Amendments made to the Working Environment Act in the summer of 2020 extended the PSA’s supervisory authority over temporary hires.
Read more: Wider supervision of temporary hires in the petroleum sector
These changes mean it can now also supervise
- the terms for hiring personnel from temporary-work agencies pursuant to the Working Environment Act
- the requirement for equal treatment of temporary workers pursuant to the Working Environment Act
- that the hirer provides the temporary-work agency with the information needed for the agency to fulfil the requirement for equal treatment pursuant to the Working Environment Act.
Safe and responsible working conditions
Increased enforcement of and checks on compliance with the regulations concerning temporary hires and equal treatment of such workers are part of the PSA’s responsibility in helping to strengthen efforts to ensure safe and responsible working conditions.
This commitment will be directed at those areas with the greatest working environment and safety risks.
Temporary hires
A temporary worker is a person employed by one employer who is hired out for shorter or longer periods to another enterprise in order to carry out work under the leadership and instructions of the latter.
Permanent and temporary
The main rule in Norwegian legislation is that personnel must be employed on a permanent basis – without a time limit. On specified terms, however, an enterprise may nevertheless recruit or hire in workers on a temporary basis.
If such personnel are hired from an agency, they must be accorded the same working time arrangements and pay as the hirer’s permanent employees.
Supervision
As part of the PSA’s supervisory activities, it is currently writing to the whole industry with a request to answer some questions. The aim is to secure an overview of the scope of temporary hiring, and which companies are involved in utilising personnel from temporary-hire agencies.
The material obtained will form the basis for future audits of such temporary hiring practices.