Focus on temporary work agencies and equal treatment of hired in resources offshore

The Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion has specified in its letter of allocation for 2024 that Havtil shall strengthen its efforts to combat unprofessionalism and social dumping. As part of this, Havtil have supervised the companies’ compliance with the NWEA’s provisions on temporary hires and equality of treatment within its area of authority. Of the six audits reported in 2024, four showed various lack of routines or non-conformity with the requirements in the NWEA. 

The main finding was that the audited companies did not have sufficient routines pertaining to the various requirements in the NWEA. This included the following non-conformity issues:

• No routine for consulting with the employee representatives regarding the equal treatment of hired in resources. This was not a part of the consultation, but Havtil found that this should be a part of the consultations.
   
• Lack of routines to ensure that the legality of temporary hires is in accordance with the NWEA, including ensuring that the temporary work agency is registered and approved in Arbeidstilsynet's register. 
   

In addition to the ongoing work by Havtil, there is an ongoing court case regarding the equal treatment of hired in workers in the offshore industry.

The case concerns wage claims from workers in a temporary work agency. The overall question is whether the principle of equal treatment in the NWEA or the act on employment protection, etc. for ship workers ("Ship Labour Act") applies to workers in temporary work agencies being hired out to land-based work locations and offshore work, where the primary work is offshore related. The Gulating Court of Appeal concluded that the principle of equal treatment in the NWEA is applicable for the workers, due to the organisation of the company. In the assessment of whether the NWEA's protection came into effect, they placed great emphasis on a significant part of the work being included under the NWEA. Furthermore, it was important that the employment agreements did not refer to the Ship Labor Act, that the workplace was only given to the employer's business address, and that the formal requirements for employment agreements under the Ship Labor Act were not met.

It was also pointed out that the employer had not established a collective agreement in accordance with requirements for work on NIS-registered ships, and that the rental business had not been legal under the Ship Labour Act/NIS Act in any event. The Court of Appeal therefore concluded that the principle of equal treatment in Section 14-12 of the NWEA came into effect. However, the Court of Appeal did not exclude that the change of protection legislation/alternation between the WEA and the Ship Labour Act may be permitted in other cases. On this basis, the temporary work agency was ordered to pay wages to the workers.

However, this is not the end of the case. The Supreme Court's Appeals Selection Committee decided on 3 May 2024 to refer the appeal against Gulating Court of Appeal's judgment 6 February 2024 to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court handled the case on 3 and 4 December, and their decision is pending.