In June 2002, the Norwegian government put before parliament a proposal for the relaxation of the current legislative provisions governing overtime work. Both trade unions and the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority have raised concerns about the effects of the proposed changes on the health and well-being of employees.
In late June 2002, the centre-right coalition government of the Conservative Party (Høyre), the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti, KRF) and the Liberal Party (Venstre) put before the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) a proposal for the relaxation of the current legislative provisions concerning overtime work in the Act relating to Worker Protection and the Working Environment (AML). The proposal is likely to receive majority approval in parliament.
The proposal for change put before parliament is very much in line with the recommendations made by a government-appointed working life committee in 1999 (NO9912167F). The main rationale behind a relaxation of the rules on overtime is to achieve increased flexibility and to create a simpler and more uniform legal framework. Flexibility will be sought by abolishing the detailed framework provisions stipulating the legal maximum length of overtime work over a one-week period and over a period of four consecutive weeks. Instead new regulations will be introduced which limit the average number of overtime hours worked per week. The present daily and annual restrictions on overtime, however, will be retained. Furthermore, flexibility will also be sought through the introduction of provisions that allow the possibility of employers entering into agreements with individual employees on overtime work carried out in the 'voluntary period' (ie overtime of between 200 and 400 hours per year). Currently, overtime work during the voluntary period is subject to approval by the Labour Inspectorate or to a collective agreement with the local trade union. The government does not propose any changes with regard to employers' rights to impose overtime work, and as such overtime beyond 200 hours per year will still be voluntary.
The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) - a governmental agency under the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration with an administrative and supervisory role in relation to the AML - states that the proposal to abolish the framework provisions stipulating the legal maximum length of overtime work over a period of four consecutive weeks may pose a serious health hazard to employees. The Authority fears that the changes may create arduous working time arrangements in companies that are subject to extreme work or production peaks, or companies suffering significant labour shortages, which will endanger the health and well-being of employees.
The proposal put forward by the centre-right government is controversial, and was met by significant opposition from the trade unions when it was first presented in February 2002 (NO0203101N). The president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO), Gerd-Liv Valla, argues that the proposal represents a 'brutalisation' of Norwegian working life, which will put additional pressure on employees and lead to a further increase in sickness absence rate. As such, it serves not only to undermine current efforts directed at a continuation of the cooperative venture on incomes policy that has marked much of the last decade or so (NO0209101N), but also to undermine the social partners' joint efforts to reduce the sickness absence rate (NO0208102N). LO’s concerns are shared by the other main union confederations, all of which have opposed the government’s proposal.
The fact that the government's proposal has been issued before a public committee presently deliberating changes to the AML has published its recommendations, is also a source of great frustration among most trade unions, including LO. The mandate of the commission is to revise and further develop the AML. Working time is just one of several areas to be considered, and the committee's report is expected in December 2003. All the major union organisations have stressed that changes to the present rules concerning overtime must be seen in light of the other provisions in the AML, so as to avoid jeopardising the rights and health of employees.