Report on overtime for part-time employees: No agreement

Over the past year, a working group appointed by the Government has been assessing the rules on overtime for part-time employees. It submitted its report to the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion yesterday, Tuesday 15 September 2026. The parties have failed to reach agreement on a proposed solution, and remain divided on whether the current scheme constitutes discrimination and on what, if any, regulatory changes should be implemented.

The report follows from the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular in the Lufthansa case (C-660/20) and the Dialyse case (Joined Cases C-184/22 and C-185/22), in which the CJEU held that a rule setting a common threshold for overtime pay for part-time and full-time employees constituted unlawful discrimination under the Part-Time Work Directive. On this basis, the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion established a tripartite working group, which commenced its work on 3 June 2025.

After two Norwegian district court rulings concluded that the Norwegian rules on part-time work and overtime also constituted discrimination, the working group's mandate was amended. The group was tasked with proposing concrete regulatory amendments to prevent discrimination, and the mandate was simultaneously expanded to cover certain related part-time provisions, such as the rules on preferential right to extended employment.

The working group's members were divided on whether the Norwegian system for remunerating part-time employees' additional work amounts to discrimination. The employer side argues that the CJEU rulings have limited relevance to Norwegian law, and therefore do not establish an unconditional right for part-time employees to overtime pay for work beyond their agreed hours. The employee side, by contrast, considers the legal position settled by the CJEU's rulings in Lufthansa and Dialyse, and argues that these rulings preclude part-time employees from being held to a higher relative threshold than full-time employees when it comes to compensation for work beyond agreed hours.

The parties also held differing views on the need for changes, which provisions should potentially be amended, and how any such changes should be designed and delimited. The working group therefore did not manage to agree on joint solutions or consensus proposals for regulatory amendments, whether concerning compensation for additional work and overtime, or the related provisions covered by the mandate.

The report illustrates that these are highly complex questions. The current overtime pay rules form part of a comprehensive labour market model that has, over time, contributed to high employment. The employer side points out that a general rule on overtime compensation for additional work could have far-reaching and unintended consequences for businesses, employees and society.

In the press release from the Ministry, Minister of Labour Kjersti Stenseng emphasises that she had expected and hoped for more than what the report contains, while also agreeing that this is a highly complex matter. The Ministry will now proceed with the work and will engage external expert assistance for advice on how solutions might be designed.

Whether proposals for regulatory changes will emerge before final rulings are handed down in the two pending court cases on this topic is currently unclear. The appeal cases in the lawsuits against Sykehus Innlandet and Coop Øst are scheduled to be heard by Eidsivating Court of Appeal (17–19 November 2026) and Borgarting Court of Appeal (30 March – 2 April 2027). Following this, the cases may proceed further to the Supreme Court, and a potential referral to the EFTA Court cannot be excluded, which could extend proceedings by a further 6–12 months.

Against this background, it may still take considerable time before final clarity is reached on this important issue. It is therefore important for Norwegian businesses to carefully assess what measures can be implemented in the meantime to manage the risk of substantial additional costs should the legal position change — costs which Fafo has estimated at nearly NOK 11.5 billion annually.

The report is available in Norweigan here: Deltid: Merarbeid og overtidsbetaling - regjeringen.no