Norway Minimum Wage 2026: NOK 163–270 per Hour by Sector

Not a national one. Norway sets minimum pay through allmenngjøring, the generalised application of collective agreements. The Tariff Board (Tariffnemnda) takes the minimum rates from a collective agreement and issues a regulation that makes them binding for every employer in that sector, whether or not the employer is party to the agreement. Arbeidstilsynet's own wording: the minimum wage "is established by law and applies to all workers within the ten sectors".

The ten sectors are construction, electrical installation, cleaning, hospitality, maritime construction (shipyards), fish processing, agriculture and horticulture, road freight transport, passenger transport by tour bus and, since 15 June 2026, the automotive industry. Apprentices and people on labour-market schemes are excluded. For every other sector Arbeidstilsynet is explicit: "No minimum wages apply in other sectors. Wages are agreed individually between the employer and the employee, or in collective agreements."

The table gives the gross hourly rates in force on 17 September 2026. Nine sectors run on regulations effective 15 June 2025; the automotive regulation took effect on 15 June 2026. Euro figures use the Norges Bank rate of NOK 10.825 per euro on 17 September 2026 and are rounded to 10 cents; the legal figure is the krone amount.

Two details change the real number. First, the rate is a floor for ordinary hours in a 37.5-hour week; overtime and shift supplements sit on top (next section). Second, reimbursed expenses are not pay: Arbeidstilsynet counts only remuneration that enters the basis for holiday pay, tax and social security, so travel money or a lodging allowance can never be used to fill a gap below the minimum.

Norway's rates are hourly, and the regulations set no monthly figure. To compare an offer, multiply by the ordinary hours: 37.5 hours a week is 162.5 hours in an average month (37.5 × 52 ÷ 12). That gives a gross monthly floor, before tax and before any overtime, of:

Treat the euro column as a snapshot. The krone moves against the euro every day, and a contract that quotes euros must still pay at least the krone minimum on each pay slip. Norwegian tax, holiday pay (feriepenger) and employer contributions are separate calculations that we cover in Norway posted-worker compliance: minimum wage, holiday pay and lodging rules.

The generalised rate follows the sector the undertaking and the work belong to, not the worker's trade certificate. The same welder can fall under three different rules depending on where the job is:

One narrow exemption: a skilled or specialist worker posted for at most eight days to do the initial assembly or installation of delivered goods is outside the Norwegian holiday, holiday-pay, salary and overtime provisions, including the generalised minimum wage. It never covers construction work, and earlier postings for the same work in the last 12 months count towards the eight days. Separately, where the worker's home-country terms are more favourable overall, those apply instead; the employer has to be able to document it.

Ordinary working time under the generalised agreements is 37.5 hours a week (the Working Environment Act's general ceiling is 40). Work beyond ordinary hours carries a supplement on the hourly rate, and the supplement differs by sector:

A written agreement can only improve on these figures. An hourly rate that already "includes overtime" is not compliant.

For assignments that require overnight stays, the employer covers necessary travel at the beginning and end of the assignment (within Norway for shipyard work, to and from the assignment for the other sectors). Before the worker leaves home, the employer and the worker must agree in writing how food and accommodation will be handled. Arbeidstilsynet describes the norm as the employer providing both, with fixed daily allowances or reimbursement against receipts as the alternatives.

Three consequences matter on the pay slip. If the employer deducts rent for housing it provides, the amount must be in reasonable proportion to the worker's net pay and the quality of the housing (section 11 of the posted-employee regulations). Expense payments must be listed separately from wages, because they do not count towards the minimum; if the employment contract does not say which part of a posting allowance is pay and which part is reimbursement, the regulations treat the whole allowance as reimbursement (section 3A), so an unitemised allowance cannot lift an hourly rate to the floor. Underpaying the minimum, including by dressing wages up as allowances, is wage theft under the Penal Code.

The minimum wage is one of several Norwegian rules that apply to a posted employee from the first hour, "irrespective of which country's laws otherwise regulate the employment arrangement" (Regulations relating to posted employees, section 3). The list a foreign employer works through before the first shift:

The Norwegian client is not a bystander. In the ten sectors it has a duty to inform its suppliers that the generalised terms apply and a duty to ensure compliance, and the contractor at the top of the chain is jointly and severally liable for unpaid minimum wage further down. A client that asks for your pay slips and RF-1198 receipts is doing what the law requires.

Probably, at least in construction. The 2026 main wage settlement raised the collective-agreement floors in Fellesoverenskomsten for byggfag from 1 April 2026: skilled workers NOK 276.48, unskilled workers NOK 250.63 (no experience) and 260.45 (one year), under-18s NOK 169.91. Those are agreement rates, binding only on employers covered by the agreement. The Tariff Board sent a proposal to generalise the renewed construction agreement out for hearing with a deadline of 20 August 2026, and on 17 September 2026 its site still listed the case as under treatment. Until a new regulation enters into force, NOK 264.32 remains the legal minimum on every site.

When the Tariff Board decides, Arbeidstilsynet's minimum-wage page shows the new rates and their effective date. Employers pricing a job that runs into 2027 should budget for the agreement rates rather than the current floors.

If you are an employer comparing a posted crew against local hire, the questions above (which sector, which supplements, who reports what) are the ones to settle in the contract before the price. Evroproces places certified welders, pipefitters, industrial metalworkers and production workers with employers in Slovenia, Austria and Germany; the workers stay employed by us, so the A1, registration and pay-slip side is ours. We also take on new projects in Norway. Read how the model works on our staffing agency page.

If you are a tradesperson weighing an offer for Norway, check the sector rate in the table against your contract and ask who pays the lodging. If you would rather have the paperwork, housing and travel handled for you, see our current openings and application form.