How to Hire Your First Employee in Norway Step by Step?

Hello, I run an AS in Norway and want to hire my first person. Where should I start to do it properly?

Hiring your first employee in Norway means taking on employer responsibilities: an employment contract, withholding tax from salary, the monthly a-melding (monthly reporting of wages and employment), employer's contribution, vacation, feriepenger, occupational injury insurance and the basic HMS rules, meaning health and safety.

In this article, we show step by step what you need to prepare before the first salary payment and which deadlines apply in 2026.

Step 1: Determine whether you are hiring or buying a service

First check whether the person is to be an arbeidstaker (employee) or an independent contractor running their own business.

In practice, the relationship is considered employment if:

• you direct the work and decide how it should be done,
• you control working hours,
• you provide tools, a workplace or materials,
• the person does not bear their own business risk,
• the pay resembles a wage for time worked rather than payment for an independently completed service.

As of 1 January 2024, arbeidsmiljøloven (the Norwegian Working Environment Act) contains a presumption of employment. This means that a person performing work may be considered an employee unless the company proves that the arrangement is truly independent cooperation.

Step 2: Choose the form of employment and check the right to work

The correct form of employment

The standard form of employment in Norway is a permanent employment contract, usually full-time.

You can use:

1. Permanent employment - the standard and safest form.
2. Part-time employment - allowed, but the need for such employment should be documented in writing.
3. Temporary employment - only in specific cases, e.g. substitution, seasonal work or work clearly limited in time.
4. Probation period, or prøvetid - must be included in the contract and may last a maximum of 6 months. In temporary employment, it may not exceed half the duration of the employment.

The general option of temporary employment "for one year" was removed from 1 July 2022. That is why, with your first employee, you should be especially careful about the legal basis for temporary employment.

The right to work for foreign nationals

Before hiring a foreign national, you must check whether they have the right to work in Norway. A skattekort does not confirm the right to work or reside. A skattekort (tax card) is used to withhold tax from salary.

The key rules are:

• citizens of Nordic countries may work in Norway without police registration,
• EU/EEA citizens may work, but if they stay in Norway they generally register with the police no later than after 3 months,
• people from outside the EU/EEA usually need the appropriate residence and work permit.

A foreign employee must also have a Norwegian personal number, for example a D-nummer - more on that below.

Step 3: Set the salary, contract and working hours

Salary and minimum rates

Norway does not have one general minimum wage for all companies. Minimum rates apply in industries where collective agreements have been allmenngjort (made universally applicable to the whole sector).

Industries with minimum rates include construction, cleaning, hospitality and catering, freight transport, electrical work, fish processing, agriculture, shipbuilding and the automotive sector.

Selected gross minimum hourly rates, valid in 2026:

If you work in cleaning, also check the additional industry obligations: Cleaning company in Norway – your obligations as a business owner.

A written employment contract

Every employee must have a written employment contract, regardless of working hours or length of employment. The employer is responsible for preparing the contract.

The deadlines are specific:

• if the employment lasts longer than 1 month, the contract must be ready as soon as possible, at the latest 7 days after work starts,
• if the employment lasts up to 1 month or the employee is hired out further, the contract must be ready no later than on the first day of work.

The contract should include, among other things:

• employer details, including the name and organisation number,
• employee details,
• place of work,
• position and job description,
• start date,
• whether the employment is permanent or temporary,
• any probation period,
• daily and weekly working hours,
• breaks,
• salary, supplements and payment method,
• vacation and feriepenger (holiday pay accrued from salary),
• notice period rules.

Working hours, breaks and time records

The ordinary maximum working time limits under Norwegian rules are:

• 9 hours in 24 hours,
• 40 hours in 7 days.

In many companies you will see 37.5 hours per week, but this usually comes from the contract or a collective agreement, not from the general statutory maximum.

Breaks:

• if work exceeds 5.5 hours per day, the employee must have a break,
• if the working day exceeds 5.5 hours but is under 8 hours, the break should be at least 20 minutes,
• if the workday is 8 hours or more, breaks should total at least 30 minutes.

Overtime may only be used in the event of a special and time-limited need. The overtime supplement is at least 40% of the agreed hourly rate.

Keep an up-to-date record of actual working time. In practice, this means recording start and end times and breaks.

Step 4: Set up payroll, tax and reporting to the authorities

Employee data and the skattekort

Before the first salary payment, you need payroll details such as:

• first and last name,
• Norwegian personal number or D-nummer,
• address,
• bank account number,
• start date,
• employment percentage,
• salary rate,
• information about the position and workplace.

Then you retrieve the employee's electronic skattekort and apply forskuddstrekk (tax withheld from salary as an advance payment). You deduct this before paying the salary.

As of 1 January 2026, the obligation to have a separate skattetrekkskonto (account for storing withheld tax) has been abolished. In 2026, you pay the forskuddstrekk to Skatteetaten no later than the first working day after the salary is paid and tax has been withheld.

For payroll administration, it is worth using an accounting system (for example Efirma.no) or outsourcing bookkeeping to an accounting office (for example Efirma Regnskap AS). With your first employee, errors in tax, a-melding or arbeidsgiveravgift quickly create corrections.

The a-melding and registration in the Aa register

A-melding is a monthly report on employment, wages, withheld tax and employer's contribution. Through this report you register the employee in the Aa-registeret (register of employment relationships).

