Temporary lay-offs (permittering)

Background

Norway already had regulation on temporary lay-offs (permitteringer)
In conjunction with covid-19, the rules have now been revised in order to increase compensation to both employers and laid-off employees
The new rules were voted on in Parliament on 20 March 2020 and effective as of 20 March

Details

Reduction in the number of days that employers are obliged to pay salary to workers at temporary lay-offs, from 15 to 2 days
Removal of the the three waiting days between the period when employers have to provide salary to workers in temporary layoffs and the period when the workers are entitled to daily unemployment benefits, to reduce the loss of income for workers
Benefits for laid-off persons and those who become ordinary unemployed are adjusted upwards and shall constitute 80 per cent of the unemployment benefit up to 3G and 62.4 per cent of the part of the unemployment benefit that is between 3G and 6G
The provision for a three-day waiting period before the unemployment benefit payments start is repealed. Thus, those who are allowed to leave go three days without income. The change also applies to those who are dismissed and must apply for unemployment benefit
The requirement for reduced working hours for entitlement to unemployment benefits during layoffs changes from a minimum of 50 percent to a minimum of 40 percent. The change means that, for example, a full-time employee who is laid off only two working days a week will be entitled to unemployment benefits. By facilitating more use of "rolling layoffs", the financial burden on employees is reduced

Source