On 9 March 2023, the Storting (Norwegian parliament) adopted amendments to the Norwegian Working Environment Act, expanding the employer responsibility in intra-group relationships and clarifying the definition of an employee. The amendments come into effect as of 1 January 2024 and will have significant impact on many employers, particularly those who operate as part of a company group.

Expansion of the employer responsibility in intra-group relationships

The Storting has adopted a comprehensive expansion of the employer responsibility in intra-group relationships which significantly impacts the independence of group companies. A group is defined as a parent company and one or more subsidiary companies, where the parent company has decisive influence over the subsidiary company. The preparatory works specify that the rules will also apply to groups with foreign parent companies, but the rules only apply to the Norwegian subsidiary companies. Some of the most significant changes are:

• New information and deliberation obligations at group level for groups that in total employ at least 50 employees – > the parent company must establish framework for cooperation, information flow, and consultations between the group companies and the group’s employees. Given that the obligations only apply to groups with at least 50 employees, the parent company should maintain an overview over all subsidiary companies and the total number of employees.
• The employer’s obligation to offer...

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