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Many businesses make use of hired labour, who substitute in case of absence, or to obtain extra capacity for periods of higher activity.
The Working Environment Act § 14-9 first paragraph letter a to e defines when a business can use hired labour. The most commonly used conditions are a and b, which allow room for hiring when the work is temporary or when there is a temporary job.
In order for a business to continue to be able to use hired labour, the new proposal from the government states that the business must be bound by a collective agreement with a trade union with the right to submit proposals. The right to strike applies to trade unions that have more than 10,000 members in total. In the case of an agreement with a trade union with nomination rights, the business can agree with local shop stewards that they can use hiring from staffing companies.
In such cases, the employer and shop steward must enter into a written agreement (protocol) on hiring from a staffing company. The basis for the agreement must be defined. An example could be that the business operates in a market with large fluctuations, which means that they sometimes need temporary employment to avoid peaks.
This must be assessed against the need to increase own basic staffing (increase the proportion of permanent employees).
The government has currently not set a date for when the new rules will come into force, but it is expected that the changes to the Working Environment Act can come into force from the new year.
Businesses that have a collective agreement with a trade union with the right to propose can already now make an agreement with the shop steward about the use of subletting. The business will then be approved to use subletting when the new rules come into force.
For businesses without a collective agreement with the major trade unions, it will only be possible to hire real temporary workers. This means that the business must only hire as a replacement for its own employee.
Other solutions for procuring labor could be own, temporary employment. Here, recruitment companies can assist in finding labour, but the business itself must be responsible for the employer's responsibility.
Another solution is increased use of overtime, or increasing the proportion of permanent employees, which in turn can lead to an increased degree of layoffs in periods of less work. Another option is to hire labor from other manufacturing companies.
A ban on hiring from staffing companies on construction sites in Oslo, Viken and formerly Vestfold has been proposed.
The proposal also involves extended rights for hired workers. As of today, employees who have been temporarily employed have the right to permanent employment in the hiring company after four years, and for hiring in a temporary agency, the right to permanent employment is fixed at three years.
The new proposal states that an employee can claim permanent employment after two years of temporary employment.
For further information, contact the general manager of Veksthuset Personal AS – Sigmund Høye on tel. 918 42 926, or sigmund@veksthusetpersonal.no
