In several cases, news and Aftenposten have investigated the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s fee practices. In June, news revealed that a shipyard company made a profit by breaking the law, even after receiving a fine from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Authority, because the fine was so low. – In Norway, people underestimate how serious a breach of the Working Environment Act is. It could be about people’s lives and health, says parliamentary representative Mímir Kristjánsson from Rødt. This summer he sent written questions to Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen (Ap) about the Labor Inspectorate’s fees. Such questions and answers between the government and the Storting are an important way of getting the facts on the table in matters the elected officials are working on. – This way we cannot have what Kristjánsson wanted to know how many fees have been distributed in the last five years. He also wanted to know how many companies have been fined by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority several times and wrote: “Please specify with company name and size of the fee”. But the Labor Minister skipped the last question. In his reply to the Storting, Mjøs Persen does not say which companies have been fined several times. She also gives no reason why this has been omitted. Read the full response from the Labor Minister to the Storting here. – We cannot have it like this between the Storting and the minister. In order for us to be able to create a proper set of regulations, we must have concrete information. We need to know about the sums, the offenses and the realities, says Kristjánsson. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority did not want to tell news that it had investigated what happened before the minister answered the Storting. When the question ticked in, Mjøs Persen asked for a contribution from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. She got back a two and a half page letter. news has requested a copy of the letter. The ministry chose to slander almost all of it. The scandal shows what the ministry did not want to be publicly known. The scandal shows what the ministry did not want to be publicly known. The scandal shows what the ministry did not want to be publicly known. news still has an unredacted version of the letter. SEE BEHIND THE SLUDGE: Read the full letter here The letter reveals that the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Authority refused to provide the names of the companies. They thought it was “too much” and “not necessarily right” to list the serial offenders. The inspectorate writes: “We have chosen not to answer the last part of question 2, where the minister is asked to specify the company name and size of the fee. To list all the 120 who have received new fees would be too much, and it is not necessarily right for the minister to state company names and fees in such a public response.” The minister let the inspectorate’s reluctance pass. – It is not natural for me as labor minister to ask for, or receive, such a list from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. I relate to information about number and level. I have no use for those company names to formulate policy, says Mjøs Persen to news. Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen from the Labor Party. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB – Kristjánsson thought he had a use for it, obviously? – He has not asked to get the name of those companies. I understand that the wording is a kind of invitation, which is not what the question is actually about. Namely about the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s use of infringement fees and repeated reactions. – The wording is “please specify with company name and size of the fee”. – It is possible that we understand that sentence differently. I did not ask the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate about the names, because it is not necessary for me to design policies to prevent social dumping and workplace crime. Kristjánsson did not know what had happened behind the scenes until news got in touch. Now he reacts. – It is obvious that I asked for the names to be specified. I think everyone who reads my question understands that. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority has understood that. The fact that the minister pretends she has never been asked the question, and gossips about the papers showing that the inspectorate understood it, is not exactly confidence-inspiring. – Why do you want to know who has been taken on again by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority? – I thought it was nice to be given the names. I do not understand that criminal companies should be spared. If the Minister thinks so, she must be able to explain why. – Could have been done in half an hour Eivind Smith, professor of public law at the University of Oslo, thinks the answer from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority is strange. Eivind Smith is professor of jurisprudence at the University of Oslo. He is one of the pioneers in Norwegian public law. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news – Because it is not the Norwegian Supervisory Authority, but the minister who will decide what the Storting should know, or which selection of companies should be included, he says. Smith also responds to the Arbeidstilsynet’s argumentation. – Why it would be too much to list 120 names is not so easy to understand either. The inspectorate has the overview. They know who it is. It could be done in half an hour, he says. – Lack of role understanding Law professor Jan Fridthjof Bernt, from the University of Bergen, has never heard of a similar response to a minister from an underlying agency. – The supervision does not formulate itself particularly well. It can give the impression that they believe they have the authority to set limits on what the Storting or ministers can ask for or find out. That is of course not the case, he says. Bernt adds that the answer “makes responsibility and competence unclear”. – Some may think this reveals a lack of understanding of roles between the inspectorate and the minister, he says. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s director Trude Vollheim defends the formulation. – We did not perceive the last part of question two as a requirement, but opened up for a professional assessment from us. Our assessment was that such a list would not add any added value to the case. Whether these assessments and contributions are taken into account is up to the minister to decide, she says. Trude Vollheim is director of the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Photo: Heidi Fjørtoft Klokk / news
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The Labor Minister refuses to give the Storting a list of serial offenders – news Dokumentar
