Yngvil Mortensen

foreignworkers@lomedia.no

What do you do if your employer pays you less than the agreed wage, pays later than the agreed date or fails to pay you holiday pay?

This is known as wage theft and is illegal in Norway.

This is what you can do if you have not received the salary that you are entitled to:

1. Send your employer a wage demand

You must claim the unpaid money from your employer. You do this by sending your employer what is known as a wage demand.

You can write a wage demand yourself. It should include the following points:

• How much does your employer owe you in unpaid wages and holiday pay?

Calculate how much you are owed. Use time sheets, pay slips and your contract of employment as documentation.

• The period for which you were not paid.

For example: I am claiming payment of outstanding wages and holiday pay from ... (date) until ... (date).

• Claim interest on late wages.

In addition to your unpaid wages, your employer is required by law to pay you interest on late payments. At present, the penalty interest rate stands at 11.75 per cent.

• Ask for the full amount you are owed (wages, holiday pay and interest) to be paid to your bank account. Write down your account number.

• Give your employer one week to pay.

• End the letter by writing the following: If unpaid salaries and holiday pay are not received within the specified time frame, I will have to consider taking legal action.

When you complete the salary demand with all of the necessary details, you should send it to your employer by registered post. This means you will receive a receipt proving that the letter was sent, something you would not have if you just put a regular stamp on the envelope. Registered post costs from 227 kroner onwards.

2. Contact your trade union

Even if you submit a wage demand, there is no guarantee that your employer will be able or willing to pay your unpaid wages.

If this is the case, the next steps will often be very complicated, and you may need to seek legal advice.

If you are a member of a trade union, you will be entitled to legal assistance in claiming your unpaid wages.

3. Not a member? Join a union

It may be a good idea to join a Norwegian trade union.

As a general rule, you will need to be a member before you ask for assistance.

4. You can ask for free legal assistance here

You can ask for free legal advice from voluntary organisations:

Caritas

Jussformidlingen – Free legal aid

Jussbuss – Free legal aid clinic

JURK – Legal counselling for women

5. What to do if your employer refuses to pay your wages within the time limit you set

If so, you can submit your wage claim to the Conciliation Board in the municipality where your employer is located.

The Conciliation Board will summon you and your employer to a meeting. Cases brought before the Conciliation Board are resolved either by settlement (agreement) or by judgment.

If the case is not resolved by the Conciliation Board, you can pursue the matter in the district court.

If so, you should seek legal advice to determine whether there are grounds for bringing the matter before the court. See the above list of voluntary organisations offering free legal advice.

6. If your employer is unable to pay your salary, you will have to initiate bankruptcy procedures against her or him.  

If an employer is declared bankrupt, Nav (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) will compensate unpaid salaries and holiday pay.

You can apply to the district court to have bankruptcy proceedings filed against your employer.

The simplest approach for starting bankruptcy proceedings is for you and your employer to contact the district court together, with your employer confirming to the court that she or he is unable to pay your salary. Employers are not always willing to do this.

There are rules regulating the age of claims for unpaid wages and holiday pay that Nav can cover under the Wage Guarantee Scheme.

For this reason, Nav recommends employees to contact the court directly and request that bankruptcy procedures be initiated, rather than waiting for others to do so. If you wait too long, Nav may not cover your claim.

Translated by Robert Lovering.

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