Collective agreements - private sector

Main agreement/collective agreement - Finance Norway - NITO

NITO's main agreement/collective agreement with the employers' organisation Finance Norway. The agreement is valid from 1 January 2022 and expires on 30 June 2024.

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§ 1 Right of association, dispute management, duty of peace

a) The right to organize

The parties to the Basic Agreement/Collective Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement") mutually recognise the employers' and employees' freedom of association.

b) Dispute handling

Any disagreement on the interpretation of the Agreement shall be resolved through negotiations. If a dispute arises in the individual company about the interpretation of provisions of the Agreement, a protocol must be drawn up before the case is sent to Finance Norway and NITO. If they do not agree on a solution to the dispute of interpretation, the case will be decided by the Labour Court.

c) The duty of peace

During the agreement period, no work stoppage or other industrial action must take place .

§ 2 Scope of the agreement

At the request of NITO or Finance Norway, the agreement is made applicable to members of NITO who are employed in companies with employer membership in Finance Norway and to the company in question. In the companies where other trade unions are provided with lists of  new employees, the same must be practised in relation to NITO's employee representatives.

The contractual early retirement pension (AFP) in the financial area has been merged with the AFP scheme in other collective agreement areas into a common AFP scheme in the private sector. Employees who meet the conditions of the rules in force at any given time are entitled to AFP. 

The company's top management and managers who participate in the determination of general pay and working conditions are excluded from the Agreement.

The request for the establishment of an agreement is submitted to the organisation in question (Finance Norway/NITO). If the claim comes from NITO, it must be stated whether a company group has been formed (cf. section 4), who has been elected to the board of the NITO group, and a list of names of the members of NITO that the association will have assigned under the Agreement must be attached.

If doubt arises in the case of the individual company as to whether a member of NITO should be exempted, the question may be submitted to Finance Norway and NITO for a decision, if one of the local parties deems this appropriate.   the objections must be submitted within 1 month from receipt of the claim. 

In companies where the Agreement has been made applicable, and a company group has been formed , the employee representatives of the group are obliged, upon request, to notify the company in writing of changes in the composition of the group.

§ 3 Establishment of agreements

In companies that join Finance Norway during a collective agreement period and that have a contractual relationship with NITO, the existing collective agreement runs until the date of expiry. The agreement is then made effective from the same date. The parties may agree that the Agreement is made effective from an earlier date.

NITO and Finance Norway may otherwise require that the Agreement shall apply in companies when the union has at least 3 members among the permanent employees of the company. In addition, a company group must be established, see section 4.

A requirement for the establishment of an agreement for companies that are not bound by a collective agreement with NITO shall apply from the time the claim is received. Confirmation of implementation of the Agreement on behalf of Finance Norway or NITO shall be given to the counterparty as soon as possible, and within 1 month from receipt of the claim .

If a company bound by a collective agreement withdraws from Finance Norway during the collective agreement period, Finance Norway must notify NITO of its withdrawal and the time of its withdrawal as soon as possible. A company that withdraws from Finance Norway during the collective agreement period is bound by the collective agreements that were in force at the time of the withdrawal (cf. Section 7 of the Labour Disputes Act).

§ 4 Company groups and union representative work

a) Formation of corporate groups

The parties agree that NITO may be represented by a group of companies in companies where there are at least 3 members of NITO. 

The company group elects 1 to 3 union representatives unless otherwise agreed.

The company must be notified in writing as soon as possible and no later than 8 days after the election of who has been elected and who is the manager. The company group's union representatives are approved as representatives of the organized members.

b) Work as a union representative

The parties assume that the work of union representatives is of great importance and agree that the conditions shall be arranged in the best possible way for union representatives to be able to function in their positions and acquire the necessary knowledge.

The employee representatives must be given the necessary time to perform their duties as union representatives in the company within ordinary working hours. It is assumed that normal salary is paid during this time.

Union representatives must be elected from among the members of NITO with experience and insight into the company's conditions. As far as possible, they shall be elected from among members who have worked in the company for the past two years.

The employer must have a responsible representative present on a daily basis to whom the employee representatives can turn. The employer must notify the group of companies in writing of the name of the representative and his/her deputy.

If the representatives are unable to take a position immediately, but wish to carry out further investigations, an answer shall be given without undue delay. When the employee representatives have something to say, they must contact the employer or its representative at the workplace directly .

The employee representatives, like the employer and the person who  acts on behalf of the company, have a duty to do their best to maintain good cooperation.

Union representatives in the company and members with positions of trust in NITO shall not be denied leave of absence without compelling reason when they are summoned to meetings and negotiations by their organisation, or shall participate in professional courses or other professional information activities, including professional delegations.

