Your Norwegian payslip explained, line by line

Norwegian law requires your employer to give you a written statement, at or immediately after payment, showing how your pay was calculated, the basis on which your holiday pay is being accrued, and every deduction made. That statement is your lønnsslipp. Most confusion about it comes from three lines — the tax deduction, the holiday pay basis, and the month you are paid no holiday pay at all — and from deductions that an employer is not actually allowed to make.

NorgeStart editorial team · checked at source 2026-08-02 · Report an error

Your rightA written statement, every payday

WhenAt payment, or immediately after

Watch all yearThe holiday pay basis

Who this applies to

You are employed in Norway and have received a payslip you do not fully understand.
Your first payslip shows far more tax than you expected — see the tax card page; 50% is the legal default when no card is available.
Your employer has deducted something from your wages and you are not sure they were allowed to.
You want to check that holiday pay is being accrued on the right amount before you find out a year later.

Step by step

Bruttolønn — gross payWhat you earned before anything is taken off: base salary, overtime, supplements, bonuses. Check the hours and the rate against your contract, not just the total.
Skattetrekk — tax deductedWithheld according to the tax card your employer retrieved electronically. If this looks like roughly half your pay, your employer probably has no card for you — that is the legally required default, and it is fixed by ordering a tax card.
Feriepengegrunnlag — holiday pay basisThe running total of the pay your holiday pay will be calculated on. Holiday pay is earned in one year and paid the next, normally at 10.2% of the previous year's qualifying pay. Watch this figure during the year; disputing it afterwards is much harder.
Andre trekk — other deductionsPension contributions, union fees, anything you signed a written agreement about. Every one of them should be identifiable. See the limits below.
Netto utbetalt — paid to your accountGross minus tax minus deductions. This is the number that should match your bank.
Check it against the A-meldingYour employer reports your pay and tax to the authorities every month. What Skatteetaten holds should match your payslips — if it does not, one of the two is wrong and it matters at tax assessment time.

What you need to bring

Your employment contract — the payslip only makes sense next to it.
Your payslips for the whole year, kept. They are the evidence in any dispute about pay, holiday pay or hours.
Your hours, recorded yourself if the work is hourly or shift-based.
Any written agreement authorising a deduction from your wages.

What it costs

A payslip costs you nothing, and you are entitled to one. If your employer does not give you a written statement of how your pay was calculated, that is not a company policy — it is a breach of the Working Environment Act.

How long it takes

The statement must be given at the time of payment or immediately after. Norwegian salaries are usually paid monthly, commonly around the middle or end of the month, with the exact date set in your contract.

Holiday pay runs on a different clock: it is earned across one calendar year and paid out the next, normally in June, and in that month you typically receive holiday pay instead of ordinary salary rather than in addition to it. This surprises almost everyone once.

Common mistakes

Not reading it until something goes wrong: The holiday pay basis is the clearest example: it is easy to correct during the year and painful to reconstruct afterwards.
Accepting deductions for accommodation, tools or transport without a written agreement: See the list of lawful deductions below. A deduction that is not on it, and not agreed in writing, is not lawful.
Assuming a high tax deduction is a mistake by the employer: Until they can retrieve your tax card they must deduct 50%. The fix is your tax card, not an argument with payroll.
Not noticing that overtime was paid as ordinary hours: Overtime carries a legal supplement. Check the rate, not just that the hours appear.
Throwing payslips away: They are the only proof you hold of what you were paid and what was withheld.

Which deductions from your wages are lawful

The Working Environment Act § 14-15 lists them, and the list is short. An employer may deduct from your pay only:

where the law requires it — tax being the obvious case;
your own contribution to an occupational pension scheme;
where it has been agreed in advance in writing;
union fees and related insurance premiums, where a collective agreement provides for it;
compensation for damage or loss you have caused, where you admit liability or a court has decided it;
a correction for pay wrongly paid during a strike or lockout.

Two protections sit on top of that list. Deductions under a written agreement, for damages, or for payroll corrections must be limited so that you keep what you reasonably need to support yourself and your household. And a written agreement means a real one, made in advance — not a line in a handbook and not a signature demanded on the day.

This matters most to workers recruited with accommodation included. Housing may be deducted where it has genuinely been agreed in writing, but the deduction cannot be open-ended, cannot push you below what you need to live on, and cannot be used to claw back a wage that is subject to a legally binding minimum rate. If your pay is covered by an allmenngjort (universally applicable) collective agreement — construction, cleaning, hospitality, fishing, road haulage and several others — the minimum rate is a floor set by law, not a starting point for negotiation.

If something has been deducted that is not on that list, raise it in writing with your employer first, then with your union if you have one, and with Arbeidstilsynet, the Labour Inspection Authority, if it is not resolved. Arbeidstilsynet can be contacted without your employer being told who reported it.

What to do next

Holiday pay (feriepenger) calculator →
Put your holiday pay basis in and see what next June should actually pay you.

Every rule on this page, at its official source

Working Environment Act § 14-15 (Lovdata) ↗Holidays Act (ferieloven, Lovdata) ↗Arbeidstilsynet — pay and minimum rates of pay ↗Skatteetaten — tax deduction card ↗

This page brings official Norwegian information together in one place and explains it in plain English. Rules and amounts change, and your own situation may differ — check anything that matters against the official source above, and treat this as general information, not legal or tax advice.

Published 2026-08-02 · last checked against official sources 2026-08-02 · how NorgeStart researches and corrects its guides