The New Industrial Agreement for the 2012-2014 period

Norsk Industri’s deadline for notifying the National Mediator of acceptance is the 10th May 2012.

The main elements of the mediation proposal

1) Economic

• A general wage increase of NOK 1.25 per hour. The mediation proposal entails a wage increase of 0.85%.

2) New Industrial Agreement

• The leading sector this year concerned the Engineering Industry Agreement, the Technology and Data Agreement, the Teko Agreement and the Nexans Agreement. The parties agree to merge the stated agreements into one collective wage agreement called the “Industrial Agreement”. The agreement will apply to almost 29,000 employees in over 800 businesses.
• The new Industrial Agreement will consist of one common section and four special sections relating to the former agreement areas. See the National Mediator’s proposal point 10 for more information on the new common section.

3) Other significant changes in the Industrial Agreement

• Family leave
  Businesses will provide basic pay for two weeks of family leave in connection with birth and adoption; see section 12-3 of the Working Environment Act.
• Dental visits
  Examination, treatment, and check-up by a dentist (previously only a dental specialist) in cases where it is not possible to obtain an appointment outside of working hours are now also covered by the provision on short-term welfare leave.
• Change of rates
  The rates within the various former agreement areas (with the exception of Teko) are increased pursuant to the wage increase of 7.4% in the 2010-2012 wage period.

4) Equal treatment when hiring workers

• Regulations have been introduced concerning the equal treatment of hired temporary workers who perform the same work as the business’s own employees in the period they work in the host company.
• The regulations are in accordance with regulations proposed for inclusion in the Working Environment Act. The regulations on equal treatment will enter into force at the time of the proposed changes to legislation. According to current information, this will occur in the first half of 2013. Further information will be given.

5) 14-28 rotation offshore and changes in the offshore appendix

• The parties agree to the following for the minutes / proposal of the National Mediator:
  “The parties agree to recommend to its main organizations that a committee be appointed that will discuss the issues relating to the introduction of 14-28 rotation with full wage compensation for reduced hours. The parties agree that the committee’s proposal will be presented in good time before the next main settlement. Any proposal on the introduction of 14-28 rotation for work on the shelf, with wage compensation for reduced working hours, will form the basis of wage negotiations at the 2014 audit.”
• The parties also agree to the following new wording in the Offshore Appendix:
  “The following scheme is established for the 2012-2014 wage period.” “The following shall apply when employees are instructed to use or it is agreed that an employee shall use the 14-28 working plan: The employee will have the right to a full wage. The employer shall try to make arrangements so that the missing hours can be worked. Warning of a change in a working plan shall then be given with 14 days warning.” The regulations entered in the Offshore Appendix in 2010 on 14-28 rotation, including the availability supplement in point 3.10.4, will not continue.

6) Framework agreement for working hours over 10.5 hours

• It is evident from the mediation proposal that the Framework Agreement will be continued for the next wage period. There is also agreement for two specific examples of working plans. These are included in the proposal from the National Mediator.
• Numerous clarifying changes and changes so that the Framework Agreement can be performed for other wage areas have been performed.

7) Changes in guaranteed earnings for the “former Engineering Industry Agreement”

• Changes in the guarantee provision have been performed for statistical reasons, and have no economic consequences.

8)      Other changes

• Certain changes were also performed in special sections of the Industrial Agreement for the respective former agreement areas.
  For further details see the National Mediator’s proposal

Performance
Wage increases do not apply to employees who leave the business before acceptance on the 10th May 2012. No recalculation or repayment of overtime supplements, shift supplements, etc will be performed for work before acceptance. The same applies to paid paternity leave taken in accordance with section 12-3 of the Working Environment Act and dental visits; see point 3 above. This means that employers will only start to be liable to make payment when such leave is taken after the acceptance date.

Ballot
Member businesses of Norsk Industri who wish to reject the mediation proposal must give written notification before Friday 4th May this year if they do not accept the proposal, see section 3-5 of the Main Agreement.

We would point out that rejection of the proposal might result in a strike. Businesses must therefore ensure that conditional lay-off notice (sections 8-4 and 8-5 of the Main Agreement) applies until the results of the referendum are known, provided that lay-off is relevant in a strike.

Information – local negotiations
Norsk Industri will hold information meetings concerning the settlement and local negotiations at various sites in the country.

Further information on the wage settlement and information meetings will be given on our Internet pages.

Local negotiations may start once Norsk Industri has issued notification that the settlement has been accepted. Information will be given immediately after acceptance.