Wage talks 

This year’s wage negotiations start on March 15th. The aim of the talks is to try and strike new collective bargaining agreements. 

Pay and rights in Norway are governed by collective agreements (tariffavtaler), which typically have a duration of two years.

Every alternate year, employers and employees engage in renegotiations of the entire collective agreement, known as the main settlement (hovedoppgjøret).

However, the 2024 bargaining round involves a main settlement, meaning negotiations will encompass pay and other rights such as working hours, leave entitlements, and other provisions.

Unions have said that they want to secure a real wage increase for their members. They have also signalled a willingness to strike if their demands aren’t met. 

Norway’s au pair scheme ends 

Norway has scrapped the au pair scheme over fears it was exploitative rather than a cultural exchange program. 

Au pairs who already have a permit in Norway have a deadline of two years to end the arrangement and return home.

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) will only grant permits to those who have registered their application with the directorate and booked an appointment to hand in their documents by March 15th, 2024.

Therefore, any applications made after this deadline will be automatically rejected. 

Norway’s tax administration to begin sending tax returns 

On March 7th, the Norwegian Tax Administration begins sending people in Norway their tax return, or skattemeldning.

Not everyone will receive their tax return for 2023 at the same time, and the returns will not be sent out until March 20th, so if you don’t receive it immediately, you should know that it will almost certainly come eventually.

You can find your tax return by logging onto the tax administration’s website, some tax returns are mailed out.

Once you have received your return, you will need to check your salary and paid tax. You will also need to check that the debts and assets listed are correct.

READ ALSO: The key Norwegian tax deadlines you need to know about in 2024

Easter 

Workers can expect a few days off at the end of Easter for the long weekend. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are all public holidays in Norway. 

This means the majority will be able to enjoy some time off work and school. 

Easter Sunday falls on March 31st this year. 

Easter in Norway is typically spent outdoors, trying to enjoy some early spring sunshine. Cross-country skiing and alpine skiing are incredibly popular activities at Easter. 

Switch to summertime means light evenings are back

The change to GMT+2 or summertime on Sunday, March 31st means an end to dark evenings for another season. Clocks go forward by one hour at 3am on the 31st, meaning one hour less of sleep that weekend to offset the change.

Government’s first budget conference

The government and its ministries will begin with a budget conference on the weekend of March 5th. This budget helps establish the early framework of what will become the state budget for 2024. 

Following this conference, the ministries will be instructed to begin formulating policy ahead of the proposed budget in the autumn. The deadline for submitting proposals is the end of July.