Staffing enterprises

A staffing enterprise is an enterprise whose purpose is to hire out labour. Hired labour means workers who are employed by the staffing enterprise, while their work is directed by the principal/client or entity hiring them.

Alle staffing enterprises that hire out labour in Norway, must be registered with the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.

If your purpose is to hire out labour, you must register your activity as a staffing enterprise. Foreign enterprises must also register.

You do not have to register as a staffing enterprise if you are a manufacturer and hire out labour when you have extra capacity.

When can labour be hired from other activities than staffing enterprises?

Only main entities can apply for registration

It is your main legal entity that must apply to be registered with the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority. Sub-entities or departments that are not independent entities, cannot apply.

Roles that have access to forms in Altinn

Those who are to submit forms and read e-mails from us must hold the following roles in Altinn:

• You must hold the "reporter/sender" role to fill in and submit forms.
• You must hold the "mail/archive" role to read digital mail.

Read more about the different Altinn roles.

Give rights or rights to others

People who have the "acess manager" role can

• give the roles "filler/submit" or "mail/archive" to others in the business
• give rights to a spesific form or service

Read more about how to give rights to others in Altinn (altinn.no)

Get rights for a spesific form or service

If the person submitting the form does not have the roles described above, they can get rights for a specific form or service. It is those who have the roles of "access manager" who can pass these rights on to others.

The person who gets such rights does not get access to the inbox where receipts or replies arrive.

Follow the steps described under "Give rights for a specific form or service" at Altinn to give rights (altinn.no)

You will be informed when your report has been processed; at the latest in 28 days.

You can ask to be deleted from the register of staffing enterprises by sending us information about this via eDialog (only in Norwegian).

You can also ask to be deleted from the register via an annual reporting, which is sent out in January.

If you are deleted, it will be illegal for you to hire out labour.

As a registered staffing enterprise, you must renew your registration every year by confirming that you still meet the requirements in forskrift om bemanningsforetak §7 (in Norwegian) (Section 7 of the Regulations relating to staffing enterprises). You do this by submitting an annual report to us.

The deadline for sending the report is 31 January.

By renewing your registration, you will be listed in the register of staffing companies for one more year.

Link to the form will come in Altinn

Early in January you will receive information from us with the form in Altinn you use to send your annual report. You must enter your e-mail address or mobile number in Altinn to get notifications when you receive information.

When you renew your registration, you will be in the register for registered staffing enterprises (only in Norwegian) for another year.

To renew your registration, you must have the right roles in Altinn. See what roles you must have, above.

If you submit the annual reporting via eDialog or in another way than Altinn, your reporting will not be renewed.

What happens if you do not send in a report?

If you do not send in a report before the deadline, your staffing enterprise will be deleted from the register, and it will be illegal for you to hire out labour.

As to be deleted via the annual reporting

In addition to being registered with the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, all staffing enterprises must be registered in the Register of Legal Entities and as an employer with the Norwegian tax authorities.

Staffing enterprises must also be registered with employees in the State Register of Employers and Employees (Aa-registeret) (nav.no). The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority collects information on the number of employees from the Register of Legal Entities, which in turn collects data from the State Register of Employers and Employees.

Staffing enterprises can be registered as private or public limited companies in Norway.

Staffing enterprises registered as public or private limited companies or similar forms of enterprises in another EEA country, meet the requirements for operating in Norway. The enterprise must attach documentation of said registration unless this is shown in the Register of Legal Entities.

Staffing enterprises that are not registered as public or private limited companies, or equivalent in another EEA country, must provide security in the form of a guarantee from a bank or insurance company. This guarantee must be for at least NOK 30 000 for a private limited company, corresponding to the minimum equity required for a limited company. Please attach documentation for this guarantee, e.g. by means of a bank account statement.

All foreign enterprises that do not have a permanent business address or base in Norway, must have a Norwegian representative with a Norwegian business address. This representative must have

• authorisation to receive claims and act in a legal capacity on behalf of the enterprise
• his/her home or permanent business address in Norway

We will obtain information from the Register of Legal Entities as to who is your Norwegian representative.

