It’s not just curious neighbors and the tax office who want to know what people earn. In the nine industries in Norway that have a statutory minimum wage, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority checks whether people are getting the money they are entitled to. Over eight thousand such checks have been carried out by the Authority in the past five years. And found offenses on a large scale. A total of 2,476 checks – almost one third – revealed underpayment. But how egregious were the underpayments? Look, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority won’t say that. In letters and reports, the amount is hidden behind a black slip. For the record, this is what a report that news received looked like. It was about underpaid shipyard workers. The Norwegian Labor Inspectorate checked the wages of foreign workers at a Norwegian shipyard. The amounts showing the underpayment were slandered by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Vidar Sagmyr is listed. He leads the construction industry’s euro patrol. The organization is a collaboration between employers and employees and uncovers the exploitation of construction workers in Trøndelag. Every week, Sagmyr requests access to documents from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. And often get a black line back. – The slander prevents the fight against exploitation. It makes it possible to commit wage theft in secret, he says. – Is it not true that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority knows the amounts? – Our job is to survey what is going on in the construction industry. It is then important to bring out the degree of underpayment. We need the figures to make builders aware of what is going on. And to consider a report to the police, says Sagmyr. Vidar Sagmyr works in the construction industry’s euro patrol. He visits construction sites in Trøndelag to prevent and uncover the exploitation of workers. Photo: Uropatruljen The scandal also causes reactions in the Storting. – I want to know how serious the underpayment is. Are we talking NOK 150 an hour or NOK 80? Which industries are worse than others? We must have knowledge of reality to be able to assess laws and regulations, says Mímir Kristjánsson from the Red party. Why gossip? So how does the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority explain itself? They point out that the individual’s salary, mind you in the private sector, is … well, private. A personal relationship. And then the duty of confidentiality kicks in. But no rule without exception. The inspectorate makes exceptions for the legal minimum wage. In other words: If the workers receive exactly the minimum wage, then the wages are not reduced. If they receive an illegally low salary, or above the minimum wage, the amount is hidden behind the slip. CRITICAL: I want to know how serious the underpayment is. Are we talking NOK 150 an hour or NOK 80? says Storting representative Mímir Kristjánsson from the Red party. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Logical? – It does not make sense that underpayment and exploitation are considered a private matter. It is crime, says Kristjánsson. Director Trude Vollheim is ultimately responsible for the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s slander practice. She does not want to be interviewed. Instead, section leader Vigleik M. Aas replies: – As a general rule, it is illegal to provide access to salaries from the private sector that can be linked to individuals. And we must follow the law, he says. – What do you say to Sagmyr and Kristjánsson? – The Storting must of course get all the data they need from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority to assess whether laws and regulations are working as intended. But I would think they need statistics more than the salary of a single worker. Nor can I see that our practice hinders the European Patrol. In these matters, we are already on the ball ourselves. Possible solution to the mess In 2021, the Civil Ombudsman assessed the scandal. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority received support for its interpretation of the law. At the same time, the ombudsman proposed a solution to the problem. If workers’ names were slandered, information about wages could be released. Would the supervisory authority follow the proposal? They wanted to, then Labor Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H) wrote to the Storting: “The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority informs that in the future, when demanding access to “generalised wages”, they will shield names and possibly other information about personal circumstances, so that the salary information itself can be released.” But has the authority really changed the slander practice? – No, strictly speaking not, replies section leader Aas. – Why not? – If you want access to pay, and not names, it must be specified. We get almost no such specifications. And if we have first given out names, we cannot at the next inquiry turn it around and slander names instead of wages. This will be a breach of the duty of confidentiality, and in the extreme consequence punishable. Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen (Ap) has recently assessed the slander practice. She sees no reason to change anything. Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen (Ap) will not change the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s slander practice. Photo: ALF SIMENSEN / ALF SIMENSEN In a recent reply to the Storting, she writes: “In my view, it is not a given that an extension of the right of access, as representative Kristjánsson refers to here, should weigh more heavily than the considerations underlying the rules on exceptions from insight.” Now Rødt is advocating for a possible change in the law. – If the current practice is correct according to the law, we will consider proposing a change in the law. I do not consider it a personal matter that people are exposed to offenses at work. We need all the information we can get, to overcome illegal low wages. Facts about the statutory minimum wage Norway has no national statutory minimum wage. Nine industries nevertheless have statutory minimum wages, so-called universal wages. These are industries with a large proportion of foreign workers. The nine industries with universal wages are: Cleaning Accommodation, catering and catering The ship and shipyard industry Agriculture and horticulture Fishing industry companies Electrical Goods transport by road Passenger transport by coach
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The Norwegian Labor Inspectorate keeps secret the wages of underpaid workers – news Dokumentar
