897, the first public employment office in the Nordic countries opened in Bergen. More than a century on, Aetat – literally a contraction for “Labour Agency” – has regional offices in all counties, public service offices in cities and towns across the country, an online database for job seekers as well as for jobs available and international liaison and services via European Employment Services (EURES).

If you are in Norway, contact the nearest local Aetat office listed in the Pink Pages. The head office is at the Ministry in Oslo, C.J. Hambros pl 2A1, PO Box 8127 Dep, 0032 Oslo, Tel: 23352400, Fax: 23352750, www.aetat.no, internservice@aetat.no. If you are in and are a citizen of another EEA country, contact EURES, either at Aetat in Norway or by visiting the European website at europa.eu.int and click on “Working” to navigate to the EURES job mobility portal.

Franchising (Franchising)

Individuals and companies increasingly enter business sectors through a franchise in which a parent company (the franchisor) grants a licence to another (the franchisee) that permits conducting business under the trade name of the franchisor and to make use of all the support necessary to establish, maintain and promote business. The outlets and shops of many international chains, particularly in fast food services, actually are franchised and are owned and operated as local businesses. In Norway, there are nearly 200 franchised trade name chains, including:

• Car hire: Rent-A-Wreck
• Convenience shops: 7 Eleven
• Fast foods and restaurants: Big Horn Steak House, By the Way, Kaffebrenneriet, McDonalds, Piccolo, Subways and Veikroer
• Fitness centres: SATS
• Perfume and toiletry supplies: Bodyshop and Estetique
• Photographic supplies: Chrono and Click
• Supermarkets: Rema 1000
• Textiles: Princess Gardiner.

If you wish to start a franchised business, contact the head office of the company listed in the Pink Pages (most of the head offices are in the Oslo area). For information on franchising, contact the European Franchise Federation head office, Avenue Louise 179/14, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 25201607, Fax: +32 25201735, www.eff-franchise.com, eff-franchise@euronet.be.

Health, Safety and Environment – HSE (Helse, miljø og sikkerhet – HMS)

HMS refers to all the professions concerned with occupational health and safety, the working environment and the environmental aspects of business and industry. Typical HSE measures include Occupational health services. Three governmental agencies monitor adherence to the various rules and regulations involved: the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (Chapter 11), the Labour inspection authority, and the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Chapter 8). The employer organisations and the unions support extensive HSE activities. All firms with more than 40 employees are required to have specific programmes for security, which involves all matters related to threats to business and industry, including espionage, sabotage, fraud, organised crime, computer crime and other crime, as well as preparedness and civil defence measures.

Jobs (Jobber)

The ways you can apply for, start, resign from or be dismissed from a job are similar to those elsewhere in Europe.

Finding a job: you may look for work yourself by reading the job vacancy (stilling ledig or stillingsmarked) in the classified advertisements (annonser) of the daily newspapers or the National Gazette (Chapter 31) and then calling or writing the organisations offering jobs of interest. But if you have yet to learn Norwegian well enough to read the job vacancy advertisements or otherwise need help, you should consult the nearest office of the Public Employment Service, which is countrywide and free. It is so comprehensive and widely available that there are only a few private employment agencies, most for temps or jobs in specialist sectors. Both public and private services are listed under arbeidsformidling in the Yellow Pages, and the Public Employment Service offices are listed under Arbeidskontoret or Arbeidsformidling in the Pink Pages. The Norwegian Labour Market Administration (Arbeidsmarkedetaten) has a freephone Tel: 80033166 that you can call to ask about job vacancies, educational courses, school and college vacancies and the like. It also has an extensive website www.aetat.no and publishes two detailed pamphlets, Norway, Access to Job Vacancies and Looking for Work in Norway, both available at the offices of the Public Employment Service.

Applying for a job: most employers prefer written job applications, but some prefer direct contact. In either case, you should prepare a written application, preferably in Norwegian or in English. It should contain a resumé (resyme) of your background and qualifications for the job, including your name, address, telephone numbers, date of birth, nationality, languages in which you are fluent, education and previous experience. You should attach photocopies of your educational certificates, such as school records and college or university degrees (eksamenspapirer), as well as records of previous jobs held (attester) and the details of your residence permit. If any of these certificates or records are not in Norwegian or English, you should have them translated; your embassy or consulate can probably advise you on how certified translations may be made. The local Public Employment Service Office will be able to advise you on your application.

Starting a job: for almost all jobs, you should have an employment contract (arbeidskontrakt). In it there should be a clear specification of your wages (lønn), working hours (arbeidstid), whether your are to be a permanent employee (fast stilling) or are only temporary (midlertidig), whether you are to work full-time (full stilling) or part-time (deltidsstilling), period of notice (oppsigelsestid) and other details of the job. If you are hired as a permanent, full-time employee, you usually will have a trial period (prøvetid) of up to six months. During the trial period, you may resign or may be dismissed on two weeks’ notice.

Resigning or being dismissed from a job: after successful completion of the trial period, the period of notice is longer, initially one month and increasing to three months after 10 years of employment, and then longer after age 50. A dismissal or resignation (oppsigelse) must be given in writing. If you are dismissed, your employer must inform you of your negotiating rights and, if you so request, state the reason for your dismissal. If you feel that you have been unjustly dismissed, you may put in a complaint to the union representative (tillitsvalgt) at the company or the Labour inspection authority. When you leave a job, you should ask your employer for a work record (sluttattest), which gives the details of your employment, including your job description, duration of employment and the employer’s assessment of your performance. You will need work records in applying for future jobs.