Collective agreement signed for engineers in private sector

In late 2008, the two Norwegian trade unions for engineers concluded a collective agreement with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise for members in the private sector. Negotiations became difficult due to disagreement over the rules exempting employees with a ‘particularly autonomous position’ from statutory provisions on working time and overtime compensation. Salary reviews for employees on parental leave and coverage of the working time provisions were also debated.

In November 2008, the Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals (Teknisk-naturvitenskapelig forening, Tekna) and the Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (Norges Ingeniør- og Teknologorganisasjon, NITO) both managed to conclude collective agreements with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) on behalf of engineers employed in the private sector. Normally, these bargaining negotiations proceed without much controversy, but in 2008 the threat of strike action was real. The disagreement between the parties focused mainly on issues relating to working hours and the right to overtime pay.

Background

Trade union density among Norwegian engineers is high, including among those working in the private sector. Together, NITO and Tekna have about 60,000 members in the private sector. Wage formation for engineers in the private sector is based on individual pay, and the central collective agreements do not contain any provisions on pay or on general wage increases. The central collective agreements regulate, among other things, employees’ co-determination and the role of shop stewards at the workplace. These agreements also establish the basis on which wage formation may take place at enterprise level.

Dispute over working hours and overtime

The dispute in the 2008 autumn bargaining round arose mainly from issues relating to the regulation of working hours and overtime compensation. The two trade unions argue that an unreasonably large number of their members work in jobs and positions that are defined as ‘particularly autonomous work’, and as such are not entitled to overtime pay. Furthermore, none of the other working time provisions in the legal framework – for example, the maximum limit set on the number of overtime hours allowed – apply to these types of positions. Normally, this lack of overtime pay is compensated with a higher base salary, a principle also supported by the two trade unions. Disagreement has arisen, however, over whether or not employers place too many jobs within the category of particularly autonomous work. Tekna estimates that around half of its members are exempted from the working time provisions of the legal framework, while the equivalent estimate from NITO is about 40%. The unions argue that these figures are far too high.

Both trade unions succeeded in getting provisions incorporated into their agreements which make it easier for employees and their representatives to obtain information about the justifications of the employer when jobs are defined as particularly autonomous work. Nevertheless, NHO did not accept the unions’ demand to include in the collective agreements provisions allowing for these cases to be brought before and resolved by the central social partner organisations.

Salary review for employees on parental leave

NHO also accepted the unions’ demand that employees on parental leave should have a salary review during the leave period. In order to promote gender equality, this demand from the unions aims to prevent women from lagging behind with regard to pay developments as a result of being absent from the workplace for childcare purposes. This is in line with the proposals of the Equal Pay Commission (NO0804029I), which proposed regulations entitling workers on parental leave to a statutory right to pay adjustments in line with those of the average wage increases. The commission also suggested that this could be achieved by incorporating new provisions into collective agreements.

New working time regulations imminent

The issue of what types of work should be covered by the working time provisions of the Act relating to worker protection and working environment (938Kb PDF) (Arbeidsmiljøloven, AML) has been the subject of debate for a long time. Employee organisations, and in particular the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (Akademikerne), have called for stricter regulations in this area. A majority of members of the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) supports a proposal to limit the number of employees to be exempted from the provisions. In this regard, the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion (Arbeids- og inkluderingsdepartementet, AID) will, during the spring of 2009, put forward a bill for a tightening of current practices.

Kristine Nergaard, Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science