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Norway Leave Laws – Vacation Tracker

Table Of Contents

Holidays

  • 1st January – New Year’s Day
  • 1st April – Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter Sunday)
  • 2nd April – Good Friday
  • 4th April – Easter
  • 5th April – Easter Monday
  • 1st May – Labour Day
  • 13th May – Ascension Day (39 days after Easter Sunday)
  • 17th May – Constitution Day
  • 23rd May – Pentecost Sunday (50 days after Easter)
  • 24th May – Whit Monday (7th Monday after Easter)
  • 24th December – Christmas Eve
  • 25th December – Christmas Day
  • 26th December – Second Day of Christmas

Paid Time Off

PTO (Paid Time Off)

  • Vacation/Annual Paid Leave

The Annual Holiday Act states that the employee shall have 25 days of paid holiday each year, which amounts to four full weeks and one day. The Annual Holiday Act entitles the employee to holiday payment, which is 10.2 per cent of the annual wages earned the previous year.

Employees may be granted longer holiday through individual or collective agreement. The main collective agreements in Norway grant the employees a contractual right to five weeks of holiday.

  • Rollovers and payout of unused hours

  • Use-it-or-lose-it policy 

Holiday dates must be decided in conjunction with trade union representatives. An employee has the right to take a consecutive period of three weeks’ vacation in the period June-September. The remaining time can be taken as a single period or broken up into smaller portions of time.

  • PTO payout at the termination

Not specified.

Maternity Leave, Child Raising Leave, Parental Leave

Maternity Leave

Female employees are entitled to up to six weeks of leave following the birth of a child.

Paternity Leave

In connection with the birth of a child the father shall be entitled to two weeks’ leave of unpaid absence provided that he lives with the mother and spends the time taking care of family and home.

Parental Leave

Parents are entitled to 12 months’ leave of absence during the first year of their child’s life. In total, the length must not exceed 12 months for both parents jointly. In addition, each parent is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence for up to one year for each child. A total of 10 weeks are reserved for the father and 10 weeks for the mother. The first six weeks after the birth are reserved for the mother, and are included in her 10 weeks. Apart from these limitations, the parents are free to divide between them the remaining period the leave

Adoption Leave and Foster Child Care Leave

The above mentioned right to a leave of absence in connection with birth also applies to situations of adoption and care for foster child.

Sick Leave

Sick Leave

If employees are absent from work due to illness or injury, he or she is entitled to payment from the employer for the first 16 days of the absence. After the employer-paid period of 16 calendar days, the responsibility of paying the employee is passed on to the Social Security. The employee is entitled to 100 percent of his or her wage benefits.

If ill for four or more days, the employee must obtain a doctor’s certificate.

Child Care Leave

Employees are entitled to paid leave in order to care for a sick child up to the age of 12.

Parents are entitled to 10 days of leave, or 15 days of leave if they have more than 2 children. Also single parents are entitled to up to 20 days of leave, or 30 days if they have more than 2 children.

Family Care Leave

Employees are entitled to up to 10 days of unpaid leave to care for parent, spouse, cohabiting partner or registered partner.

Employees are entitled to up to 60 days of leave to care for terminally ill close relative. Employees are entitled to care allowance during the leave.

Jury Duty Leave, and Voting Leave

 Not specified by law.

Bereavement Leave

Whether an employee is entitled to such leave and whether the leave is granted with or without pay will often be regulated in agreements (e.g. collective agreements) or the company’s internal rules.

Bereavement leave is a non-statutory leave entitlement.

Military Leave

Employees are entitled to take leave of absence for Military service and up to 24 months in connection with international peace operations.

There is no statutory requirement for salary, but accrual of holiday pay for up to 3 months in each accrual year in connection with obligatory service.

Please consult your local legal counsel to learn more about Norway Leave Laws.

To learn more about laws in various countries, check out our Leave Laws page.

All materials have been prepared for general information purposes only to permit you to learn more about this region's leave laws. The information presented is not legal advice, is not to be acted on as such, and may not be current. Please contact your local legal counsel to learn more about the leave laws in your country.