Norway: Government Proposes Forthcoming Compliance Measures

The Norwegian government proposed a wide range of measures seeking to combat unfair employment practices ('social dumping') and employment-related crime. As part of this action plan, the government may introduce more stringent accommodation requirements; increase Labor Inspectorate staff and funding; establish a pre-approval scheme for staffing companies; ban staffing arrangements for certain construction work; review whether trainee and internship employment models carry a significant exploitation risk; improve cooperation between public authorities (specifically the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority, Labor and Welfare Agency, police, Tax Agency and Customs Agency); improve online information sharing; strengthen the use of sanctions; and collaborate more closely with the European Labor Agency, and with control authorities in Nordics and Baltics. The measures build on the creation of a new inspection taskforce in July. Details and timelines for each of these measures have not yet been published. Fragomen will monitor developments.