The deadline for submitting the a-melding is the 5th day of the month after the month of employment or payment. If the 5th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

After the first a-melding is submitted:

• the company is automatically registered as an employer,
• the employee is registered as employed by the company,
• you report income, withheld tax and employment details.

You submit the a-melding every month until the month the employment ends. If the employee is still employed and there was no salary payment in a given month, an a-melding may still be required.

For an employee reported in the a-melding, you use the organisation number of the main entity and the number of the underenhet (sub-unit assigned to the employee's workplace), if the company has such a structure.

Arbeidsgiveravgift

Arbeidsgiveravgift is the employer's contribution calculated on wages and certain employee benefits. It is an additional employer cost on top of gross salary.

The rate depends mainly on the company's geographic zone. In 2026, the standard rates are:

For zone Ia, the fribeløp (the amount up to which the reduced rate can be used) is 850,000 NOK per business in 2026.

You report arbeidsgiveravgift monthly in the a-melding, but you pay it in a lump sum every two months. The first payment deadline of the year is 15 March, and the next ones fall on the 15th day every second month.

Step 5: Accrue vacation, pension and insurance

Feriepenger and vacation

Every employee is entitled to at least 25 working days of vacation per year. In the Norwegian understanding, Saturday is a working day, so this usually corresponds to 4 weeks and 1 day.

The minimum statutory feriepenger rate is:

Feriepenger are accrued from wages paid during the earning year. They are not accrued, for example, on travel reimbursements, meals or accommodation.

The OTP obligation

Obligatorisk tjenestepensjon, or OTP, is mandatory occupational pension in private companies. The minimum contribution is at least 2% of the employee's salary.

A company must have OTP if it meets at least one of the following conditions:

• it has at least one employee without an ownership stake whose working time and salary correspond to at least 75% of a full-time position,
• it has at least two people, each with working time and salary corresponding to at least 75% of a full-time position, and at least one has an ownership stake,
• it has people whose working time and salary correspond to at least 20% of a full-time position, and together they work at least as much as 2 full-time positions.

If the company is subject to OTP, you register the employees from the first day of work if they meet the membership conditions. You report the pension provider's organisation number in the a-melding from the month the agreement enters into force.

Yrkesskadeforsikring

Every employer must buy yrkesskadeforsikring (occupational injury and disease insurance) for employees. The obligation comes from yrkesskadeforsikringsloven.

You buy the insurance from a private insurer. The premium is a business expense. No arbeidsgiveravgift is calculated on the yrkesskadeforsikring premium.

Step 6: Handle HMS, the ENK/AS difference and annual duties

HMS, internkontroll and sickness procedures

HMS (Norwegian health and safety) and internkontroll (internal control system for safety and work organisation) apply from the first employee. The scope of documentation depends on the risk and type of business.

With your first employee, prepare at least:

• a risk assessment for the workplace,
• basic health and safety procedures,
• rules for reporting accidents and irregularities,
• working time records,
• information on who is responsible for HMS matters.

With 1-4 employees, it is possible to agree in writing on a different health and safety organisation than verneombud (health and safety representative). From 5 employees, the company must have at least one verneombud.

If an employee is ill, the employer pays sykepenger (sick pay) during the employer period, which as a rule lasts for up to 16 calendar days of continuous sick leave. After that, NAV takes over, but the employer must send an inntektsmelding (income report needed to calculate the benefit).

The difference between ENK and AS

In an ENK, the owner does not employ themselves as an employee. Employer obligations arise when you hire another person.

In an AS, the owner may be an employee of their own company if they actually receive a salary, are registered as an employee, and the company reports the salary through a-melding and pays arbeidsgiveravgift. Simply owning shares or serving on the board does not create employee status.

The annual statement to the employee

After the year ends, you provide the employee with an annual statement of reported data no later than 1 February of the following year.

The statement should include, among other things:

• income reported in the a-melding,
• withheld forskuddstrekk,
• the feriepenger basis,
• the employee number used in the employer's systems.

What does an employee cost you?

Gross salary is only part of the bill. The real employer cost grows with arbeidsgiveravgift, feriepenger and the OTP contribution. Drag the salary slider to see the estimated full cost of employment in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

In short, before the first salary payment, go through this checklist:

1. Determine whether the relationship is employment or a service purchase from an independent company.
2. Choose the form of employment: permanent, part-time or legally justified temporary.
3. Check the right to work if the candidate is a foreign national.
4. Set the salary and check the minimum rates in the industry.
5. Prepare a written employment contract.
6. Collect employee data and the skattekort.
7. Set up payroll in an accounting system (for example Efirma.no) or outsource the work to an accounting office (for example Efirma Regnskap AS).
8. Withhold forskuddstrekk and pay it to Skatteetaten no later than the first working day after the salary payment.
9. Submit the a-melding by the 5th day of the following month.
10. Calculate arbeidsgiveravgift and pay it in bi-monthly deadlines.
11. Accrue feriepenger, check the OTP obligation and buy yrkesskadeforsikring.
12. Prepare HMS, working time records and sickness procedures, and give the employee a statement by 1 February of the following year.

Key 2026 deadlines: forskuddstrekk is paid no later than the first working day after payment, the a-melding is submitted by the 5th day of the following month, and arbeidsgiveravgift is paid every two months.

If you want to safely get through your first hiring, contact us. We are available Monday to Friday from 9:00 - 21:00 at +47 21 38 38 21.

Article author: Marcin - marcin@efirma.no