Wage guarantee

Your employer must pay employer's contributions on wages or other remuneration for work performed in Norway, regardless of your or your employer’s connection to this country.

If you have worked in another EEA country, and Norway is the only country where bankruptcy proceedings can be initiated against your employer, your claim may be covered by the Norwegian wage guarantee scheme. This applies even if your employer was not subject to pay employer's contributions to Norwegian authorities.

The condition is that you do not qualify for wage guarantee coverage in the country where you worked or have national insurance coverage.

It can be difficult to collect wages and holiday pay from an employer who does not want to pay. If you want to collect your claim without the help of professionals, this is how we recommend you should proceed:

• Send a registered letter to your employer. Describe your claim and demand settlement within a short time frame, e.g. one week. Make your employer aware that you will pursue your case further if your employer does not pay.
• You can bring the matter before the conciliation board where your employer is located if your employer does not pay within the time period you gave them. The conciliation board can help you write a complaint. You and your employer will then be summoned to conciliation proceedings. In the conciliation board, the matter can be decided by settlement or judgment.
• If your case is not decided by the conciliation board, you can initiate legal action before the district court. If so, you should consult a lawyer to see if you have a good case. If your employer does not pay after you agreed on a settlement, or after the conciliation board rendered a judgment against them, you must contact the Execution and Enforcement Commissioner about enforcement.

There are other ways to enforce your claim as well. Read more about the enforcement of claims at politiet.no [in Norwegian].

You can request that the district court initiate bankruptcy proceedings against your employer if you have not received wages and holiday pay because your employer cannot pay.

If the district court initiates bankruptcy proceedings, you may apply for coverage under the wage guarantee scheme.

Terms

There are rules for how old your wage and holiday pay claims can be in order for you to be covered by the wage guarantee scheme. That is why you should request that bankruptcy proceedings be initiated, and not wait for anyone else to do it. You risk losing coverage for your claims if you wait too long.

You are exempt from putting up security for the administration costs if you request that the court initiate bankruptcy proceedings.

The simplest way to initiate bankruptcy proceedings is for you and your employer to contact the district court together and having your employer confirm that they cannot pay.

If our employer does not want to contact the district court, follow the steps below to do it yourself. There are formal requirements that must be met. It is important that you follow the steps below. Be mindful of time limits.

You can find more information at konkursradet.no and domstol.no.

How to initiate bankruptcy proceedings when your employer does not want to contact the district court

1. When you do not receive payment – demand for payment

If your wages have not been paid by the agreed date, you need to send a registered letter to your employer as soon as possible. In your demand for payment, you must specify what your claim is for, the amount your employer owes you and the period for which your employer owes you money. Give your employer one week to make the payment.

2. When your employer does not comply with the demand for payment – notice of bankruptcy

4 weeks after you sent the registered letter, you send a notice of bankruptcy, in 2 copies, to the chief process server in the municipality where your employer has their registered address.

The process server will serve the notice of bankruptcy on your employer. Service of process is subject to a fee of NOK 489 in 2022, and you will be notifice once the document has been served.

The notice of bankruptcy must include some key points in order for your to request initiation of bankruptcy proceedings later:

• Refer to the demand for payment you previously sent. Preferably also repeat the amount your employer owes you, what your claim is for, and the period for which your employer owes you.
• Give your employer 2 weeks from the date of service of the notice of bankruptcy to make payment.
• Include the phrase «A petition of bankruptcy will be filed if payment is not made within the date specified.»
• Remember to also include: «Please note that in considering a petition of bankruptcy, insolvency in general shall be assumed to exist and bankruptcy proceedings may be commenced when payment is not made after a notice of bankruptcy has been served in accordance with Section 63 of the Bankruptcy Act.»

3. If your employer still does not pay – petition of bankruptcy

You must send your petition of bankruptcy to the district court when the term specified in the notice of bankruptcy has expired. Your petition must be filed in 5 copies. The district court must have received your petition within 2 weeks of the date on which the final date of payment specified in the notice of bankruptcy expired. The notice must be served again if you wait longer.

The petition of bankruptcy must be filed in writing and must include the following:

• The plaintiff (you) and the defendant (your employer), with name and address.
• Your employer’s organization number (see certificate of registration).
• Your request that bankruptcy proceedings be commenced against your employer.
• The amount your employer owes you, the time period for which your employer owes you, and the type of claim you have (wages, holiday pay, etc.).
• Documentation that you have, or have had, an employment relationship with your employer.
• Copies of the certificate of registration, your demand for payment and the notice of bankruptcy.
• Signature

The petition of bankruptcy, including appendices, must be sent to the district court in the municipality where your employer is registered, if your employer is a company.

If your employer is a sole proprietorship, you must send your petition of bankruptcy to the municipality where your employer lives. The Brønnøysund Register Centre has information about this. You can also request a certificate of registration to include with your petition from the Brønnøysund Register Centre.

At the same time as filing your petition, you can apply to the district court to be exempt from putting up security for the cost of administration. You can include the application for coverage under the wage guarantee scheme, which will provide the district court with many of the information required to determine whether or not you are exempt.

When the district court hears your petition of bankruptcy, you must go to court and give a statement about your claim.

Once bankruptcy proceedings have been commenced, you can apply for coverage under the wage guarantee scheme by submitting your claim to the bankruptcy administrator. The administrator is a lawyer appointed by the district court when bankruptcy proceedings commenced. The district court will be able to inform you of who the administrator is.

4. Further processing

Once bankruptcy proceedings have been commenced, the administrator will normally contact you and inform you of the wage guarantee scheme and how to apply for coverage of your claim. You must personally report claims you believe you have against the estate in liquidation. If the administrator does not contact you shortly after commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, you must contact the administrator.

Fill out the application with as much detail as you can. The administrator can help you fill it out.

You must notify the administrator immediately if any of the information you have provided, changes, such as your address and your tax and income situation.

Before the claims are forwarded to NAV, the administrator will review your application and assess whether the claim has been sufficiently documented. If the administrator believes our claim cannot be covered, NAV will still have to consider your claim.

If NAV needs more information to process your application, we will contact the administrator. The administrator will be able to collect the information needed, from you, your employer, the accountant or others.

Once the claims have been processed, NAV will send you a letter and transfer the amount granted to the administrator. The administrator will inform you of the outcome. The administrator is responsible for handling tax withholdings, etc., and will pay the net amount out to you.

Examples of types of claims that may be covered include

• pension claims
• piecework compensation
• commission
• overtime pay
• holiday supplement
• deducted but unpaid trade union dues
• travel and travelling time compensation in the construction industry
• free board and lodging
• free use of vehicle
• free use of telephone, internet, etc.

Tips are not considered wages or other compensation for work and cannot be covered by the wage guaranteee scheme.

You can also not claim coverage for costs or expenses you have incurred for cars, board, tickets, etc.

You can claim coverage for interest up to the cut-off date on outstanding wage claims.

NAV may also cover collection costs, such as the cost of the notice of bankruptcy. You may also apply for coverage of costs incurred in connection with the petition of bankrupcty.

You can document your claim using your contract of employment, pay slips, certificates of pay and tax deducted or other relevant documentation. You are responsible for substantiating your claim.