The agencies said they had control over the steel – the law was broken thousands of times – NRK Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio

NRK has discovered a quarter of a million violations of the Work Environment Law in the municipality of Oslo. On Friday, councilors and city directors must attend a hearing at City Hall.

They have to answer how it has been possible with so many crimes.

NRK can now disclose that municipal agencies for five years have misreported their routines for monitoring work hours.

Introduced mandatory routines

In 2012, the municipality received a real blast from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Serious overtime violations led to routine orders that ensured that the law was not broken.

The city council continued to send a detailed instruction to the entire municipality, a circular call. He listed the mandatory routines for controlling working hours.

By following this, the municipality would henceforth follow the law.

From 2013 to 2017, directors were required to sign if they followed the instructions.

In the annual report, they were asked this question:

“Does the company have routines and internal control that ensure compliance with the working time provisions of the Labor Environment Law and that capture and correct any discrepancies that arise?”

NRK has reviewed 42 annual reports for the period. In total, the directors have answered affirmatively to the question.

Almost no one followed the instruction

Now Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) has asked all directors to present their routines. This is part of the plates after all the offenses.

Johansen’s report shows:

• A third have no routines.
• Many of the existing routines were created only last year or this year.
• Only 15 percent have routines according to instructions.

– Not good enough, says the leader of the town hall to NRK.

– For this reason, I have taken advantage of all the opportunities that I have had, as executive director of the municipality, to speak with the department heads about the importance of having this in place.

– Is it okay for agencies and districts not to follow the instructions of the city council?

– Of course it is not desirable. In general, our agencies and companies are good, but this should have been implemented earlier.

– What do you think of the fact that the agencies have answered affirmatively in the annual report, when in fact they have not had established routines?

– I would assume that they have answered if they have routines and not if it conforms to the circular. I have asked my city councils to guarantee written routines in accordance with regulations.

NRK has asked which agencies lack routines. The city council will not say that.

Therefore, NRK cannot ask questions of the municipalities responsible for these agencies.

– Obviously reported error

Eirik Lae Solberg (H) is among those questioned at the hearing on Friday.

He was councilor for the Treasury in 2014-2015, with the responsibility of following up on the circular on working hours.

Solberg believes that the directors have reported incorrectly.

– If they had extensive violations of labor law, obviously they have not had routines to ensure compliance with the law. It’s surprising and a problem, he says.

– What did you do yourself to check if they answered correctly?

– I assumed that the companies reported correctly. At the same time, it is natural to follow up on reports on a regular basis and ensure quality if carried out according to intent.

Recommend the use of exception rules

The recent report by the City Council leader recommends several measures to comply with the law.

One of them is to make sure everyone follows the instructions given to them in 2013.

Another is to use the exemption rules of the Work Environment Act more often. This can be done through agreements with shop stewards and employees.

Then you will be able to work more days than allowed.