The government has adopted changes in the period in which employers have a duty of remuneration when temporarily laying off employees. The duty of remuneration period will, from 1 September 2020, be ten days.
According to the Obligation to Pay Wages during Temporary Redundancy Act, when laying off an employee, the employer is in principle obliged to pay lay-off pay and other remuneration for a period of 15 days (the employer's period). After this, the employer is exempt from payroll obligations for 26 weeks during a period of 18 months (the exemption period) in the event of continued temporary layoffs.
As a result of the corona pandemic, the Norwegian Government implemented several measures to protect businesses, jobs, and workers. One of these measures was to change the employer-financed period from 15 to 2 days. At the same time, it was announced that the rules regarding temporary lay-off would be considered on an ongoing basis.
As more people return to work, the Government has now decided to increase the employer-financed period from 2 to 10 days.
The amendment was adopted on 26 June 2020 and enters into force on 1 September 2020.
