Overtime is work beyond the legal limit of 9 hours a day or 40 hours a week. You get your regular hourly wage plus a supplement of at least 40%, and often 50% or 100% under a collective agreement.
Example: With a yearly salary of NOK 585,000, your hourly wage is NOK 300. If you work 6 hours at 50% and 4 hours at 100%, you get 6 × NOK 450 + 4 × NOK 600 = NOK 5,100 before tax. Of this, NOK 2,100 is the overtime supplement itself.
The rules are in section 10-6 of the Working Environment Act (arbeidsmiljøloven). The key points:
You get your regular hourly wage plus the overtime supplement. At NOK 300 an hour and 50% extra, that is NOK 450 for the hour. At 100% extra it is NOK 600.
The law only requires at least 40% extra. 50% and 100% come from collective agreements, which often give 50% during the day on weekdays and 100% in the evening, at night, at weekends and on public holidays. What applies to you is stated in your employment contract or collective agreement.
No. Overtime (overtid) is work beyond the legal limit of 9 hours a day or 40 hours a week. If you work more than agreed but below the legal limit, it is additional hours (merarbeid). You are then entitled to your regular hourly wage, but no supplement, unless your agreement says otherwise. With a 37.5-hour week, the first 2.5 extra hours may therefore come without a supplement, but many collective agreements give a supplement from the first hour.
Not by law alone. Weekend work within your normal working hours does not entitle you to a supplement. Many collective agreements still give a weekend supplement or 100% overtime on Saturdays and Sundays.
Overtime is regular salary and is taxed the same way. The deduction can still seem high, because the tax table assumes you earn the same every month all year. If too much is deducted, you get the money back in your tax settlement.
Yes, if you and your employer agree in writing. You can then take the hours as time off, hour for hour, but the overtime supplement must still be paid.
The main rule is a maximum of 10 hours a week, 25 hours per four weeks and 200 hours a year. In businesses with a collective agreement, the employer and union representatives can agree to raise the limit to 20 hours a week, 50 hours per four weeks and 300 hours a year. Overtime may only be used when there is a special, time-limited need.
No. Employees in senior or particularly independent positions are exempt from the working hours rules and are not entitled to an overtime supplement by law. This depends on the tasks, not the job title.