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Norway – Employer of Record

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Country Introduction – Norway

Capital –  Oslo
Currency –  Norwegian Kronar (NOK)
Population –  5.379 Million
GDP –  $362 Billion USD
Language –  Norwegian
Major Religions –  Christianity (Lutheran)

Norway is located in northern Europe and occupies the western half of the scandanavian peninsula. Nearly half of the inhabitants of the country live in the far south, in the region around Oslo, the capital. About two-thirds of Norway is mountainous, and off its much-indented coastline lie, carved by deep glacial fjords, some 50,000 islands. Indo-European peoples settled Norway’s coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement near the present capital of Oslo about 6,000 years ago.

Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan. While sushi is absolutely a Japanese invention, they did not use salmon in the dish until it was suggested by a Norwegian delegation in 1980’s.

Norway is also one of the richest countries in the world due to its vast oil reserves. This has allowed Norway to create the worlds second largest sovereign wealth fund.

Contract of Employment

Employment contracts in Norway should be in writing in local language. The employment contract should outline all aspects of employment and the employee/employer relationship.

Probation Period

Up to a maximum of 6 months.

Termination

The notice period in Norway is generally 1 month. If an employees has served for more than 5 years then the notice period increases to 2 months. Over 10 years of service and the notice period increases to 3 months.

Employees over 50 are required to be given 4 months notice.
Employees over 55 are required to be given 5 months notice.
Employees over 60 are required to be given 6 months notice.
During probation the notice period is 2 weeks.

The notice period begins on the first day of the month following the month when the notice period was given.

Working Hours

Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week.

Overtime

All hours worked over 40 hours per week are subject to overtime payments. Overtime pay rate is to be stipulated in the employment agreement. It is generally accepted that  overtime is paid at 1.4x the basic salary rate.

Annual Leave

Annual leave in Norway is 25 days per year. Employees over 60 years old are entitled to 31 days per year.

Sick leave

Employees are entitled to 52 weeks of sick leave. The employer pays 100% of the employees salary for the first 16 days. From day 17 until day 52 the employee will have to claim sick pay from the Social Security.

Within 3 days of sickness and employee must provide a written sick leave form. For any leave over 3 days the employee must provide a doctors note.

Maternity Leave

Expecting mothers are entitled to 59 weeks of paid maternity leave. The leave is paid for by the National Insurance at 80% of the monthly salary. If a female employee decides to take only 49 weeks off, then the National insurance will pay 100% of the monthly salary.

Paternity leave is 2 weeks of unpaid leave.

VAT / GST:

The VAT rate in Norway is 25%.

Income Tax

The base rate income tax is 22% for all employees. For those employees who earn more than 190,350 NOK per year gross, there is an additional incremental tax bracket above the base rate as follows:

1.70% – 190,350 NOK to 267,900 NOK.
4.00% – 267,901 NOK to 643,800 NOK.
13.40% – 634,801 NOK to 969,200 NOK.
16.40% – 969,201 NOK to 2,000,000 NOK.
17.40% – 2,000,001+ NOK.

Employer/Employee Contributions

Total employer contribution in Norway is 14.10%, broken down as follows:

14.10% – Social security

Total employee contributions is 8.20%, broken down as follows:

8.20% – Social security (For all income above 64,650 NOK).
5.10% – Social security for those under 17 years old and over 69 years old.

Public Holidays

There are 10 public holidays in Norway.

Severance Pay

There is no statutory severance pay in Norway.

Work and Residence Permits (Expatriates)

Norway is a member of the European Union, therefore all citizens of EU member states and EEA member states can freely move to and work in Norway.

Citizens from Non-EEA member states will require a work permit along with a residence permit to live and work in Norway. The work/residence permit is usually valid for 2 years and can be renewed up to a total of 6 years.

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