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WORKING IN NORWAY

Which industries in Norway have a minimum wage?

Many assume that Norway has a high mandatory national minimum wage. However, that isn't the case, and a minimum wage is only in place for specific industries.

Published: 21 February 2023 14:48 CET
Updated: 16 April 2023 09:15 CEST
Pictured is a construction worker.
Here's what you need to know about Norway's minimum wage. Pictured is a construction worker. Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

The promise of high wages attracts many to Norway. The average monthly salary in Norway is 48,750 kroner before tax, according to Statistics Norway. 

However, many are surprised to learn that Norway has no official general minimum wage. Instead, wages tend to be agreed upon through negotiations between trade unions and individual employers or employer organisations. 

Non-union members are required to negotiate their own wages. This is one of the factors behind why union membership in Norway is so high. 

READ MORE: What foreign residents in Norway should know about workers’ unions

The collective bargaining agreements agreed between unions and employer organisations also regulate working hours, overtime, holidays, pensions and rules regarding temporary layoffs.

Although there isn’t a minimum wage covering all occupations in Norway, there is still a minimum wage for specific industries. The minimum wage is implemented in several sectors, particularly those with many international and temporary workers. 

The aim of this is to prevent exploitation and social dumping in industries where it is harder for workers to organise and join unions. 

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) is responsible for ensuring that working conditions and minimum wage are met. The minimum wage for these sectors applies to those workers over 18. However, depending on various factors, such as skill level, overtime and working hours, the employer may be legally obligated to pay a higher wage.

Construction, maritime construction, agriculture and horticulture, cleaning, fish processing, electrical, freight transportation, tour buses, hotel, restaurants and catering are the sectors in Norway with a general minimum wage. 

From the end of 2022, the minimum wage for several sectors increased. You can look at the minimum wage for a number of industries below. 

Construction: 

  • For skilled workers: 230.00 kroner per hour
  • For unskilled workers without any experience in construction work: 207,40 kroner per hour
  • For unskilled workers with at least one year’s experience in construction work: 216,00 kroner per hour
  • For workers under 18 years of age: 139,00 kroner per hour 

Maritime construction: 

  • For skilled workers:  197,01 kroner per hour
  • For semi-skilled workers: 188,04 kroner per hour 
  • For unskilled workers: 179.17 kroner per hour

Agriculture and horticulture: 

  • Workers under 18 years of age: 114,40 kroner per hour
  • Over 18 years of age – employed for up to 12 weeks: 134,40 kroner per hour
  • Over 18 years of age – employed 12 to 24 weeks (3-6 months): 139,90 kroner per hour
  • Permanently unskilled workers: 154,30 kroner per hour (skilled workers earn an extra 14 kroner per hour

Cleaning: 

Workers who perform cleaning work shall have a minimum hourly rate of 204,54 kroner per hour, with those who work nights earning at least 27 kroner per hour more. 

Fish processing: 

  • For skilled workers: 213,78 kroner per hour 
  • For production workers: 199,78 kroner per hour

Electricians:

  • For skilled workers carrying out skilled work: 234,14 kroner per hour 
  • Other workers: 205,46 kroner per hour

Freight transport by road: 

  • All employees carrying out freight transport by road (with vehicles with a total weight of over 3.5 tonnes): 196,50 kroner 

Hotels, restaurants and catering: 

  • Workers aged over 20 and workers aged over 18 with four months of work experience: 179,94 kroner per hour. These minimum wages exclude tips and don’t apply to managers and middle managers, such as head chefs or head waiters. 

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority ensures compliance with the rules and can impose injunctions and issue fines if they are broken. In case of severe violations, the employer may be reported to the police. You can find a basic overview of your rights as a worker here. 

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WORKING IN NORWAY

Why overqualified foreigners in Norway struggle to find work

Norway is one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to overqualified foreign labour being stuck in jobs that don’t make the best use of their skills, a new analysis has found. 

Published: 23 April 2024 11:38 CEST
Why overqualified foreigners in Norway struggle to find work

Norway is one of many European countries struggling with “brain waste”, which is where immigrants struggle to find suitable full-time work or are overqualified for their roles due to their education not being recognised. 

The findings are part of an investigation by Lighthouse Reports, the Financial Times, El País and Unbias The News that found that most European countries fail to provide good job opportunities to educated foreigners – potentially at the cost of their labour forces and economies. 

“While the results differ slightly between labour market outcomes, a consistent pattern emerges: immigrants lag behind natives everywhere, but brain waste is worst in Southern Europe, Norway, and Sweden,” the report read. 

Some of the metrics used to measure brain waste were the proportion of foreign residents who were overqualified for their role, underemployed (meaning they weren’t working as much as they could), or unemployed. 

In Norway, 27.6 percent of university-educated Norwegians were overqualified for their roles, according to the report. Meanwhile, just over half of the university-educated immigrant population were overqualified for their job. 

This figure made Norway one of the countries with the largest raw difference in the percentage of the native population being overqualified compared to the immigrant population. 

Furthermore, the number of immigrants who were underemployed, 3.9 percent, was more than double the rate of Norwegians in the same position. 

The investigation used figures from Eurostat between 2017 and 2022. 

Norway’s Directorate of Integration and Diversity has recently investigated the obstacles facing the country’s foreign population in the workplace. 

Its report found that immigrants faced barriers both when trying to progress their careers or simply trying to get their foot in the door. 

Immigrants working in Norway were also more likely to leave working life earlier or lose their jobs. 

READ ALSO: The biggest barriers foreigners in Norway face at work

Factors such as working in temp positions, physically taxing occupations, and industries exposed to economic turbulence contributed to this. 

However, a lack of Norwegian proficiency, a lack of relevant skills and poor health also played a part. 

Discrimination prevented immigrants from entering the workplace and affected those who were employed. 

“More and more people in the population have contact with immigrants in working life, and most experience that contact as mainly positive. At the same time, one in four immigrants has experienced discrimination in the workplace, and this discrimination can occur in different forms and in different working situations,” the report read.

The directorate also said that most companies didn’t have concrete measures to try and promote diversity.

One factor holding back immigrants in Norway was their Norwegian language skills, the report said. 

While Norwegian skills were moving in the right direction, less than half of foreigners in the country had advanced Norwegian language skills (level B2 according to the European framework) after completing language training.

Meanwhile, Lighthouse Reports’ investigation found that brain waste in Norway varied from profession to profession. For example, Norway was one of a number of countries where college-educated immigrants were more likely to be doctors. 

Immigrants with a university education in IT-related subjects were also far less likely to be overqualified. There, the difference between migrants being overqualified compared to natives was just 2 percent. 

However, physical and engineering science technicians, engineering professionals (excluding electrotechnology), and those who have studied education at a university level were the immigrant groups in Norway most likely to be overqualified. 

One thing to note is that immigrants who obtained their qualifications in Norway were far less likely to be overqualified than those who got their degrees outside of Norway, even if they still fared worse than natives overall. 

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