Working in Norway – your contract, minimum wage by sector, holidays and recognised skills
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
Norway has no general minimum wage, but nine sectors have a legal one, and the car trade joined them in June 2026. Here is what working in Norway means for your contract, pay, hours and holidays, and how to get foreign qualifications recognised.
Working in Norway comes with firm rules, and three have changed recently. Since 1 July 2024, your written contract must be ready within 7 days of starting, not one month. Since 15 June 2026, the car trade has had a statutory minimum wage for the first time. And on 3 August 2026 the minimum wage for fish-processing companies was repealed; a new proposal is out for consultation until 25 September 2026.
The rules below follow Arbeidstilsynet (the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority), which enforces them. Everyone who works in Norway also needs a skattekort (tax deduction card) and a Norwegian ID number; without a skattekort, your employer must deduct 50 per cent of your pay – see parts 4 and 7. From outside the EU/EEA, check first that you are allowed to work (part 2).
What must your contract say when you start working in Norway?
Every employee must have a written arbeidsavtale (employment contract), permanent or temporary, with no exceptions, and drawing it up is the employer's job. It must name the employer and its organisation number, you, and your workplace – or say that you work in different places and give the business address. A probation period must be written in; it is normally at most six months, and in a temporary job never more than half its length.
An oral agreement is valid under the Contracts Act, and an unsigned contract is not automatically invalid, but the Working Environment Act still requires a written one. Nor can you sign your rights away: a term worse than the law, such as a shorter notice period, is invalid even if you both signed it, while the rest of the contract stands.
| Situation | Written contract due |
|---|---|
| Job lasting more than one month | As soon as possible, at the latest 7 days after you start (since 1 July 2024; before, one month) |
| Job lasting one month or less | The day you start |
| Hired out by a staffing agency | The day you start – naming the hiring company, and again each time it changes |
| Contract signed before 1 July 2024 | Updated by the day any change takes effect, or within 2 months if you ask |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, read 23 September 2026.
Is there a minimum wage in Norway?
Not in general – pay is agreed individually. The exceptions are sectors where parts of a collective agreement have been made legally binding through allmenngjøring (general application). There are nine: the car trade, construction, electrical work, road freight, agriculture and horticulture, hospitality and catering, coach transport, cleaning and the shipyard industry. The rates apply to Norwegian and foreign workers alike, but not to apprentices or people on labour-market schemes.
| Sector and group | Minimum per hour | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Car trade: newly qualified skilled worker | NOK 223.50 | 15 June 2026 |
| Car trade: skilled worker after 1 year | NOK 237.00 | 15 June 2026 |
| Car trade: helper aged 18 or over | NOK 208.00 | 15 June 2026 |
| Car trade: helper with at least 1 year | NOK 212.00 | 15 June 2026 |
| Construction: skilled worker | NOK 264.32 | 15 June 2025 |
| Construction: unskilled, no experience | NOK 239.61 | 15 June 2025 |
| Construction: unskilled, at least 1 year | NOK 249.00 | 15 June 2025 |
| Construction: under 18 | NOK 162.44 | 15 June 2025 |
| Electrical: skilled worker | NOK 270.45 | 15 June 2025 |
| Cleaning: aged 18 or over | NOK 236.54 | 15 June 2025 |
| Road freight, vehicles over 2.5 tonnes | NOK 229.00 | 15 June 2025 |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, read 23 September 2026.
Road-freight rates have covered vans since 1 June 2025, when the limit dropped from vehicles over 3.5 tonnes to over 2.5 tonnes. For the other sectors, check Arbeidstilsynet's rate tables. An employer who breaks the rules can face an order, a stop order, a coercive fine or a violation fee, as well as fines or prison – and not paying wages you are owed can be lønnstyveri (wage theft) under the Penal Code.
For a sense of the wider pay level, SSB (Statistics Norway) put the median monthly wage for all employees at NOK 55,800 in 2025, and the average at NOK 62,070. Cleaners and unskilled workers averaged NOK 43,700 a month, managers NOK 90,510.
