Wage disparities for Polish workers in Norway

Polish workers in Norway are being paid less than Norwegians and a considerable number of Poles are working illegally or in a grey area of the economy. Also, the labour market for Polish workers in Norway is clearly demarcated along gender lines, with men working in the construction sector while women are mainly employed to clean private homes. These are the findings of a survey carried out among Polish workers in the Oslo area in Norway in the final quarter of 2006.

The average pay for Polish construction workers in Norway seems to be far below that of Norwegian construction workers. Companies are complying with the applicable minimum wage in the sector, but only to a limited degree. Furthermore, a considerable number of Poles working in Norway seem to be working illegally. These findings are the result of a survey among Polish workers in the Oslo area in Norway – a survey carried out during the final quarter of 2006. The survey was conducted by the Norwegian research institute Fafo in cooperation with the Centre for Migration Research in Warsaw, Poland.

Survey findings

The bare minimum

The respondents, among other things, were asked how much they got paid. In Norway, no general legal minimum wage exists. However, within the construction industry, certain provisions of the collective agreement have been made generally applicable and therefore apply to all workers within this sector, with self-employed people being the exception. The agreement’s generally applicable provisions cover pay and working time.

At the time of the survey, the minimum gross hourly wage for unskilled construction workers was €14 (118 NOK), while the average gross hourly pay in the construction sector in 2005 was about €20 (167 NOK). Some 48 % of the Poles working in the construction sector received a net hourly pay of €11 (NOK 90) or more, and 41% of the Polish workers surveyed had net hourly wages between €8 and €11 (NOK 70 and 90). The remaining 11% of the respondents stated that their net hourly earnings were less than €8 (NOK 70). As the survey figures refer to net earnings, it is impossible to determine the exact proportion of Polish workers in the construction sector being paid less than the legal minimum wage. However, more than 50% of the workers surveyed were being paid less than €11 an hour; this suggests that the breach in the legal minimum wage was significant.

Company origin and pay conditions linked

According to the survey findings, the country of origin of the employing company seems be a factor in how much employees are being paid. For instance, 25% of the respondents in the construction sector are posted in Norway, and these workers have by far the worst working conditions. Among the Polish workers employed by foreign companies, as many as 35% of these state they earn less than €8 net an hour, and 46% reported being paid between €8 and €11 net an hour. For those employed by Norwegian companies, the equivalent figures were 4% and 43% respectively.

Gender and sector differences

While almost all of the men surveyed worked within the construction sector, most women worked as cleaners in private homes. As no collective agreement covers the cleaning services sector, no general binding minimum wage exists. Among the women surveyed who work as cleaners, some 59% of these stated that they earn more than €11an hour while 33% claim to receive an hourly pay of between €8 and €11. This suggests that Polish women working as cleaners earn slightly more an hour than the Polish men who work in construction do. However, men appear to work longer hours, while most of the women are under-employed; their monthly incomes thus show significant differences.

Sector influences legality of employment

The type of sector worked in contributes to the differences that exist between men and women with regard to whether or not they operate within the legal labour market. Only 25% of cleaners stated that they pay tax to either Norway or Poland, while 76% of construction workers indicated that they pay tax. These findings, when compared to other indicators, suggest the existence of a considerable illegal labour market among Polish workers in Norway. It can be assumed that 25% of the Polish workers surveyed work illegally in Norway and 18% of these workers operate within a grey area.

Illegal work is most common among self-employed individuals, according to indicators which suggest that 84% of self-employed individuals work illegally or in a grey area. The survey also revealed that, among people employed by foreign companies, the existence of an illegal labour market is considerable: as many as 60% of posted workers were not part of the legal labour market. In the cleaning services sector, which has the largest proportion of self-employed individuals, 84% of workers operate illegally or in a grey area.

Kristin Alsos, Fafo