In the application, everyone must include

• documentation of your internal safety service (vernetjeneste)
• examples of different types of contracts of employment
• proof of insurance showing that you have active occupational injury insurance
• routines that show that you ensure equal treatment of pay and working conditions

Staffing enterprises that are not registered as a limited company (aksjeselskap, AS) or public limited company (allmennaksjeselskap, ASA) in Norway, or an equivalent AS or ASA in another EEA country, must attach a guarantee from a bank or an insurance company.

Staffing enterprises that are registered abroad must attach documentation of their registration from their home country.

Read more about the attachments and the content of the application below.

Roles that have access to forms in Altinn

Those who are to submit forms and read e-mails from us must hold the following roles in Altinn:

• You must hold the "reporter/sender" role to fill in and submit forms.
• You must hold the "mail/archive" role to read digital mail.

Read more about the different Altinn roles.

Give rights or rights to others

People who have the "acess manager" role can

• give the roles "filler/submit" or "mail/archive" to others in the business
• give rights to a spesific form or service

Read more about how to give rights to others in Altinn (altinn.no)

Get rights for a spesific form or service

If the person submitting the form does not have the roles described above, they can get rights for a specific form or service. It is those who have the roles of "access manager" who can pass these rights on to others.

The person who gets such rights does not get access to the inbox where receipts or replies arrive.

Follow the steps described under "Give rights for a specific form or service" at Altinn to give rights (altinn.no)

You must ensure that you are listed in and have updated information in relevant public registers:

• The Register of Legal Entities (brreg.no)
• The Register of Business Enterprises (brreg.no)
• The VAT Register (Value Added Tax Register) (skatteetaten.no)
• The Aa Register (Register of Employees and Employers) (nav.no)

All staffing enterprises that hire out labour as staffing enterprises in Norway must be officially authorised from 1 January 2024. All companies whose purpose is to hire out labour must apply to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority for authorisation.

It is the main legal entity (hovedenhet) in the company that applies for authorisation as a staffing enterprise on behalf of all sub-entities (underenhet) in the company.

Foreign staffing enterprises must also apply for authorisation, even if they hire out workers from abroad.

Companies without employed workers do not need to apply for authorisation

Companies without any employed workers do not need to apply for authorisation as a staffing enterprise. The same also applies to sole proprietorships (enkeltpersonforetak, ENK) without employees; they do not need to apply for authorisation either. This is because the purchase of services from a company consisting of only one person (sole proprietorship or company without employed workers) will not be regarded as hiring out under the Working Environment Act.

In the relationship between the company that is to have the work performed and the person performing the work, it is important to be aware of the distinction between an employment relationship and a contractual relationship. See the definition of employee in section 1-8 of the Working Environment Act.

You must have a safety representative

You must have a safety representative to be authorised. The requirement for a safety representative applies to all employees in the entire organisation, regardless of their work tasks and employment percentage (full-time equivalent percentage).

If you have fewer than five employees, you can choose between having a safety representative or agreeing on another arrangement.

If you regularly have 30 or more employees, you are also obliged to have a working environment committee (arbeidsmiljøutvalg, AMU).

On 1 January 2024, the rules regarding internal safety services in the Working Environment Act will change. The new requirements are that you must have a safety representative if you have 5 or more employees. Previously, the requirement was 10 or more employees. If you now have 30 or more employees, you must also have a working environment committee. Previously, the requirement was 50 or more employees. You must fulfil the new requirements to be authorised.

Provide information about the safety representative

If you have a safety representative, you must provide this information about the safety representative:

• name
• telephone number

Provide the information for the safety representative you have at the time you apply for authorisation. If you have several safety representatives, you must enter information about the main safety representative.

Attach an agreement on another arrangement

If you have another arrangement than a safety representative, you must upload a written agreement on this arrangement. The agreement must be signed by all employees.

Attach information about the working environment committee

If you have a working environment committee, you must attach a meeting notice or an overview showing

• the names of the participants
• the date of the meeting

The meeting notice or overview must be from the most recent meeting of the working environment committee.

Tick the boxes for the types of employment contracts you have

All employees must have written employment contracts. You must tick off which of these types of employment contracts you have in your enterprise:

• full-time
• part-time
• temporary employees (e.g. seasonal workers and extra staff)

Attach one contract of employment per group

You must attach one contract of employment per group of employees (e.g. full-time, part-time and temporary) you hire out to companies. You do not need to attach employment contracts for all employees at the company.

