News from HR
Here you can read more about the new age limit in working life, requirements for psychosocial working conditions and quotas for time off in lieu.
New age limit in working life: 72 years from 2026
From 1 January 2026, the upper age limit in the public sector will be raised from 70 to 72 years, meaning you have the right to work until you are 72. This change means that there will essentially be a common age limit across working life, for employees in the public sector, municipalities and private companies.
The new rule applies to everyone who turns 70 on 1 January 2026 or later.
Raising the upper age limit in the public sector gives employees who wish to do so the opportunity to remain in work longer. You can retire earlier if you prefer.
Discussion about retirement pension
A discussion about retirement pension is a natural part of performance reviews for employees aged 60 and above.
To apply for a pension, you must submit an application to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund and notify your employer. You can read more about pensions in the staff handbook (compendia.no).
If you remain in work until the age of 72, your departure will happen automatically. Read more here in norwegian (lovdata.no).
Clearer requirements for psychosocial working environment from 2026
From 1 January 2026, the requirements for psychosocial working conditions will be clarified in the Working Environment Act.
The changes to Section 4-3 of the working environment act in norwegian (lovdata.no) specify that work must be organised, planned and carried out so that psychosocial factors are fully acceptable in terms of health, safety and welfare.
Clearer responsibility
This gives employers a clearer responsibility to prevent harmful strain. The new clarifications include, among other things, unclear or conflicting demands, emotional strain in work involving people, imbalance between workload and time, as well as the need for support and assistance in the work.
The aim is to make it easier to understand what is required to ensure a good and safe working environment – not only physically, but also psychosocially. OsloMet will follow up on this change. Read more here in norwegian (arbeidstilsynet.no).
Flexitime quota – hours instead of days
This information applies to employees who record working hours in the SAP portal/DFØ app.
From 2026, the quota for time off in lieu per year will be stated in hours instead of days, but the quota remains the same. This means that 24 single days will be converted into 180 working hours. Each January, a new quota applies for the year.
You must have flexitime to use the quota, and you can take a maximum of 180 hours per year. In practice, this means that if you have accumulated 190 hours of flexitime, you still cannot take more than 180 of them.
All flexitime up to 50 hours that has not been used by the end of the year will be carried over to the next year.
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(This text has been translated with the use of Microsoft Copilot. The text has been quality assured by OsloMet.)
