Working in Norway as a French National: Right to Work, Salaries, Tax and Contributions

A citizen of the European Union takes up a job in Norway without a work permit, thanks to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. For a stay of more than three months, they register with the police, on the basis of a job, self-employment or other conditions, then notify their move to Skatteetaten for a stay of more than six months, as the page on living in Norway explains.

To work, most people need a tax deduction card (skattekort) and a Norwegian identity number, D-number or fødselsnummer (Skatteetaten). The guide to working abroad complements these benchmarks with questions of status.

EURES states that in 2024 Norway had no general statutory minimum wage. The Arbeidstilsynet specifies that statutory minimum wage rules exist in nine sectors, through the extension of collective agreements: the automotive sector, construction, electricians, fish processing, road freight transport, agriculture and horticulture, hotels and restaurants, passenger transport by tourist coach, cleaning and shipbuilding. In other sectors, no fixed minimum wage applies, and pay is found in the employer’s collective agreement when it has signed one.

By way of example, the Arbeidstilsynet shows for construction an hourly rate of 264.32 NOK for skilled workers, in force since 15 June 2025; these rates change, and the authority’s page gives the current amounts.

In November 2025, SSB measures an average monthly salary of 62,070 NOK per full-time equivalent, against 59,370 NOK in November 2024 (+4.5%), with 65,610 NOK for men and 57,690 NOK for women. SSB observes that the rise in wages was strongest for the best-paid jobs, which increases inequalities and the pay gap between women and men; the data come from the unified payroll reporting system (a-ordningen), with November as the reference month. These averages can be compared with the rents presented in the page on living in Norway.

• Written contract: every employee is entitled to a written contract; for a job of more than one month, it is signed at the latest seven days after the start of the job (Arbeidstilsynet).
• Working time: normal working time is 9 hours a day and 40 hours a week; overtime gives rise to a premium of at least 40% of the agreed hourly wage.
• Leave: 25 working days a year and holiday pay of at least 10.2% of gross salary; 12.5% with an extra week beyond age 60.
• Notice: dismissal is notified in writing, with one month’s notice during which the employee works and is paid.
• Time recording and sick leave: the employer keeps a record of start and finish times; disputes over sickness benefits are reported to NAV, not to the Arbeidstilsynet.

Income tax on individuals combines three elements in 2026 (Skatteetaten): general income tax at a rate of 22.0% (18.5% in the counties of Troms and Finnmark), bracket tax (trinnskatt) on gross income, and the national insurance contribution (trygdeavgift). No bracket tax applies below 226,100 NOK.

The tax treaty between France and Norway was signed in Paris on 19 December 1980 and entered into force on 10 September 1981, amended by protocols that entered into force in 1985, 1996 and 2002 (impots.gouv.fr, the French tax administration). For salaries, article 15 provides for taxation in the State where the employment is exercised, with an exception for stays not exceeding 183 days in the tax year when the employer is resident in the same State as the recipient and the pay is not borne by a permanent establishment or fixed base in the State of activity.

An EEA citizen who comes to work in Norway automatically becomes a member of the national insurance scheme (folketrygden) from their first day of work, even if they live in another EEA country; the decisive condition is the legal right to work (NAV). This membership opens access to care and the building of pension rights. The 2026 contributions (trygdeavgift) are 7.6% of salary for employees aged 17 to 69, 10.8% of income for other self-employed people and 5.1% of pension income; they do not exceed 25% of income above 99,650 NOK (Skatteetaten).

The local contract places the employee under this scheme. For activity in several EEA countries, NAV recommends contacting the social security authorities of the country of residence, because specific coordination rules apply.

CLEISS (the French liaison centre for international social security) specifies that employees enjoy full cover including unemployment, while the self-employed are not covered against unemployment and insurance against work accidents remains optional for them. Their trygdeavgift is 10.8% of self-employment income in 2026, or 7.6% for fishing, hunting and childcare (Skatteetaten).

An employee sent by an employer from an EEA country for at most 24 months in principle remains under the legislation of their country of origin and does not become a member of the Norwegian scheme (NAV). See the glossary entry on the seconded employee, the A1 form and the guide to secondment versus expatriation. Remote work from France for a Norwegian employer falls under the European coordination rules; CLEISS and Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurance) provide information on the applicable scheme.

The currency is the Norwegian krone (NOK). The French Treasury (Direction générale du Trésor) describes, in its article of 5 May 2023, an economy where hydrocarbons dominate exports: in 2022, gas and crude oil account for 73% of the country’s exports, and the Treasury cites aquaculture, with the world’s leading producer and exporter of salmonids, offshore wind and electric mobility, which accounts for 80% of new cars in 2022. It also notes that the sovereign wealth fund’s holdings reached 13,770 billion NOK between December 2022 and March 2023, which placed it first in the world among sovereign wealth funds.

EURES indicates that in 2022 most employees worked in wholesale and retail trade (20.1%), construction (14.2%) and manufacturing (11.5%), and lists, for 2024, shortages of construction professionals, science and engineering professionals and teachers, as well as nurses and medical specialists depending on the region. The growth, unemployment and inflation indicators on the page are updated continuously.