Members of NITO who are trained for positions of trust within NITO, as mentioned above, shall also be granted leave of absence to a reasonable extent when they are to participate in professional courses or other professional information activities.

The key union representatives in NITO are important for the cooperation and agreement system between Finance Norway and NITO to work. A lack of facilitation and recruitment to these positions can lead to less appropriate forms of cooperation.

In the event of redundancies due to rationalisation/reductions, the company must emphasise the function of the employee representatives and the special position they have in the company. Before dismissal or dismissal of a union representative is made, the issue must be discussed with the board of directors of the company group unless the person in question objects to it, or this would be offensive to others.

c) Member meetings

NITO's business groups have the same right to member meetings during working hours as other trade unions in the individual company.

§ 5 General terms and conditions of employment

In a company where NITO has a company group, questions regarding general terms and conditions of employment that are not regulated in the employment contract must be resolved between the company and the employee representatives.

In addition, agreements may be established locally between the company and the company group on issues of a general nature for the members of NITO who are covered by the Agreement.
The individual member of NITO can himself, possibly with the assistance of a union representative, raise the issue of changing the agreed working arrangement with the company.

If an employee is exempted from Chapter 10 of the Working Environment Act with reference to Section 10-12, Item 1 or Item 2, a written explanation must be provided at the request of the individual member. When hiring new graduates, the reason should be given unsolicited.

The employee representatives can request the company to provide an account of how Section 10-12 of the Working Environment Act is practiced in relation to NITO's members. 

If no report is provided or the employee representatives believe there is a discrepancy between the report and practice in the company, NITO can take this up with Finance Norway. Union representatives must inform the employer at the latest at the same time as this is discussed with NITO.

The content of the report and the local practice are not subject to dispute proceedings.

§ 6 Cooperation and business development

The parties recommend close cooperation locally on internal company matters, the situation for members of NITO and their participation in the company's further development. The parties locally discuss in more detail how the internal cooperation should be organised.

It is in the interest of employees, companies and society that companies improve their ability to acquire, use and develop technology to promote the company's competitiveness.

The parties agree that the development of the company's technological environment must take place through cooperation between the employees and the company. Key topics in this regard are:

  • Technological development
  • Competence development
  • Organizational development

In order to identify problems and find appropriate working methods and methods for development work, meetings should be held between the company management and representatives of the employees in different departments and functional areas in the company. Once any problem areas have been mapped, it may be appropriate to organise
further work in committees, project or working groups to have the problems analysed and to present proposals for action plans or concrete measures that can be implemented.

The development measures will vary from company to company, adapted to the individual company's situation and needs. The management and the employees of the individual company must jointly identify the areas that should be prioritised, and the parties to the Agreement will be able to provide advice and guidance in this work.

On the basis of the demands for restructuring that will be placed on the employees as a result of new technology, it is recommended that the parties at the local level find  appropriate forms of cooperation with particular emphasis on issues related to training and development opportunities for the members of NITO.

§ 7 Information, cooperation and co-determination

NITO and Finance Norway agree on the necessity of a good and trusting relationship between employees, their elected representatives and management, both in individual companies and groups.

  1. The company must inform and discuss questions about the current and expected development of the company's activities and financial situation with NITO's employee representatives.

  2. At the earliest possible time, the company must discuss with NITO's employee representatives:
    a) Future prospects and plans for restructuring that may have an impact on NITO's members and their working conditions.
    b) Employment, including plans for expansions, cutbacks and any layoffs, which may have an impact on NITO's members.
    c) Changes in the company's ownership, ownership structure or company form. In such cases, the employee representatives must be informed of the reason for the disposition and the legal, financial and work-related consequences the disposition is assumed to entail for the employees.

  3. Before the company makes decisions on matters that have an impact on employment and working conditions, the employee representatives must have the opportunity to present their views.

    If the company finds that it cannot take into account the statements of the employee representatives, it must justify its view. Minutes of the discussion meetings must be drawn up.

  4. The company's accounts must be submitted to the employee representatives upon request. The annual accounts must be presented to the employee representatives as soon as they are available.

  5. In the event of the introduction of payroll systems in the company that require knowledge of financial matters of importance to the system, the employee representatives shall have the right to access that enables this.

  6. When changes to pension and insurance schemes are discussed, the financial consequences for the employees shall be the subject of the discussions.

  7. In discussions between the company and employee representatives, union representatives may, if necessary, be assisted by other members of the company. In that case, this must be notified to the company in advance and be able to be adjusted
    with operational conditions.

§ 8 Group provisions

The parties agree that there is a need to discuss matters mentioned in section 7, paragraphs 1-3, on a group basis. It is assumed that the local parties find appropriate forms of cooperation. Section 8 does not apply to groups with a foreign parent company.

