– This is so gross that it borders on human trafficking. The Norwegian Labor Inspectorate’s inspector was clearly upset by what he found in Tromsø. – We are talking about an hourly wage that is down to almost NOK 15 an hour, he told the newspaper Nordlys. The inspection from 2017 revealed one of the grossest cases of exploitation that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority has come across. Now the supervisory authority is taking self-criticism for how the case ended. – Sometimes you have to throw your hands in the air and say pig. This is such a case, says Torgeir Moholt, director of the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s department for workplace crime, to news. – What does that mean? – It was probably a popular attempt to explain that the case was not handled well enough by the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate, he says. Lawless conditions The scaffolding was dangerous. Protective equipment was missing. The employment contracts were too bad. The hourly wages are ridiculously low. Overtime pay was missing. There was a long series of offenses that were uncovered at the construction company Valdmanta in Tromsø. Facsimile of the report about the construction company Valdmanta published in the newspaper Nordlys/Nord24.no. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority concluded as follows: “This type of violation illegally enriches the employer at the expense of employees and contributes to law-abiding businesses losing out in competition in the market.” The conditions were so serious that the inspectorate reported the matter to the police. Then it happened … not so much. The police did not open an investigation. – We considered the case thoroughly and looked at what it would take to reach a conclusion with a criminal case. The conclusion was that a reaction from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority was most appropriate, says Trude Kvanli, section head for prosecution in Troms police district, to news. Thus, it was again up to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. In 2019, they decided to fine the construction company. NOK 1.4 million. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority had never before issued such a large fine. Then it happened…nothing. Because the record fine was never sent. – Simply too bad Now director Moholt is lying flat on his face. – The claim was never sent from us to the State’s collection centre. It is simply too bad. – Did you forget to submit the claim? – Whether it was forgotten or whether there were other reasons, we are unable to answer today. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority discovered the mistake in the autumn. news then asked if the fine had been paid. Moholt warns that this would never happen today. Torgeir Moholt is director of the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate’s department for workplace crime. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – In the past, claims had to be reported manually to the State’s collection centre. Now it happens automatically, after a decision on the fee has been made. The Norwegian Tax Agency informs news that such claims become obsolete after three years. Thus, it is now too late to send the million fine again. news has very recently spoken to the man who was general manager in Valdmanta in 2017. He will not comment. But to Nordlys in 2017, he said: – I am not a criminal. This is not true. Valdmanta’s Norwegian branch was closed in 2020. Valdmanta’s huge fine is not the only one that has evaporated. news reported last year about the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s new record fine. It was overturned after a complaint. A complaint which, according to the inspectorate itself, was submitted after the deadline. Sent new documentation after fee notice Now news can reveal that yet another hefty fine has been lifted. It all started with an inspection at the Vard Søviknes shipyard outside Ålesund in autumn 2021. The picture is from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s inspection at the Vard Søviknes shipyard, outside Ålesund, in October 2021. news has glossed over some details in the picture. news is not aware of which companies the workers in the picture worked for. Photo: Arne Fredrik Næss / news Here, workers from the Romanian company Epoxy Floor told about an hourly wage of NOK 30. This information was later confirmed by pay slips and time sheets submitted by the company. news mentioned the lice salary in a major report last year. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority announced a fine of NOK 500,000 for underpayment and illegal working hours. Epoxy Floor then submitted new documentation. It showed that the workers had received the minimum wage nonetheless. – The company has sent a lot of fragmented documentation. This has been difficult to control. We have to deal with a strict requirement of proof. Therefore, we could no longer rule out that they had actually received the minimum wage, says Jens Erik Romslo, head of section at the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Jens Erik Romslo is head of section at the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Photo: Dag Harald Kvammen Andersen / news The fine was therefore adjusted down to NOK 250,000. But there was still a lot that went wrong with Epoxy Floor. With the new information from them, the labor costs were 70 per cent higher than the entire value of the assignment in Norway. Romslo says that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority often suspects fictitious documentation, but that this is difficult to prove. – Technical error Epoxy Floor complained about the fine of NOK 250,000. Just before Christmas, the fine was lifted by the Norwegian Directorate of Labor Inspection. Reason? It had been sent to Epoxy Floor’s Norwegian branch, and not to the main company in Romania. It was a serious mistake, according to the directorate. COOPERATION: Anita Ringstad from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority delivers forms from interviews with workers at Vard Søviknes to police chief Marius Martinsen during the inspection in October 2021. Photo: Arne Fredrik Næss / news So why didn’t the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority send the fee to Romania? – This is due to a technical error on our part. Our system automatically brought up the Norwegian branch, even though we know the company is based in Romania, says Romslo. He adds that the inspectorate has found various addresses for the company in Romania. – We have spent a lot of time unraveling this. We were told that the address on the company’s website belonged to another company. But when we used the address, we still got a response from the company. – Do you want to send the fee again to Romania? – It is relevant. We continue to work on the matter. It is too early to say anything about the outcome. Lawyer Gian Luca Congeddu represents Epoxy Floor in Norway. He writes in an e-mail to news that the company will not comment on the matter.
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The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority fined millions – never collected the money – news Dokumentar
