📋 Tender Overview
Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna has received the report from the committee for strengthened protection against night and lone work for employees in the retail trade. The committee believes that employers must make stricter assessments of the need for night work, and views the development in online shopping with concern.
All employees have the right to good protection, no matter what time of day they work. Retailing is a large industry, with jobs all over the country. We know that night work involves particular risks, and the industry is also developing. That is why it is important that we get updated knowledge and recommendations, says Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna.
Night work is currently only legal if the nature of the work makes it necessary. The aim of the working time regulations is to ensure that the employees are not exposed to stresses that may harm their health or are a burden in other ways.
Based on a decision in the Storting, the committee was set down in 2023. The committee has consisted of the parties in working life and some independent representatives.
They have mapped the extent and content of night and lone work in the retail trade, and assessed the need for changes in regulations or other measures to ensure the protection of workers.
It is valuable that the parties in the industry, through the work in the selection, contribute to increasing awareness of the working environment and working conditions for everyone who works in shops and at other outlets, says Brenna.
The committee wants stricter practices and more supervision
A quarter of the retail trade performs night work, and there has been more use of night work, which, according to the definition in the Working Environment Act, is the time between 21.00 to 06.00. In grocery stores, night work takes place in the hours up to midnight, while it takes place all night in shops, kiosks and energy stations that are open 24 hours a day. In the shops that are open around the clock, employees are often alone at work.
Some of the recommendations and assessments from the committee:
The committee concludes that there is a need for a stricter practice linked to the use of night work in the merchandise trade, in that it must be concretely assessed by the employer whether such work is necessary.
The committee is concerned about the development in online shopping with a large amount of night work. There is a need for more knowledge about work organisation, the use of night work and Sunday work in businesses that are based on online shopping.
The committee recommends that the Labor Inspectorate be strengthened, and carry out more inspections in the trade in goods. In supervision, special attention must be paid to working alone at night.
Furthermore, the committee proposes that the employer's duty to offer health checks to employees must be extended to also apply to part-time employees who mainly work at night
It must be made clear in the legislation on the right to exemption from night work that this also applies to situations of caring for children with reduced functional abilities, sick persons in the immediate family and in the event of pregnancy.
The report will be sent to the hearing.
