Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, in particular the adoption of Act No. 58 of 4 June 1993 concerning the general application of wage agreements which was first put into practice in 2004. The Committee notes the Government’s explanations that the Act enables the extension of specific provisions of a collective agreement, by means of a decision of the Wage Committee taking the form of an administrative regulation, to all persons performing work within the scope of the decision, both Norwegian organized and non-organized workers and foreign workers. Under section 1.1 of the Act, the purpose of the Act is to ensure that wages and working conditions for foreign employees are equivalent to the conditions applicable to Norwegian employees in order to prevent employees from carrying out work under conditions which seen as a whole could be considered to be inferior to those provided for in nationwide wage agreements in force for the specific trade, business or industrial sector in question. In addition, the Committee notes the information concerning the practical application of the Act so far, especially the regulation adopted by the Wage Committee in November 2006 by which for the first time a collective agreement, i.e. the Construction Sector Agreement, was made generally applicable at the national level setting the minimum hourly rate for a skilled worker employed on a building site at Norwegian krone (NOK) 132.25 (approximately 16 euros), and at NOK118 (approximately 14.5 euros) for an unskilled worker. The Committee would appreciate if the Government would continue to provide information on the operation of the Wage Committee and any future decisions extending collective agreements to foreign workers in sectors other than the construction sector.

Moreover, the Committee notes that collective agreements, which currently cover approximately 53 per cent of workers in the private sector can be extended through so-called “application agreements” (also known as “association agreements”, “hanging agreements” or “declaration agreements”) under which a non-organized company enters into an agreement with unionized workers to apply the provisions of already negotiated agreements in other companies within a given industry. According to the Government’s report, the mechanism is relatively commonly used and is believed to cover at present approximately 15 per cent of private sector employees. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply all relevant information in this regard, especially in view of the fact that the coverage rate of collectively agreed minimum wages is clearly lower in low-paid industries, such as hotels and restaurants, where protective minimum wage floors might be most needed.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that under section 8 of the 1993 Act on the general application of wage agreements, any employer who wilfully or inadvertently fails to comply with a decision made by the Wage Committee is liable to a fine. It also notes the Government’s indication that the Labour Inspection Authority and the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) are responsible for enforcing the decisions of the Wage Committee. The Committee requests the Government to supply more detailed information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including for instance available statistics on inspection results showing the number of infringements observed and sanctions imposed, any specific difficulties encountered with regard to wage dumping and the measures taken or envisaged in response, copies of official documents or studies addressing issues dealt with in the Convention, such as annual reports of the tripartite Technical Reporting Committee on Wage Negotiation, etc.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusions of the ILO Governing Body on the continued relevance of the Convention based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40). In fact, the Governing Body has decided that Convention No. 26 is among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) which marks certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system, and the enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.