Questions and answers about vacation

How many weeks of vacation am I entitled to?
How many weeks of vacation you are entitled to depends on whether there is a collective agreement in the company or not. The Holiday Act states that you are entitled to at least 25 working days. It is worth noting that Saturday is included in this, so that in total there are 4 weeks and 1 day. If there is a collective agreement with your employer, you are also entitled to 4 more days, what is often called the fifth vacation week. However, some employers have introduced this without a collective agreement.

Who decides when to take vacation?
The employer has the right to determine the timing of the holiday.

But this must happen within the limitations set in the Holiday Act. The two most practical limitations are:

• Employees may request that three of the vacation weeks be taken in the period from June 1 to September 30.
• Employees can demand that one week of the "remaining vacation" be given in total

How many consecutive days can I claim?
During the main holiday period, which is 1 June to 30 September, 18 working days (three weeks) can be required to be taken consecutively, if you took up your position before 15 August. In addition, the remaining 7 working days can be required to be taken consecutively outside the main holiday period. The same applies to the extra 6 working days for employees over 60 years of age. Working days are Monday-Saturday.

This means that even days that you are not scheduled to work (for example, Saturdays) will count as working days or holidays.

For those who have a collective agreement-approved right to extra vacation, the collective agreement provides the answer to whether this can be taken consecutively. If nothing is stated in the collective agreement, freedom of agreement applies, and the employer has the final say.

Is there a difference in how much vacation employees are entitled to in collective bargaining and non-collective bargaining companies?
In companies where a collective agreement has not been made applicable, only the provisions of the Holiday Act regulate how much holiday one is entitled to, unless better provisions have been agreed in the individual employment contract. According to the Holiday Act, one is entitled to 25 working days. Saturdays are considered a working day, so this corresponds to 4 weeks and one day.

In companies where a collective agreement has been implemented, you will be entitled to an additional 5 working days (including Saturday) or a total of 5 weeks of vacation.

How is vacation calculated for part-time employees?
If one of the part-time employees is scheduled for vacation for a period from week x to week y, all days from Monday to Saturday will be considered vacation. This means that it is completely independent of whether one was supposed to work that day or not. One can therefore be lucky or unlucky with which days one is scheduled for vacation.

How much vacation do I have as a new employee?
If you are employed before September 30th and have not had vacation with your previous employer, you are entitled to the same amount of vacation time as everyone else. If you start after September 30th, you are only entitled to 6 working days.

New employees who have not fully accrued vacation pay are only required to take as many vacation days as the vacation pay covers. The exception is if the business is closed during the vacation, so that the work tasks disappear. In such cases, one is required to take vacation even if the vacation pay does not cover the loss of salary.

How much holiday pay am I entitled to?
How much holiday pay you receive, like the number of holiday days, depends on whether there is a collective agreement in the company or not. The Holiday Act states that you should have a minimum of 10.2 percent of your gross monthly salary; if you have a collective agreement, you should have 12 percent. If you are over 60, you should have more (see "Extra holiday for the elderly"). However, some employers provide a higher rate of holiday pay even if they have not introduced a collective agreement.

When can I claim my holiday pay?
Holiday pay is intended to compensate for loss of income during the holiday. You are not entitled to salary during the holiday, but receive holiday pay instead.

Common practice is for the employer to pay the holiday pay in connection with the June paycheck, and at the same time deduct the wages for all the holiday weeks. This is instead of deducting wages and paying a proportional part of the holiday pay before each time the employee takes holiday, as the Holiday Act requires. This arrangement means that you can take holiday and still be paid your salary in any month during the year.

If your employer practices the system of paying out part of your holiday pay and making deductions from your salary each time you take a holiday, you are entitled to receive your holiday pay on the last regular payday before the holiday and no later than one week before the holiday begins.

When will I receive vacation pay if I quit my job?
If you leave your job, you can demand payment of all accrued holiday pay no later than in connection with the final settlement. However, please note that you must pay tax on holiday pay paid in the year it was earned. It may therefore be advisable to wait until the next calendar year to receive payment.

Can I request to cancel my vacation during the notice period?
The employer has the right to decide when to take vacation, meaning that they have the final say when the vacation is to be taken, in other words, you cannot simply demand it. The exception is if it would not otherwise be possible to take the vacation within the main vacation period (June 1 to September 30) or within the vacation year. On the other hand, the employer cannot order you to take vacation during the notice period if you do not agree to this. The exception is if your notice period is three months or more.

How much vacation can I transfer?
The Holiday Act states that employees can carry over 12 working days of holiday to the following year. They are also entitled to advance 12 working days of holiday from the following year. This must be agreed in writing, and the employer may object to entering into such an agreement.

If it is the employer's fault that the holiday was not taken, or if you have become ill or have had parental leave, the remaining holiday must be carried over to the next year, even if the remaining holiday is more than 12 working days. Note that the employer is no longer entitled to "pay out" in such cases. It is the legislator's wish that all employees in Norway actually take the holiday to which they are entitled.

What provisions regarding vacation apply to those who are 60 years of age or older?
From the year an employee reaches the age of 60, the employee is entitled to one week of extra holiday, regardless of whether the employee is entitled to 4 weeks + one day or the Holiday Act or 5 weeks under the collective agreement. Employees decide for themselves when this extra week is to be taken, but must notify the employer at least two weeks in advance. The employer may reject the employee's request for a time to take the holiday if the time creates significant difficulties for production or for systematic holiday processing for the company's workforce as a whole. If the holiday week is divided, the employee can only claim as many days off as the employee would have worked during a week. For example, a part-time employee who works three days per week will be entitled to three days of holiday if the extra holiday is taken in parts.

Illness during vacation?
Sick before the holiday
If you are 100 percent sick before your holiday, you can request that your holiday be postponed. In that case, you must document your illness with a doctor's certificate and notify us that you want your holiday postponed, no later than the last working day you were supposed to have before your holiday. We recommend doing this in writing.

You can choose to take your holiday as scheduled despite being 100 percent sick. In that case, it is important that you notify NAV and your employer so that the payment of sickness benefit is stopped during the holiday, and you receive holiday pay from your employer instead. You are not entitled to both holiday pay and sickness benefit at the same time.

Sick on vacation
If you are 100 percent sick during your vacation, you can request that the days you were sick be postponed and given as new vacation later in the same year. You must also document this with a doctor's certificate. In addition, you must notify your employer that you wish to postpone your vacation as soon as you return to work. We also recommend doing this in writing.

Partially on sick leave
If you are on partial sick leave, you are not entitled to postpone your vacation.