Foreign workers who end up in conflicts with employers over wages and working conditions get little or no help from Norwegian society, NRK reports. New regulations are being discussed.
Presently, due to unclear distribution of responsibility and complicated organization of many small businesses that employ a foreign workforce, workers are left to fend for themselves.
Last week NRK reported on the survivors and the relatives of the victims of a fire in Gulskogen, near Drammen, and the complex problems they struggle with. One of the survivors, who jumped out of a third-story window to save his own life, had reported his Polish employer to the police because he claims he is owed large amounts of money in back pay.
When the Polish worker went to the police he was told that the police normally don’t investigate these kinds of cases, because they see it as a civil court case.
- What we can do is bring in other public departments that can possibly look into the case, a police legal counselor told him.
When the police say that they will turn the case over to other public authorities, they are thinking of the Labour Inspectorate. But the Head of Labour Inspections in Buskerud, Jan Muggerud, says there is very little that they can do:
-This area is privately regulated, which means that if you as an employee don’t get the wages you are entitled to, then you must go to the courts to get a conviction. Then the judge will establish what you are entitled to, he says.
When there is a private disagreement on wages, it could be necessary to hire lawyers and going to trial. This is a very unlikely option for a Polish worker without wages, and who does not speak Norwegian.
In March the consultation deadline for a new law on mutual responsibility expires. The law will prevent social depression and prevent the creation of a new lower class of underpaid workers in Norway.
-I cannot promise that it will become a law. But we are sending it for consultation because we believe that if people can go to employers and even furher up the chain to demand wages that are not paid out, then it will have a preventive effect, says Jan-Erik Stoestad of the Labour and Inclusiveness Department.
(NRK)
Rolleiv Solholm
Total investments in oil and gas activity in 2014, including pipeline transportation, are NOK 208.2 billion in the preliminary estimate. The estimate for 2013 increases by NOK 12.6 billion to NOK 211.3 billion.
..
Delegations from the Taliban have several times met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide (photo) for secret negotiations in Norway...
The import of Norwegian goods to the 27 EU member nations dropped by 16 per cent in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year.
..
Kongsberg Defence Ssystem and Lockheed Martin have completed a fit check of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) in the internal carriage bay of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft...
Statoil and Stadtwerke Düsseldorf have signed a 15-year arrangement for the supply of natural gas to Stadtwerke Düsseldorf's upcoming 600-MW gas power plant (CCGT) in Lausward-Düsseldorf, Germany...
The Norwegian Parliament has voted to adopt conscription for women as well as men. – This is an historic day for equality and for our armed forces, says Norway’s Defence Minister, Mrs. Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen.
..
The Norwegian Government intends to ratify the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (Nuclear Terrorism Convention)...
A new study shows that people have less faith in the police and public institutions after the terror attacks on July 22, and that they feel more unsafe.
..
The train has become such a popular form of public transit that Norwegian trains are operating at their absolute maximum capacity in order to handle the large number of passengers.
..
