You have these rights in your summer job

The summer is underway and several workplaces around the country have started accepting temporary workers for the summer. For many young people, this may be their first encounter with working life.

– Then it is important to know what you are entitled to and what you should watch out for, says senior raw driver Goran Scekic in the Central Confederation of Trade Unions (YS).

Salary and overtime payment

In Norway, there is no statutory minimum wage, but several working conditions are regulated by collective agreements with hourly wage rates. The hourly wages will vary by profession and age, explains Scekic in YS.

– If you are over 18, you should, for example, have an hourly wage of at least NOK 159.34, according to the collective agreements. If you are under 18, the hourly wage will be 10 to 30 per cent lower in some industries, but you can negotiate for more in hourly wages than what the minimum rates show, says the senior raw driver.

The collective agreements count 37.4 hours as a working week, and according to the Working Environment Act, you must not work more than 40 hours each week.

If you work more than that, you are entitled to overtime pay which is a minimum of 40 per cent of the hourly wage for each hour of overtime. This also applies if it is not specified in the employment agreement, points out Scekic.

At the same time, as a summer temporary worker, you are entitled to paid training.

Scekic also advises young workers to investigate whether they accumulate holiday money from their summer job. These can be paid out when you have finished your employment.

Employment contract

Scekic emphasizes that everyone has the right to a written employment contract. This also applies if the employment relationship only lasts for a short period.

– Some employers believe that they do not need to enter into an employment agreement for shorter working conditions, or part-time work. It is wrong and contrary to the Working Environment Act, he emphasizes.

In Norway, there is a minimum of one month’s mutual and written termination of the employment relationship, both for the employee and the employer. Scekic points out that this also applies when you do not have a written employment agreement.

– The notice period runs from the first month after you have received or handed in the notice, he explains.

Black work

As a summer temporary worker, you are obliged to pay tax, and the employer must obtain the employee’s tax card or exemption card.

If you are offered to work illegally, i.e. without tax being paid on the income and without the employment relationship being reported to the authorities, you should always decline. In addition to the fact that it is illegal, you are left without rights should something happen.

– Without a formal employment relationship, you are in a weak position if the salary is not paid and you lose the right to sick pay, the accrual of a pension and other public benefits, he explains.

– Strengthens the CV

Scekic believes that the summer job is a good opportunity for young people to try out different professions, strengthen their CV and make contacts in working life.

He reminds that at the end of an employment relationship, you are entitled to a written employment certificate which must contain the employee’s name, date of birth, as well as the type of work you have done and the length of the employment relationship.

Illegal camera surveillance

Youth adviser Sindre Hornnes at the National Organization in Norway (LO) experiences that many young people in Norway want to work in the summer. At the same time, the organization is learning that illegal camera surveillance of employees has become a growing challenge in working life.

Of the 5,637 young people visited by LO’s summer patrol, around 700 experienced breaches of camera surveillance in the workplace.

– According to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, the employer has to inform the employees that there is camera surveillance in the workplace, how it is used, and that the recordings are not misused to control the employees, says Hornnes.

– Contact

Hornnes says that young people with questions about their rights in working life can contact LO’s summer patrol via telephone [phone]) or email ([e-mail]), for guidance.

He also encourages young people to join a trade union.

– Then you can get follow-up in the situation you are in, he says.