Norwegian law restricts the hire of temporary workers

Since 1 April 2023, a law has severely restricted the use of temporary workers. The aim is to promote permanent employment and combat social dumping (see press releases issued by the government and the LO trade union confederation). 
The use of temporary workers is limited to specific cases such as cover for maternity or sick leave, and coping with a temporary increase in activity levels, and furthermore, it can only proceed with the agreement of workforce representatives at companies that have signed a collective agreement with a representative trade union at national level. It is still possible to recruit temporary replacement staff in the healthcare sector, without the agreement of a representative trade union.
The law prohibits the use of temporary workers on building sites at Oslo, Viken and Vestfold. In contrast to what was initially planned, as requested by the Samfunnsviterne trade union, consultancy firms will still be able to send employees to work at clients’ premises. The new law also stipulates that a temporary worker will automatically be recruited on an open-ended contract of employment at the end of a three-year period with the same employer. “We don’t yet know what effects the new law will have”, explains Gunn Elisabeth Myhren, General Secretary of the Samfunnsviterne union. “It might be feared that temporary workers who are already employed on a fixed-term contract at a temporary work agency will find themselves unemployed again when it comes to an end, and if they are not taken on again by the user company, they might subsequently find themselves back in precarious employment”.