Is my employer allowed to order me to work additional hours?

Hi!

Thank you for contacting us!

Agreed working hours
According to Norwegian law, your contract of employment must mention how many hours you are supposed to work per day and per week, cf. the Working Environment Act section 14-6 (1) letter j. This means that it is not sufficient if the contract only mentions a percentage.

The law does not say what a 100 % position equals to. In some companies 100 % = 40 hours/week, in some 35 hours/week, 37,5 hours/week etc. As this may differ from company to company, it is important (and mandatory) to write in the contract what your contract of employment what your agreed daily and weekly working hours are.

Additional hours
If I get you right, your employer instructs you to work more than your agreed working hours. An employer may only order you to work additional hours if there is an exceptional and time-limited need for it. Such exceptional needs include:

• under-staffing due to absence. There must be a risk that the under-staffing may disrupt ordinary operations.
• situations where there is a risk of damage to plant, machinery, raw materials or products
• unexpected demand for work
• increased demand for work due to seasonal fluctuations or shortage of labour with specialized skills or expertise

In addition, the need must be time-limited. This means that overtime cannot be made a regular arrangement. The employer must implement measures to reduce the need for overtime.

Does your employer not have an exceptional and time-limited need for ordering you to work additional hours?

In that case, you can address this issue to the safety representative (verneombud) or to the employer him/herself. If it does not work out to do so, you can report unlawfull use of additional hours to Arbeidstilsynet. You can be anonymous if you want to.

What if your employer does have an exceptional and time-limited need for ordering you to work additional hours?

In some cases, employees have the right to be exempted from work in excess of agreed working hours, for health reasons, weighthy social reasons or other reasons.

I am a student who came to Norway to study and I have a part-time job of 30%. but the problem here is that they are making me work 4 to 5 days a week and I have to focus on my study. I know that the normal weekly work hours in Norway is 37 hours. so we can calculate my position as 30/100*37= 11.1 hours a week.
this is right? And if the leader refuses to stick to these hours, is there something that I can do?

Frida from Arbeidstilsynet in cooperation with Ung.no