The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has submitted a Green Paper proposing a liberalisation of the rules on working hours and temporary employment in the Working Environment Act 2005.
The Green Paper also contains proposed new legislation on the penal provisions of the Working Environment Act and a proposal to increase the age limit which automatically allows employers to terminate employment because of age from 70 to 72 of 75 years.
The proposal on working hours would mean that employer and employee can agree individually to increase the limit for daily working hours from 9 to 10 when agreeing on average calculation of total working hours. The corresponding limit for daily working hours agreeed in collective agreements would be increased from 10 to 12 hours.
The amendments relating to temporary employment would give temporary staff agencies and unions the right to agree on exemptions from the principle of equal treatment between the temporary workers and the workers of the employer hiring temporary staff. The principle of equal treatment follows from the Temporary Agency Work Directive 2008/104, which is implemented in Norwegian law pursuant to the EEA Agreement.
Such agreements would have to be made in collective agreements and ensure that temporary staff who risk losing rights of equal treatment as a result of the collective agreement be compensated by other measures.