Attach filled in employment contracts

The contracts of employment you attach must be filled in.

Do you have employees in particularly independent posts?

In the application form, you must state how much overtime supplement the employees have. If you only hire out employees in particularly independent posts (særlig uavhengige stillinger), you must select at least 40 per cent overtime supplement to be able to proceed in the application form.

If you have a combination of employees in ordinary posts and particularly independent posts, select the overtime supplement for the employees in ordinary posts.

In your application, you must answer questions about how you as a staffing enterprise ensure equal treatment.

Equal treatment means that the employees receive at least the same terms and conditions where they are hired as they would have received if they had been employed directly by the hirer. Read more about equal treatment for staffing enterprises (in Norwegian only).

You must attach routines that show that you ensure equal treatment of pay and working conditions.

You must have private occupational injury insurance

All employers must take out private occupational injury insurance (yrkesskadeforsikring) for their employees. You must document that you have taken out such insurance. The insurance is intended to ensure financial compensation for employees in the event of occupational injury.

Upload a copy of the insurance certificate

You must upload a copy of the page in the insurance certificate that shows that the organisation has active occupational injury insurance. The page must show the insurance period and the name of your organisation.

These enterprises must include documentation of their legal form in the application:

• Companies registered in another EEA country
• Companies registered outside the EEA

The documentation that must be attached to the application is a certificate of registration from the public registration authority in the home country. The documentation must be in Norwegian or English.

These enterprises do not need to submit documentation of their legal form in the application:

• Enterprises that are registered as limited liability companies (aksjeselskap, AS), public limited companies (allmennaksjeselskap, ASA) or other types of companies in Norway

These enterprises do not need to provide a guarantee from a bank or insurance company:

• Enterprises that are registered as a limited liability company ((aksjeselskap, AS) or public limited company (allmennaksjeselskap, ASA) in Norway
• Enterprises registered in another EEA country with a corporate form equivalent to AS or ASA

These enterprises must attach a guarantee from a bank or insurance company:

• Enterprises that are registered with a company form other than AS or ASA in Norway
• Enterprises registered in another EEA country with a company form that is not equivalent to AS or ASA
• Enterprises outside the EEA

Documentation of a guarantee from a bank or insurance company must show that you fulfil the minimum guarantee requirement of NOK 30,000. Such documentation may, for example, be a bank statement from the bank. The documentation must be in Norwegian or English.

All foreign enterprises that do not have a permanent place of business or registered office in Norway must have a Norwegian representative. The representative must be

• be authorised to receive claims and take legal action on behalf of the company
• domicile or permanent business address in Norway

You must provide the name, address and contact information of the Norwegian representative.

You will automatically receive an authorisation decision as soon as you have submitted your application. To be able to submit an application, you must fulfil all the requirements for authorisation.

You will receive a response to your application in Altinn (altinn.no).

This is what happens if you get the authorisation

If you fulfil the requirements for authorisation, you will

• have your application approved
• be given the status “approved” (“godkjent”) in the overview of authorised staffing enterprises. The list will be published after 1 January 2024.

What happens if you fail to submit your application?

If you do not meet the requirements for authorisation, you will

• not be allowed to submit the application
• not be granted authorisation and thus operate illegally

What happens if it later turns out that you do not fulfil the requirements?

Even if you have been granted authorisation, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority can subsequently manually check that you meet the requirements for authorisation. If it turns out that you still do not fulfil the requirements, you will

• have your authorisation withdrawn
• you will be given the status “not approved” (“ikke godkjent”) in the overview of authorised staffing enterprises. The overview will be published after 1 January 2024.
• it will be illegal for you to hire out labour as a staffing enterprise .

If your authorisation is withdrawn, you will not be able to legally hire out labour as a staffing enterprise. To be authorised, you must fulfil the requirements and reapply for authorisation.

A withdrawal of authorisation is an individual decision that can be appealed. Normal case processing rules apply. How to appeal (only in Norwegian).

After you have submitted your application, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority can manually check whether you meet the requirements for authorisation. We may also request further documentation. If it turns out that you still do not fulfil the requirements, we may withdraw your authorisation.