NorgeStart
Work & your rights
Moving to Norway or just arrived? NorgeStart explains Norwegian bureaucracy, work, taxes, housing, healthcare and daily life in plain language — with an AI assistant that translates official letters and audits payslips.
Updated: 2026-07-06
Employment contract
- A written contract is mandatory — since 2024 the employer must give it to you within 7 days.
- It must state: salary, working hours, workplace, job description, notice period, holiday rights and any trial period.
- Trial period (prøvetid): max 6 months, 14 days notice during it.
- Both permanent (fast) and temporary (midlertidig) contracts exist — temporary contracts are only allowed in specific cases and become permanent after 3 years.
No contract, cash wages or no payslips = warning signs of "social dumping". Contact Arbeidstilsynet — free, anonymous, with interpreters.
Working hours, breaks & overtime
- Legal maximum: 9 hours/day, 40 hours/week — most workplaces have 37.5 by agreement.
- Overtime must pay a supplement of minimum 40%. It must be paid in money — it cannot be fully replaced with time off.
- Work over 5.5 hours = right to a break; 8+ hours = at least 30 minutes of breaks. No proper break room → the break is paid time.
- Night work (21:00–06:00) and Sunday work are restricted and usually need agreements.
Salary & minimum wage
- No general minimum wage, BUT legally binding minimum rates exist in: construction (~NOK 240/h skilled), cleaning, hotels/restaurants/catering, agriculture, fish processing, freight transport, shipyards and electricians. Rates update yearly — check current rates.
- Typical full-time salaries: cleaner/waiter ~NOK 380–450k/year, skilled trades ~500–600k, engineers/IT ~650–900k. Median salary is about NOK 55 000/month.
- Salary is paid monthly to your bank account with a payslip (lønnsslipp) every payday — keep them all.
- The employer must enrol you in a pension scheme (OTP, minimum 2%) and hold occupational injury insurance.
Holiday & holiday pay
- Minimum 25 working days holiday per year (Saturdays count in the law = 4 weeks + 1 day). Many get 5 weeks by agreement.
- Holiday itself is unpaid — instead you get feriepenger: 10.2% (or 12% with 5 weeks) of everything you earned last year, normally paid out in June.
- First year in Norway: you may take holiday, but you haven't earned holiday pay yet — budget for an unpaid summer.
- Most of Norway takes 3 weeks off in July (fellesferie) — plan around it.
Sick leave & sick children
- Sick pay = 100% of salary from day 1 (capped at 6G ≈ NOK 745k/yr). Employer pays days 1–16, then NAV, up to 52 weeks.
- After 2 months employed you can self-declare sickness (egenmelding) up to 3 days at a time; longer needs a doctor's note (sykmelding).
- Parents get 10 paid days per year each to stay home with a sick child under 12 ("sykt barn"-dager).
Work culture — how Norwegians work
- Flat hierarchy: everyone, including the CEO, is addressed by first name. Speaking up is expected, titles mean little.
- Core hours are roughly 08–16. Leaving at 16:00 sharp is normal, not lazy. Calling colleagues after ~21:00 is a no-go.
- Lunch is ~30 minutes around 11:00–11:30, usually a packed lunch (matpakke) at the desk or canteen.
- Meetings start ON TIME. Being 5 minutes late without notice is genuinely rude.
- Decisions are made by consensus; managers trust you to work independently — nobody watches your hours.
- About half of workers are union members — joining (fees ~NOK 400–600/month, tax deductible) is normal and gives free legal help.
- Social glue: Friday cake/quiz, julebord (Christmas party), lønningspils (payday beer), summer party. Go — that's where relationships are built.
Losing your job
- Dismissal must be written, justified and follow notice periods (minimum 1 month after trial).
- Register at NAV as a job seeker the first day you are unemployed; unemployment benefit (dagpenger) ≈ 62.4% of previous income, if you earned enough (~NOK 186k+ last year).