Reacting to horror pictures – now the Conservative Party wants to hang out the worst – E24

– It is important for the serious companies and consumers to know who this is, says Høyre.

– I think these are appalling situations. The pictures show obvious violations of the Working Environment Act where life and health are at stake, says representative of the Conservative Party Aleksander Stokkebø.

He is talking about the pictures E24 published on Labor Day, May 1.

The pictures show carpenters working at height without being secured in case they fall. The pictures come from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.

The Conservative Party has drawn up 11 measures which are intended to make it easier for the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority to crack down on illegalities, including dangerous work at height.

Read all 11 points further down in the case.

– Hit those who deliberately train and speculate

One of the measures is a “parking fine system” where the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate will be given the opportunity to issue fines on the spot where there are “obvious violations of the Working Environment Act and other workplace crime, with a simplified burden of proof for the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate”.

– These pictures illustrate the core of our proposal. There are obvious, documentable violations, says Stokkebø.

– As it is today, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority still has to return to the office and spend a long time before they can impose sanctions. The time from action to consequence must be shorter.

Another proposal is to publish the very worst employers.

– Isn’t this a bit drastic?

– We are talking here about obvious, gross and repeated violations where the companies do not respect the orders given by the supervisory authority, says Stokkebø.

– This will affect those who deliberately train and speculate on breaking the rules over time. It is important for the serious businesses and consumers to know who this is, so that one can avoid doing business with them and stopping their income.

Has introduced a ban

Storting representative for the Labor Party, Per Vidar Kjølmoen, says it is good that the Conservative Party in opposition is impatient.

Nevertheless, he believes the Labor Party has more political will and implementation power to clean up Norwegian working life than the Conservative Party.

– The criticism from the Conservative Party has otherwise been that the Labor Party has done too much, too quickly, in the field of working life, such as temporary employment and hiring, Kjølmoen believes.

In April last year, the government introduced strict rules against the use of temp agencies and hired labour.

The rules are the subject of up to several lawsuits. Among other things, a breach of treaty case breach of treaty case A situation where a country breaks an international agreement or treaty to which it has committed itself.between Norway and EEA supervisory authority ESA EEA supervisory authority ESAA body that monitors that the EEA countries (the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) follow the rules of the EEA Agreement.as well as a compensation lawsuit filed by a group of staffing agencies against the State of Norway.

– Right around the corner

– Those pictures really make me sick to my stomach. These workers risk their lives. This is absolutely not acceptable in Norwegian working life!

This is how Kjølmoen reacts to the pictures from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.

When asked how the Labor Party will overcome this, he highlights three points:

• Strengthen a serious, organized working life where the main rule must be full and permanent positions.

– That is why, among other things, we have tightened up on hiring and temporary work, to strong protests from the Conservative Party, says Kjølmoen, referring to the strict rules that the state must now defend in court.

Right has promised to remove the rules if they end up in government again.

• Ensure that those who are to control actually have enough resources to do so.

– That is why Labor has strengthened the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate by almost NOK 70 million more than what the Conservative Party prioritized for the agency, he says.

• Implement necessary measures, such as seriousness requirements for public tenders and increased limits for infringement fees.

– More measures to strengthen the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate’s tools are just around the corner, says Kjølmoen.

At the start of 2023, a unanimous Storting decided that the government should look at, among other things, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority’s “sanction possibilities under the Working Environment Act”.

The Conservative Party believes that it is high time that the government complies with this.

– We expect the government to listen and soon put forward concrete proposals for the Storting, says Stokkebø from the Conservative Party.

E24 has asked the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion whether they are working on this and when, if necessary, they will present something new about the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate’s sanctioning options. The Ministry’s refers to the statements by the parliamentary representative from the Labor Party.