At a joint press conference in late August 2003, the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Erna Solberg, and the Minister of Finance, Per-Kristian Foss, outlined the Norwegian government’s plan to change the current 'differentiated' social security scheme with a view to bringing it
Recent figures from Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå, SSB) show a significant decline in the labour force participation rate of people with disabilities, or 'impaired functionality'. Only 42.5% of all people in this group were in employment in the second quarter of 2003, while at the same
On 30 April 2003, the centre-right coalition government published a parliamentary white paper on family policy, in which it recommends changes to the present regulations on parental leave (St Meld. nr 29 (2002-3) [1]). The main objective of the government’s proposals is to encourage men to spend
Following several years of steady growth in sickness absence levels, new figures [1] published by Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå, SSB) in summer 2003 show that the growth came to a halt in the year to the first quarter of 2003. Furthermore, figures produced by the Federation of Norwegian
An agreement was reached on 14 May 2003 between the minority centre-right coalition government - comprising the Conservative Party (Høyre), the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti, KRF) and the Liberal Party (Venstre) - and the Norwegian Labour Party (Det norske Arbeiderparti, DnA) and
Two important legislative developments have taken place in early 2003 which are expected to have a significant impact on the working time of Norwegian employees. New rules regarding the use of overtime were introduced on 28 February, extending the possibility for individual employees to engage in
The Technical Calculating Committee on Incomes Settlements (Teknisk Beregningsutvalg for Inntektsoppgjørene, TBU) published figures on wage growth in Norway in 2002 on 12 February 2003. It found that wages had risen by an average of 5.5% from 2001 to 2002, compared with 4.8% between 2000 and 2001
On 24 January 2003, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court ruled [1] that the practice of reserving some academic positions exclusively for women at Norwegian universities was unlawful. This is in light of Norway’s obligations under the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement [2] as well as
Recent research has found that 'non-western' immigrants in Norway earns considerably less than 'native-born' employees, even after a long time in the labour market. The research also finds that the income of non-western immigrants is more vulnerable to cyclical developments such as increasing
In December 2002, the public committee considering the legal aspects of workers' protection and the working environment (NO0210103F [1]) delivered its recommendations for the implementation of EU Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation