Employing People - Obligations

If, at the time of registration in the Register of legal entities, the Register of business enterprises or the VAT register, you know you will employ people, you mark the ”yes” (”ja”) box of the Coordinated register notification (Samordnet registermelding).

Remember that you have to register yourself if you work in your own limited company.
Note also that you need work hazards insurance for all the employees.

The employee register
The forms for registration in the employers’ and employees’ registers are obtained from the NAV office.
The forms must be returned no later than the Friday following the start or end of the employment.

A notification of employment must be sent when the work relation is expected to last more than six days and consist of on average at least three hours of work per week.
The employer must also inform about any changes in the name, address and location of the business.

All notifications to the NAV office must include the organisation number of the business. This number is issued by the Register of legal entities at the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

A notification of the end of an employment is sent when the employment is terminated or the employee is on leave or laid-off (with or without salary) for more than 14 days.
Such notification is not necessary if the person on leave of absence holds a position as a representative and receives his/her salary from the employer.

A notification of a change in status may also be transferred by electronic medium. For this type of notification, the time limit is three days after the message is produced in the business’ payroll system.
Such messages must be sent at least once a month.

Note that the rules governing the employers’ and employees’ registers are currently under revision.

You cannot employ foreign persons unless they have work permits.

According to the Working Environment Act (Arbeidsmiljøloven), there are limitations as to what types of work may be done by persons between the ages of 13 and 15 years.
Persons under the age of 16 years cannot work between 21:00 and 07:00, while people between the ages of 16 and 18 years cannot work between 23:00 and 06:00. Contact the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority for further information.