How long can you work in Norway?
| Rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| Normal working day | 9 hours in 24 |
| Normal working week | 40 hours in 7 days; 38 or 36 for round-the-clock shift work |
| A common agreed week | 37.5 hours |
| Breaks | At least one if you work more than 5.5 hours; at least 30 minutes in total from 8 hours |
| Rest | 11 hours in 24 and 35 hours in 7 days – never below 8 and 28 hours, even by agreement |
| Overtime | At least 40 per cent on top of your agreed hourly wage |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, read 23 September 2026.
Your employer must record all your working time and breaks, whether you are paid by the hour, a fixed salary or piece rate. The Sunday-work rules also apply on public holidays. On 1 May and 17 May you get full pay if you are off, provided you have been employed for the previous 30 days, and at least 50 per cent extra if you have to work, unless a collective agreement sets a different Sunday rate. Every employer must also provide an occupational pension; in a defined-contribution scheme, it saves at least 2 per cent of your salary.
How much holiday do you get in Norway?
| Rule | What applies |
|---|---|
| Holiday | At least 25 virkedager (working days, Saturdays included) a year – four weeks and one day |
| Holiday pay | At least 10.2 per cent of gross salary |
| A fifth week | Many get one through the 2000/2001 collective agreement, usually with 12 per cent holiday pay |
| Turning 60 | From the holiday year you turn 60, one extra week, which you place yourself with two weeks' notice; holiday pay 12.5 per cent over 60 |
| Sick on holiday | With a certificate for 100 per cent sick leave, you can postpone the days from the first day of illness |
| Carrying days over | Up to 12 days to next year, if agreed with your employer |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, read 23 September 2026.
Will Norway recognise your qualifications?
Not every profession requires recognition. Where it does, HK-dir (the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills) handles foreign higher education, a task it took over from NOKUT on 1 January 2023 – so ignore older advice that sends you to NOKUT.
Health personnel educated abroad must be registered and hold a licence or authorisation to practise. Helsedirektoratet (the Norwegian Directorate of Health) has an online tool that lists the documents, fee and processing time profession by profession. Documents issued in Pakistan are verified through Dataflow Group, and special rules have applied to people educated in the United Kingdom since 1 December 2023. Helsedirektoratet does not answer visa questions; those go to UDI (the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration).
| Question | Where to go | How |
|---|---|---|
| Rights at work, pay and hours | Arbeidstilsynet | (+47) 73 19 97 00, option 1, weekdays 08:30–11:00; answers in English, Polish, Romanian and Russian |
| The police, Skatteetaten (the Norwegian Tax Administration) and Arbeidstilsynet in one place | SUA (Service Centre for Foreign Workers) | In person only – information desks in Oslo, Stavanger and Trondheim |
| Recognition of foreign education | HK-dir | 21 49 56 09, Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00–14:00, or the online contact form |
| Licence or authorisation for health personnel | Helsedirektoratet | The online profession tool |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, SUA, HK-dir and Helsedirektoratet, read 23 September 2026.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check that you may work in Norway, and get a skattekort and ID number | Before your first payday |
| 2 | Ask for a written contract and check it against the table above | At the latest 7 days after you start – the same day for short jobs and agency work |
| 3 | Look up whether your sector has a minimum wage | Before you accept an offer |
| 4 | Keep your own note of hours and overtime | From day one |
| 5 | Check whether your profession needs recognition or authorisation | Before you apply for jobs |
| 6 | Call Arbeidstilsynet if something looks wrong | Weekdays 08:30–11:00 |
Source: Arbeidstilsynet, read 23 September 2026.
Official sources
The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.
- Arbeidstilsynet (Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority) · arbeidstilsynet.no
- Arbeidstilsynet · arbeidstilsynet.no
- Arbeidstilsynet, citing Ferieloven (the Holiday Act) · arbeidstilsynet.no
- Arbeidstilsynet · arbeidstilsynet.no
- NAV (Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) · nav.no
- Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB) · ssb.no
- HK-dir · hkdir.no
- Helsedirektoratet (Norwegian Directorate of Health) · helsedirektoratet.no
Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.