Cooperation at group level can take place by:

a. that it continues to build on established forms of cooperation where the parties agree that the cooperation functions satisfactorily, or

b. that the corporate management and NITO's employee representatives hold one or more joint meetings per year where the main task is to discuss matters of significant importance to the parties. The meeting may include other groups with similar interests, or

c. that other forms of cooperation are established, such as a group employee representative scheme . The group employee representative shall safeguard the interests of the employees vis-à-vis the group management in matters that are dealt with at group level and that may be of importance to the employees of the group as a whole. The work of the group employee representative shall not interfere with or replace the rights and obligations of the parties at company level.

Plans for expansions, reductions or restructuring that may have a significant impact on employment in several companies within the same group shall be discussed as early as possible in joint meetings between the group management and NITO's employee representatives and other groups of employees with
similar interests from the affected companies, in the same way as is done with other employee groups in the company.

If, pursuant to another main agreement within Finance Norway , a meeting is held regarding issues relating to the Group's economic and production position and development, a corresponding meeting may be required to be held with NITO.

The parties are expected to find appropriate representation arrangements for such a meeting. The meeting may include other groups with similar interests.

§ 9 Consideration of general salary issues

a. Genuine discussions must be held between the company and the company group's employee representatives about the average salary adjustment before the company determines the annual adjustment.

b. The union representatives shall be given an overview of the members' individual salaries before the discussions begin. At the request of the union representatives after the discussions, they will be sent an overview of the supplements that have been given to NITO's members.

c. The discussions shall be conducted on the basis of the company's profitability, earnings and socio-economic considerations.

During the discussions, both parties must be prepared to present their views and to have these views tested by the other party.In addition to the criteria mentioned above, matters related to the members' situation in general and the group's special circumstances, if any , will be topics that can be addressed.

d. Minutes of the meetings must be drawn up. In the event of disagreement, both parties should express a summary of their views in the minutes.

e. A representative of the union representatives is informed of the average result for the group before the result of the salary assessments is communicated to the individual.

f. If NITO's corporate group has objections to the completed process, NITO may Norway demand that a local meeting be held in the company in which the central parties participate.

§ 10 Salary assessment/salary adjustment

Each company should have a wage policy adapted to internal company conditions.

The company must assess the individual salaries of all members of NITO once a year, including those who are absent due to parental leave. The company must have a fixed date for the NITO members' annual salary adjustment. In the event of a change of date, the change must be discussed with NITO's employee representatives.

The company shall determine the individual member's salary after an objective assessment of competence, skill, work effort, experience and the position's area of responsibility and work, as well as the individual's development since the previous assessment. Work as a union representative must be treated in the same way as other work in the company.

Individual salary determination requires dialogue, such as a salary discussion, between manager and employee. The individual member can ask the company for a reason for the salary determination.

In the company's assessment, it must be taken into account that younger members of NITO normally have a rapid growth in competence.

In enterprises where the employer introduces bonus schemes (either in the form of profit sharing, or for results achieved at the individual or group level), the criteria for the scheme must be made known to the employees concerned.

In enterprises where a performance-based salary system is introduced, the local parties must discuss how the salary system is organised in relation to the time spent on employee representative work.

To the extent that the company deems it necessary in each year to correct the imbalances that have arisen, it shall be able to make an additional adjustment at a time other than that determined above.

§ 11 Special agreements

The Parties agree that the Agreement is a framework agreement. It is the intention of the parties that the Agreement shall be supplemented by the use of local special agreements adapted to the individual company.

Claims for the conclusion or revision of special agreements must be dealt with in a negotiation meeting between the parties at the company. Minutes of the meetings are drawn up in which the parties express their views.

Termination of special agreements:

  1. The local parties must negotiate special agreements before dismissal takes place. Termination may nevertheless take place if negotiations have been demanded and not reached within 14 days.
  2. Special agreements with a specific term may be terminated in writing with at least 3 months' notice before the expiry date, unless otherwise agreed.
  3. Special agreements that have been decided or assumed to apply until further notice, may be terminated at any time with 3 months' notice, unless otherwise agreed.

§ 12 Competence development

The parties recognise the great importance of increased training and education for the individual, the company and society. They would therefore like to emphasise the value of the company's employees increasing their knowledge and strengthening their skills, and that the companies therefore place great emphasis on systematic training of members of NITO.

The central parties would like to emphasise the importance of a comprehensive personnel policy that, among other things, facilitates the maintenance and development of senior employees' resources and expertise. It is a goal that as many people as possible should be able to participate actively and be a sought-after workforce throughout their careers.

If, in connection with education, which is of value to both the employee and the company, full or partial leave is necessary, this should be granted unless special reasons prevent it.

