After a judgment in 2019, it became clear that soldiers in the Home Guard (HV), and other reservists in the Armed Forces, were entitled to holiday pay for work done outside of conscription. Subsequently, 7,500 HV soldiers have been paid a total of NOK 75 million in back pay. In 2021, the government submitted a proposal that they should not be covered by the holiday act for consultation. Instead, it is proposed that compensation equivalent to holiday pay should be awarded in contracts. – If we drop that card, then in the end we have no rights, says the chief shop steward for HV’s task forces, Aleksander Gudmundseth. He fears that the right to holiday pay will not be safeguarded when it is not determined by law. On Tuesday 22 November, the Storting’s foreign affairs and defense committee will present a recommendation at the hearing. – Downright rude Gudmundseth was one of the key figures in the fight for holiday pay for the HV soldiers. In 2020, he sued the state as a private individual for the HV soldiers to be paid holiday pay from when the HV task force was established, in 2005, and not just three years back. He sees the bill as a rematch of a court case the government has already lost. Jens B. Jahren, head of the Joint Staff Organization (BFO), believes the bill could affect recruitment if it passes. Photo: Befalets Fellesorganisation – They have lost in all courts, and the only way to finally get justice now is to change the law, says Gudmundseth. Jens B. Jahren, leader of the Joint Command Organization (BFO), says that the organization shares the same view. – We think this is almost downright rude to do, says the BFO leader. Can affect recruitment Like BFO and Gudmundseth, trade unions such as LO, the Norwegian Association of Officers and Specialists and the National Association of War College Graduated Officers want the right to remain imposed under the holiday law. – This is not exactly recruitment-promoting, says Gudmundseth. BFO leader Jahren emphasizes that it is already difficult to fill up the task forces in HV, and that there are ambitions to increase the number. – This is not a move that will increase the number. Here you have secured a right, and it must also be done in a different way, says Jahren. Disagree politically Rødt agrees with BFO and Gudmundseth, and wants the proposal rejected. Leader of Rødt, Bjørnar Moxnes, believes the bill should be rejected. Photo: Stortinget – The proposal from the government states that a contract can be entered into where reservists receive compensation for missing holiday pay, but it can also be removed at any time with the stroke of a pen, without involving the Storting, says Bjørnar Moxnes, head of Rødt and member of the Storting’s foreign affairs and defense committee. Moxnes believes the proposal will weaken the rights of the defence’s reservists. – On the contrary, we must strengthen their rights and put a ring around it, says the Rødt leader. Hårek Elvenes, parliamentary representative for the Conservative Party and member of the Storting’s foreign affairs and defense committee, supports the government’s proposal. Hårek Elvenes, parliamentary representative for the Conservative Party, supports the bill. Photo: Hans Kristian Thorbjørnsen / Høyre – There is no doubt that they should be compensated with holiday pay. I am not worried that it will not be practiced in the contract scheme, says Elvenes. He emphasizes that the Armed Forces’ reservists are entitled to holiday pay, as the judgment from 2019 concludes, but that they should not be covered by the Holiday Act because they are not defined as employees. Therefore, a contractual arrangement is desired. – The term employee must be unambiguous, and apply to those who are employed and work daily in the Armed Forces. Persons who enter into a contract for extended service will have the same rights and obligations as personnel who serve with a background in the statutory conscription, says Elvenes. This is what the defense minister answers This is how defense minister Bjørn Arild Gram answers: The government’s bill clears up ambiguities and clarifies the labor law status of reservists with a contract of service. The government proposes to legislate that persons who enter into a contract of duty of service are not to be regarded as employees. The reason for this is that reservists on this type of contract will only hold a position in the Armed Forces’ force structure, on the same level as the conscripted reservists in the Home Guard. They should then also have the same rights and obligations as these. It is therefore not a question of permanent employees who serve on a daily basis in the Armed Forces. Despite the fact that the reservist is considered not to be an employee, the government has proposed that the reservist should nevertheless be awarded compensation corresponding to holiday pay regulated through the individual’s contract. This is a follow-up to the judgment from Frostating’s Court of Appeal and a necessary clean-up in the regulations. Reservists are invaluable to the Armed Forces and our national defense capability. The bill is a necessary change that is needed to give the Armed Forces the opportunity to plan for a force structure that is as relevant as possible to national preparedness. It also paves the way for increasing the size of the Norwegian Armed Forces in a responsible manner. I am confident that the clarification contained in the bill regarding what rights and obligations the reservist must have will contribute positively to increasing both Norway’s will and ability to defend themselves.
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