Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Norway (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, received on 12 September 2023, and the observations from the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Norwegian Trade Federation (Virke) sent with the Government’s report.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy.Measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee notes the legislative and regulatory changes adopted in the framework of the employment policy. The Government refers to the changes made to the Work Assessment Allowance (WAA) included in the National Insurance Act, as well as the new regulations to strengthen the right to full-time work in the Working Environment Act. The Committee notes the statistical information concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of recipients of health-related benefits between 2019 and 2022, showing an overall increase in sick pay, work assessment allowances and disability benefits during these years. The Committee also notes the information concerning the measures adopted to limit the negative impact of the pandemic. The Government indicates that several temporary amendments were made to the Norwegian Social Security benefits and the Social Assistance Scheme, including incorporating exceptions for the activity requirements and extending maximum benefit periods. The Government indicates that these amendments are no longer in place and that the Norwegian labour market fully recovered in 2022. The Committee also notes the statistics provided by the Government on the impact of those measures on job retention and employment creation. The Government indicates that the employment rate in Norway increased rapidly after the COVID-19 period and peaked in the second quarter of 2022 at 81.3 per cent. The increase in the employment rate was initially as strong as on average in the European Union but has been weaker since the end of 2022 and into 2023. The unemployment rate in Norway fell to a low level in 2022, at 3.2 per cent in the second and third quarters. In the first quarter of 2023, the number of vacancies is at an all-time high, meaning there were good job opportunities for a wide range of jobseekers.

The Committee further notes that, according to the OECD, Norway also faces certain employment policy challenges such as significant job shortages and mismatches, especially in technical and healthcare sectors. Also, the weak productivity growth over the past decade calls for improvements in vocational education and training as an important intervention area. The OECD has also observed that economic pressures from inflation, higher interest rates, and declining oil revenues, coupled with an ageing population, further strain public finances. Also, ensuring equal opportunities for all, including those with disabilities, remains a critical challenge. The Committee notes that addressing these issues requires comprehensive policy measures to enhance job matching, productivity, and financial sustainability andrequests the Government to continue to provide information on the labour market measures adopted or envisaged in the framework of an active labour market policy. It also requests the Government to provide statistics on the impact of those measures on job retention and employment creation, particularly concerning groups in situation of vulnerability, including persons with disabilities. The Government is also requested to continue to provide detailed statistics concerning the employment trends and their evolution.

Reform of the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the activities carried out by the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and their impact on the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment. The Committee had also requested the Government to indicate the specific measures adopted by the NAV to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government indicates that the NAV adopted several measures to face the pandemic. The NAV temporarily increased the staff with an external recruitment of about 200 people to deal with a marked increase in applications for unemployment benefits due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government points out that several of the labour market measures provided for the unemployed during the pandemic were entirely or partly carried out digitally for some period, depending on the local situation. However, in the early stages of the lockdown, it was stressed that services provided in sheltered and supported labour market measures should be kept open as usual and for as long as possible. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities carried out by the Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and their impact on the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment.

Particular categories of workers vulnerable to decent work deficits. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information, including statistical data, on the impact of the employment measures on specific categories of workers vulnerable to decent work deficits, including women, young persons, older workers, persons with disabilities and migrant workers as well as any measure aimed at fostering gender parity. The Committee also requested the Government to provide specific information on the situation and challenges faced by workers belonging to these groups in accessing and remaining in the labour market due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures adopted to address them. The Government refers to the launch of a new initiative for youth, the New Youth Guarantee, which aims to shorten passive periods outside education and work and enable more young people to get a permanent foothold in the ordinary labour market. The Government explains that under this initiative, the target group is people aged 16–30 in need of work-related assistance, and it is focused on early intervention, close and good follow-up and individual counsellors. The Government also indicates that a new Education Act was launched, focused on: (i) the right to complete upper secondary school; (ii) the right to one vocational re-qualification for those who already have upper secondary level; (iii) a new module-based education for adults at upper secondary level and below; and (iv) extend age limit of county council follow-up service from 21 to 24 years. The Government also refers to two changes in active labour market measures (ALMP) and unemployment insurance (UI) rules in recent years: (i) the extended maximal period of the vocational training measure for jobseekers to 3+1 year, making it possible to attend and complete vocational education (established in 2019); and (ii) the increased possibilities to participate in education while receiving UI (established in 2021). The Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations on the tenth periodic report of Norway, while welcoming different measures adopted by the Government, expressed concerns, inter alia, that: (i) the labour market remains highly segregated based on gender, with women being overrepresented in certain lower-paying sectors and in public and part-time positions that are more reconcilable with their family responsibilities, and that women are under-represented in the private sector and in managerial posts; (ii) there is a gender wage gap resulting from occupational segregation; (iii) women belonging to under-represented groups, who are disadvantaged and marginalized because of discriminatory structures, institutions and systems and include migrant women, Sami women, women with disabilities and women victims of gender-based violence, face barriers to integrate into the labour market; and (iv) there are reports of sexual harassment of women in the workplace, in particular in certain sectors, notably the fishing industry and the armed forces (document CEDAW/C/NOR/CO/10, dated 2 March 2023, paras 40 and 42). The CEDAW recommended the ratification of the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), (ibid., para. 43). The Committee also notes that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in its concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Norway, expressed concerns, inter alia, (i) about the high number of persons with disabilities who were unemployed or outside of the labour market, and (ii) the incidence of unemployment among persons with an immigration background, which was three times higher than among the rest of the population and that they are concentrated in low-paid jobs (document E/C.12/NOR/CO/6, dated 2 April 2020, paras 18 and 20). The Committee further notes the conclusions of the European Committee of Social Rights concerning Norway, in particular those related to the labour legislation applicable to children and young persons (document European Social Charter (Revised) – European Committee of Social Rights Conclusions 2023 – Norway, March 2024). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on how the leverage of employment policies is used to improve the labour market outcomes of specific categories of workers vulnerable to decent work deficits, including women, young persons, older workers, persons with disabilities and migrant workers as well as any measure aimed at fostering gender parity, as well as on the results achieved, including by supplying updated and disaggregated available statistical data.