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WORKING IN NORWAY

Why firms in Norway want to sue the state over a crackdown on staff agencies

The Norwegian state will be sued over a crackdown on temp working rules introduced earlier this year, which are considered a breach of its agreement with the EEA.

Published: 21 July 2023 13:55 CEST
Pictured is a construction worker.
The ESA intends to open a case against Norway due to a crackdown on temp agency rules. Pictured is a construction worker. Photo by Jeriden Villegas on Unsplash

The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), which monitors compliance with EEA regulations, has said that a crackdown on temp agencies and recruiters is “unjustified and disproportionate”.

Late last year, Norway adopted legislation which cracked down on companies using sub-contracting when the work is of a temporary nature. This applies mostly to seasonal industries and ones with production peaks.

The ESA says that this is in breach of the temporary agency directive and the freedom to be able to provide services within the EEA.

It said that it believes that the restrictions are far-reaching and intrusive and can have serious consequences for temp agencies and their employees, as well as for companies that want to use such services.

The government introduced the rules as it wanted to increase the number of people with permanent full-time employment.

However, the ESA argues that Norway is unable to demonstrate that the restrictions are suitable in achieving the goal of increasing permanent and direct employment in a consistent way.

State Secretary Maria Schumacher Walberg in the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion told Norwegian publication E24 that it was surprised by the ESA’s decision to open a case against Norway.

“We have today been made aware that the ESA wants to open a case against Norway but have not had time to take a closer look at the contents of the opening letter. I am still surprised that Esa chooses to open a case against Norway in this area,” she said on Wednesday when the case was opened.

A number of firms in Norway may choose to open a class action lawsuit for lost earnings against the Norwegian state.

Law firm Simonsen Vogt Wiig said to E24 on Thursday that two firms had already signed up to a lawsuit against the state.

“We believe ESA’s letter is sufficient for us to now file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the state for breach of the EEA agreement, and are now bringing together all those who have lost out on the … ban for the compensation claim,” lawyer for the firm, Nicolay Skarning said.

He has written a letter to SMB Norway, a 5,000-strong group of small and medium-sized enterprises, urging other firms to come forward.

“Based on the feedback we have received, several companies may have lost large sums due to dismissals, loss of contracts, loss of tenders, non-fulfilment of contracts, etc., as a result of the ban on the hiring of labour from staffing companies in case of temporary need. It is natural to demand compensation from the state for this,” he wrote in the letter.

The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) has said that it isn’t surprised by the ESA’s decision to open a case against Norway.

“It is not surprising for NHO that ESA is following up on this case and opening a case against Norway. When it comes to the contracting rules, this hits our members hard. Both those who hire in and those who hire out,” Nina Melsom, director of working life at NHO, said.

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OSLO

Is Oslo’s project to speed up work permits on track?

The City of Oslo aims to cut work permit processing times in the capital down from nine months to just three days. The Local has contacted authorities to update readers on the latest developments.

Published: 6 May 2024 10:09 CEST
Is Oslo's project to speed up work permits on track?

For years, Norway has been grappling with a shortage of skilled professionals, notably in the technology and IT sectors.

Recognising the need to address this talent gap, The City of Oslo and other partners launched a pilot project in 2023 called Kompetansespor (Competence Track).

The primary goal was to reduce the lengthy wait times for skilled workers to get work permits from around nine months to three days.

READ ALSO: What’s next for Oslo’s plan to slash work permit waiting times?

But what is the current status of the project? And is the new super-fast work permit process any closer to becoming a reality?

How the project has evolved in 2024

Since its inception, Competence Track has evolved into a more ambitious project that goes beyond just cutting work permit times.

The project’s focus has shifted towards new goals, which mostly revolve around exploring the use of a “digital wallet” to streamline the immigration process.

To make this happen, partners involved in the project, such as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), will collaborate with other key stakeholders from the governmental, municipal, and private sectors.

READ MORE: How Norway’s permanent residence rules have been tweaked

As the UDI explains in a document seen by The Local, a digital wallet refers to “an electronic application or platform that allows users to securely store, manage, and share digital identity credentials and other types of digital data,” which plays a “central role in handling digital evidence or verifiable credentials in a digital ecosystem.”

The wallet allows relevant authorities to access the holder’s paperwork, rather than having documents and credentials stored separately across several portals. 

New goals

The main aim for 2024 is to develop and explore an efficient and user-friendly process flow that can support the immigration of skilled workers to Norway.

According to a document that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) shared with The Local, other goals for the year include creating a prototype to test the efficacy of the digital wallet in improving immigration processes, investigating the feasibility of pre-qualifying employers to speed up the immigration process, and showcasing how collaboration across sectors can create better services for users.

The project remains committed to reducing administrative burdens, processing times, and information exchange accuracy, as well as preparing Norway for future challenges related to global mobility and digitalisation.

Meanwhile, the Oslo Business Region writes on its website that additional target groups such as students and family members of work permit applicants would be included in the fast track residence permit scheme. 

From the information available at the time of writing, it seems that project will still revolve around Oslo.

Gustav Try, an advisor at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), told The Local that the UDI’s Department of Managed Migration is currently working on a new test phase called “Pilot 2.0”.

“We are currently working on Pilot 2.0, but it is not finalised. The plan is to pilot it on selected students at the University of Oslo (UiO) in August. We are also considering piloting it on skilled workers, including UiO employees, throughout the autumn,” the department said.

Back in September, Thea Ullhaug Pope, senior content developer for the City of Oslo, told The Local that one of the long-term ambitions of the project is to try and get the scheme adopted by other regions and then nationally.

However, while the Competence Track project continues to progress, it seems unlikely that the initial ambition of reducing work permit waiting times from nine months to three days will be achieved on a mass scale anytime soon.

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