Fighting for 1012 overtime hours
Despite three court cases and a victory in the Supreme Court, the battle is not over for NITO member Dag Blaich. He can afford others who are in a particularly independent position.
When Blaich was offered a job as a project manager in a construction company, he was told that the days would be long, but that he would be given time off. He chose to accept the offer and thought that he could trust what he was promised, but the workload turned out to be greater and greater.
"I was perhaps a bit silly, because I was getting more and more to do and was being assigned new projects, even though I gave feedback that the load was too great," he says.
Long days without overtime pay
During two and a half years as a project manager in the company, there was no possibility of getting time off in lieu. When the company went bankrupt, he was left with 1012 hours of overtime, for which he had not been compensated.
The wage claim for the overtime hours that Blaich submitted to NAV wage guarantee after the bankruptcy was rejected because he was exempt from the provisions on working hours, but the financial loss was too great for Blaich to accept, and he held the employer personally liable. Here, too, Blaich was met with a rejection.
- The next step was to fight a lawyer who noted NOK 3,500 an hour, he says.
But there were losses in both the district court and later in the court of appeal.
Although it had been difficult to stand in the trials, Blaich saw no reason to give up, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. With the help of NITO's lawyers, who are experts in particularly independent positions, Blaich gained a completely different impact in court.
Finally, the victory he had fought for came. The use of the term particularly independent position was clarified for far more people than himself. The Supreme Court emphasised that employees in particularly independent positions must decide for themselves the scope of their work, both the workload and the timing.
- My former employer has behaved very negligently and given me worse terms in the employment contract than what the law allows. The imposed workload also violated the Working Environment Act, says Blaich.
Blaich believes that many people go too far for their employers, especially young people. To those who recognize themselves in too high work pressure without the possibility of compensation and time off, he has a clear request:
- Make sure to register your working hours so that you can document how much you work. It is your boss's responsibility to find a solution for how the work should be done further when you do not have any more hours available.
- We live in a society that is built on trust and most people have a conscience, but unfortunately there are some fools out there who tell one thing and do something else.
NITO's lawyers have several pieces of advice
- Ask for an explanation of why you are exempt from the rules on working hours
- Register all your working hours. Talk to your union representative or management if you do not have access to a time registration system.
- Union representatives should make sure to put cleaning up the practice on the agenda. If you do not have a company group at work, it is time to form one. NITO's company group advisers can help you with this. You can also join forces with colleagues to demand clean-up from management.
- If your position is changed from exempt from to covered by the working hours rules, you must not accept a salary reduction. The employer must bear the consequences of a breach of the law
- When you are covered by the working hours rules, you will be entitled to overtime pay, and you must comply with the Act's framework for working hours and time off work. This does not mean that the opportunity for flexible working hours disappears. The Act gives all employees the right to flexible working hours when this can be implemented without significant inconvenience to the enterprise.
Believes in justice
Blaich is pleased with the victory in the Supreme Court, which clears up the concept of a particularly independent position. The judgment forces a long-awaited clean-up in the use of this type of position, which far too many of NITO's members have.
Blaich's employer was ordered to pay over half a million in legal costs before the Supreme Court and the judgment from the Court of Appeal was overturned. This means a new round in the Court of Appeal where the claim for compensation for 1012 overtime hours will be decided.
- It is only when it is clarified that I can feel that I have won. I am excited, but have great faith in the legal system.
- NITO has meant a lot to me and I have received fantastic help. It has been demanding to stand in three court cases that have been going on for a long time. It has cost me nerves, time and money, but I believe in justice, says Blaich.
