Employment law update

Before the summer, the Norwegian government proposed and Norwegian Parliament subsequently adopted several employment law amendments. The amendments entail among other things a significant strengthening of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's means of actions, the removal of the access to determine internal age limit in undertakings, clarification of requirements for the psychosocial working environment and that activities related to offshore renewable energy production are covered by the Norwegian Working Environment Act. In this newsletter, we summarise the main points of the legislative amendments.

Significant strengthening of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's means
Fighting workplace crime and rouge actors has been an important priority on the Norwegian authorities' agenda. The means of action of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority are regulated in Chapter 18 of the Norwegian Working Environment Act. From 1 July 2024, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's right to impose administrative fines was increased from 15 times the basic amount (approx. NOK 1.95 million) to the higher of 50G (approx. NOK 6.5 million) or 4% of the undertaking's annual turnover. Through the Norwegian Parliament'slatest legislative amendments, that entered into force on 1 July 2025, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority has been granted even more effective means of action to detect and sanction violations. The most important new means are the following:

• Expansions, restrictions and additions to the rules on administrative fines
  • New requirement of fault that someone on behalf of the undertaking must have acted negligently or intentionally in the violations when imposing an administrative fine
  • Ability to impose administrative fines during inspection in the event of clearly identifiable violations
  • The statute of limitations for imposing administrative fines violation is extended from two to five years after the violation ceased
  • The right to impose administrative fines on natural persons who manage the undertaking in place of the employer, if the person in question intentionally or grossly negligently violates the provisions of the Norwegian Working Environment Act. The fine is limited to 25 G (approx. NOK 3.25 million) and is intended to be used where administrative fines against the undertaking would not have sufficient effect. The upper level of the fine is assumed to be reserved for particularly serious cases.

• Access to third-party information
  The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority is given the right to demand information from undertakings other than the one the inspection is directed at when special circumstances make it proportionate.

• Introduction of the right to secure evidence
  Unless the undertaking consents to it, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority has not been allowed to take documents or other evidence during inspections. The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority is now granted ability to secure evidence, following a decision by the district court, when it is likely that there is a violation and securing evidence is necessary and not a disproportionate infringement.

• Introduction of the police's duty to assist
  When it is necessary in connection with the execution of inspections and enforcement of decisions from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, the police shall assist, and the police shall then have the right to use necessary force.

The access to determine internal age limits in undertakings is removed
The employment protection in the Working Environment Act entails that the employer must follow strict formal and material requirements if the employer wishes to terminate an employment relationship. However, the Norwegian Working Environment Act contains an age limit for when the employment protection ceases, which currently is 72 years of age, which gives the employer the unilateral right, but not an obligation, to terminate employment based on the employee's age when such age limit is reached.

Undertakings are also allowed to determine lower age limits where this is necessary for health and safety reasons, such as police, fire service, aviation (pilots), etc. Until the Norwegian Parliament'srecent legislative amendment, there has also been a general access to determine internal age limits in an undertaking as low as 70 years, provided that the limit was made known to the employees, was practiced consistently and the employees were entitled to a satisfactory occupational pension scheme.

The new amendment removed the general access for undertakings to determine internal age limits, but it will still be possible to determine lower age limits where this is necessary for health and safety reasons, provided that these are objectively justified and not disproportionately restrictive.

Undertakings that currently make use of the general access to having an age limit of 70 years must change their internal routines and guidelines before the legislative amendment enters into force. There are also a number of collective bargaining agreements that currently use lower age limits than 72 years. For these collective agreements, the Norwegian Parliament has provided transitional provisions stipulating that the agreed lower age limit remains valid until the collective bargaining agreement expires, but no longer than three years from the date the amendment enters into force.

Clarification of psychosocial working environment requirements
Chapter 4 of the Norwegian Working Environment Act requires employers to ensure that employees have a fully satisfactory working environment. The Norwegian Parliament has recently adopted legislative amendments that further clarify and strengthen the Norwegian Working Environment Act's requirements for a fully satisfactory working environment in the psychosocial area. These amendments aim to provide better guidance and to raise awareness among undertakings about their obligations to meet these requirements.

The amendment specifies that work must be organized, planned and carried out to ensure a fully satisfactory psychosocial working environment from the perspective of employees' health, safety and welfare, and emphasizes some psychosocial working environment factors that, in addition to previously statutory factors, must be taken into account. This includes unclear or conflicting demands and expectations in the work, emotional demands and strains when working with people, workload and time pressure creating an imbalance between tasks to perform and the time available, and support and assistance in the work.

The amendment is not intended to change the current law, but to clarify existing requirements. The provisions of chapter 4 still do not provide an exhaustive list of psychosocial working environment factors that are covered by the requirement for a satisfactory psychosocial working environment.

Offshore renewable energy production is covered by the Norwegian Working Environment Act
The scope of the Norwegian Working Environment Act is initially limited to activities within Norway's territorial limits of 12 nautical miles from the baselines. Certain industries, such as shipping, hunting, and fishing, are excluded from this scope, even though the undertaking's business is within the Norwegian territorial limits. Offshore petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf outside the territorial limits are, however, covered by the Norwegian Working Environment Act, and the Norwegian Parliament has now resolved that the same shall apply to offshore renewable energy production.

Entry into force
The legislative amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2026, except for the amendments relating to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's means of action, which entered into force on 1 July 2025.

CLP's employment law team, Julie Reinfjord, Magdeli Støten and Fred Arthur Andersen, are closely following the developments.