Also in connection with other education that is of importance for the employee's further development, the company should be accommodating if it should be appropriate to apply for full or partial leave, if this can be done without any significant disadvantage to the company.

Education also means qualification positions such as post
doc and research fellows.

Measures and instruments:

Each company must present its goals for future development as a basis for mapping the need for expertise. It is the company's responsibility, in collaboration with the employees, to carry out the mapping and initiate any measures in relation to the individual. The survey is updated once a year. Where there is a gap between the company's current skills and future needs, this is assumed to be covered by relevant
training measures or other instruments.

Costs for continuing and further education in accordance with the company's needs are the company's responsibility. The company and the employees are all responsible for ensuring that any skills gap is satisfactorily covered.

The employee representatives and the company discuss in more detail how the company's competence development can best be safeguarded in accordance with the above.

§ 13 Social benefits

NITO's members are given rights corresponding to the provisions of the Central Agreement between Finansforbundet and Finance Norway § 12 Salary during illness, § 13 Salary in connection with birth and adoption, § 14 Salary in the event of death and § 15 Salary during military service, etc.

§ 14 The Information and Development Fund

An agreement has been entered into between the parties on an information and development fund; Appendix 1.

§ 15 Local/organisational meetings

When local or organizational meetings are to be held in connection with the Agreement, either party may require the meeting to take place within 14 days.

§ 16 Matters not regulated in the agreement

During the agreement period, Finance Norway and NITO may raise issues concerning the conclusion of agreements in areas other than those regulated in the Agreement.

§ 17 Duration, collective redundancies

a) The agreement enters into force on 1 January 2022 and is valid until 30 June 2024 and further 1 year at a time, unless one of the parties terminates it in writing with at least 3 - three - months' notice.

b) Finance Norway and NITO will, upon revision of the Agreement after the voluntary negotiations have not been successful, accept as a valid redundancy notice for the employees a notice exchanged between Finance Norway and NITO. The mutual notice period is one month, unless the parties agree on a shorter notice period. The form and content of the dismissal must be in accordance with Section 16 of the Labour Disputes Act.

c) Notice of resignation (the final scope of the resignation) must be given with at least 14 days' notice. Notice of an extension of the conflict shall also be given by each of the parties with at least 14 days' notice.

d) At the same time as a notice of resignation is given, a more detailed list of the names of the employees who are to be taken out in industrial action shall be presented to the individual company/company group.

Protocol entry 1:

The parties agree that DNB and NITO's employee representatives shall enter into an agreement similar to the already existing group agreement in DNB with underlying agreements.   The parties further agree that the parties may locally agree on other divergent provisions. Section 13-4 of the Group Agreement replaces Section 11 of the Agreement. Until the local parties agree on a new agreement, the rules in the terminated/expired group agreement apply.

The parties also agree to discuss similar solutions where other companies have similar needs. 

APPENDIX 1: The Information and Development Fund

I Purpose

  1. The purpose of the fund is to implement or support measures to promote training of NITO's employee representatives.
  2. The measures will aim, among other things:
    a. Training with special emphasis on organizational work,
    agreements, planning, case management, cooperation issues,
    organisational development, gender equality, information technology,
    economy and safety work.
    b. Preparation, facilitation and development of
    training measures.
    c. Promotion of healthy and correct rationalisation with a view to increased
    efficiency.

II Financing

  1. The expenses for the training are distributed with 50% among the companies that are affiliated with Finance Norway, however, the subsidy from the companies is limited upwards to NOK 277 per year for each member of NITO.
    The size of the subsidy is adjusted annually with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
  2. It is a prerequisite for the companies' subsidy scheme that the remaining part of the expenses (50%) is provided by NITO.
  3. The funds received are included in a fund that is entirely disposed of by NITO in accordance with the purpose set out in I(1). Expenses for employee representatives or representatives of the union representatives who participate in courses, conferences, etc. arranged jointly by NITO and Finance Norway are covered by the Fund's assets.
  4. The companies' grants are collected by Finance Norway based on the number of members in NITO in Finance Norway's member companies as of 1 January each year. The grant amount is transferred once every six months,
    first time by 1 July to a special account that is used by NITO.
  5. NITO is responsible for ensuring that the association's share of the fund is filled. 

III Accounting

  1. At the end of each financial year, NITO prepares annual accounts that must be audited by a state-authorised or registered auditor.
  2. The accounts are sent to Finance Norway together with an itemised statement of the measures implemented during the year, including a statement of the number of participants and the duration of the individual courses/conferences.

IV Resolution

  1. If the funds are not used according to their prerequisites, the grant scheme will be suspended after the matter has been discussed between the parties.
  2. If the grant scheme is terminated, any unallocated funds must be divided equally between NITO and Finance Norway.
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