Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Norway (Ratification: 1950)

Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 13 of the Convention. Substantive rules on wage protection. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that it has no intention of regulating in detail all aspects of wage protection as these issues are subject to contractual freedom and are thus largely addressed in individual contracts of employment or in collective agreements. The Government refers to section 14-6(1) of the Working Environment Act, as last revised in 2009, which provides that a contract of employment must include, among others, the pay applicable or agreed on commencement of the employment, any supplements and other remuneration not included in the pay, for example, allowances for meals or accommodation, the method of payment and payment intervals.

The Committee wishes to recall, in this respect, that as explained in paragraph 510 of its 2003 General Survey on protection of wages, the provisions of the Convention are worded in varying forms: some require specific practices to be prohibited (for instance, payment of wages in the form of promissory notes, Article 3, or restrictions on the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages, Article 6), and thus appear to require legislative provisions to this effect, while others merely require certain practices to be followed (for instance, payment of wages directly to the worker concerned, Article 5), and thus seem to leave more scope for implementation by various means, including custom or practice. Yet other provisions permit certain matters to be regulated by collective agreement (for instance, partial payment in kind, Article 4, or authorized deductions from wages, Article 8), or leave it to the discretion of the competent authorities to decide on the need for and the form of any action on their part (for instance, issuing of payslips, Article 14). Moreover, with regard to payments in kind and deductions, the Convention makes exclusive reference to implementation through national laws or regulations, collective agreements and arbitration awards, it being understood that authorizing allowances in kind or regulating deductions from wages based on the provisions of an individual labour agreement or consent would be incompatible with the requirements of the Convention.

The Committee recalls that, particularly in the context of individual labour agreements, the worker may face undue pressure from the employer, which may result in protection below the standards required by the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to consider adopting measures to ensure that individual or collective agreements give effect in all circumstances to the following minimum standards set out in the Convention: Article 4 (partial payment of wages in kind); Article 5 (payment of wages directly to the worker concerned); Article 6 (explicit prohibition against any limitation of the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages); Article 9 (prohibition of any deduction from wages for obtaining or retaining employment); and Article 10 (conditions and limits for attachment and assignment of wages).

Article 8. Deductions from wages. The Committee notes the Government’s explanations that, under section 14-15(2) of the Working Environment Act, deductions from wages may be made only when it is so stipulated in a written agreement. The Committee recalls that this degree of latitude, i.e. the possibility of deductions being permitted with the written consent of the worker, is not consistent with the Convention, unless of course the national legislation fixes specifically the types of deductions that may be provided for in individual labour agreements. In this connection, the Committee notes also the comments made by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), appended to the Government’s report, according to which this provision of the Working Environment Act has caused confusion as to whether the law opens the possibility in general of entering into agreements on salary deductions. The LO indicates that both in the private and public sectors it is not unusual for employment contracts to contain clauses giving general permission to the employer to deduct from wages in case of errors made in the payment of wages. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to bring the national legislation into conformity with this Article of the Convention.