New minimum salaries set

IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? Norway has increased its minimum salaries for foreign nationals seeking residence permits for work purposes.

What does the change mean? The new thresholds are 386,700 Norwegian kroner (about US$49,000) per year (pretax) for positions requiring a bachelor’s degree and 416,600 kroner per year (pretax) for positions requiring a master’s degree.

• Implementation time frame: July 2017 through June 2018.
• Visas/permits affected: Residence permits for work purposes.
• Who is affected: Employers sponsoring foreign employees for residence permits for work.
• Business impact: The increases are about 1 percent above last year’s thresholds.

Background: Foreign employees working in Norway must not only be paid the salary minimums listed above, but must also be provided the same working conditions and pay as Norwegian nationals. Foreign nationals also must be paid the salaries required by collective bargaining agreements if such an agreement is applicable to the work the foreign employee will be doing.

BAL Analysis: Employers should make sure they are in compliance with the new salary minimums and other payment requirements.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Norway. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

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