The Institute for Social Research, together with the Frisch Centre, has been commissioned by NHO to evaluate the regulatory changes that were introduced on April 1, 2023, to limit the use of hiring from staffing agencies in Norwegian working life. The regulatory changes involve a general tightening by repealing the right to hire "when the work is of a temporary nature" in the Working Environment Act. Furthermore, a ban has been introduced on hiring from temp agencies for construction work on construction sites in Oslo, Viken and former Vestfold ("Oslo area"), and a right to permanent employment has been introduced after three years for temp agency workers in the company that hires in. Lastly, the boundaries between hiring and subcontracting have been clarified.
All the rule changes, except for the ban on hiring in the construction industry in the Oslo area and the mentioned exceptions, have been introduced throughout the economy and apply to all hiring from temp agencies. They thus affect both employees and businesses, and both temp agencies and hiring companies. In this project, we will assess the consequences for all groups. For the businesses, we will investigate how limited/repealed hiring opportunities affect the use of other attachment forms, such as permanent and temporary employment, subcontracting and independent contractors. We will also investigate whether the regulatory changes affect costs and activity at the company level, including for the staffing agencies. For the employees, we will investigate how reduced job opportunities in temp agencies affect their attachment form, labour market participation and wage and working conditions, as well as consequences for the employees in the hiring companies, including workload and overtime.
