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NORWAY EXPLAINED

How can I find volunteer work in Norway?

Volunteering is a pathway to personal growth and integration in Norway, and nearly two-thirds of the population dedicate their time to various causes each year. Here's where to find a volunteering opportunity that works for you.

Published: 7 February 2024 11:31 CET
Updated: 21 February 2024 16:00 CET
Volunteering
Volunteering isn't just about altruism; it can also be a pathway to personal growth and integration, especially for newcomers to Norway. Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash

Norway has around 100,000 volunteer organisations, each offering a number of opportunities to get involved and contributing to a broader sense of community engagement.

From singing in choirs and helping immigrants integrate to organising children’s theatre productions and charity drives, these organisations serve as important platforms for collective action.

READ MORE: Five unwritten rules that explain how Norway works

The contributions made by volunteers amount to billions of kroner in societal value, underscoring their significant role in Norwegian society.

However, volunteering isn’t just about altruism; it can also be a pathway to personal growth and integration, especially for newcomers to the country.

Immersing yourself in volunteer work can provide you with valuable experience, help you improve your skills, enhance your Norwegian language proficiency, and develop a deeper understanding of Norwegian culture and the way things work in the country – as long as you know where to find the right opportunities.

Finding volunteer opportunities in Norway

If you’re keen on starting a volunteering gig in Norway, there are several places where you can get a good overview of the available options.

Frivillighet Norge, a collaboration platform for volunteering organisations in Norway, boasts over 300 member organisations. By searching their online member directory, you may discover organisations aligned with your skill set, passions, and needs.

Norges Frivilligsentraler, an interest organisation and resource centre for volunteer centres in the country, is another excellent place to check out. These centres, often affiliated with municipal administrations, offer tailored volunteering options depending on the needs of specific communities. You can also visit your nearest centre in person to get a better insight into volunteering opportunities in your area.

Frivillig.no is a comprehensive platform for volunteering opportunities across Norway. With hundreds of listings from various organisations, it’s a real treasure trove for prospective volunteers. You can use the service to filter opportunities based on your fields of interest, skills, or geographic location, which is very useful and saves time.

Along with the three abovementioned platforms, which are great aggregators you can use to inform your choice, you can also reach out to organisations directly.

Major organisations such as the Norwegian Red Cross have structured volunteer programs in place, and they’ll point you in the right direction after you establish contact with one of their members involved with their volunteering efforts. At times, there will be limited volunteering opportunities available for people who don’t speak Norwegian, but know that the Red Cross, for example, also offers Norsktrening, meetups where you can practice speaking Norwegian – which allows you to benefit from their offer early on, and then giving back to the community once you start to master the language.

READ MORE: Is Norway still an attractive country for foreign workers?

Picking up

People can also volunteer to pick up rubbish and keep the environment clean by participating in local clean-up events. Photo by Anastasia Nelen on Unsplash

Getting started

Once you’ve identified the volunteer opportunity (or several of them) that you’d like to engage in, contact your organisation of choice.

Fill out that contact form on Frivillig.no, contact a member organisation on Frivillighet Norge, or visit your local volunteer centre. Regardless of how you do it, it is important to take the first step and initiate contact.

If you don’t get the position right away, don’t give up – ask the organisation whether they have anything else that might be a good fit for both sides (and remember to continue working on your Norwegian language skills, as proficiency in Norwegian will open up more opportunities both volunteering and work-wise).

READ MORE: The seven stages of learning Norwegian every foreigner goes through

While volunteering should be mostly about giving, remember that it’s also about receiving and engaging with your local community.

While you help others, you’ll also get valuable experiences, develop skills that might help you get ahead in the Norwegian job market, and establish connections to help you integrate into the communities you serve.

Volunteering is a chance to roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty, and really connect with people in a meaningful way. And hey, let’s be real – while you’re out there making a difference, you’re also likely to have some fun (and even make a friend or two).

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For members

WORKING IN NORWAY

The key things you need to know about employment contracts in Norway

All employees in Norway must have a written employment contract, regardless of whether they are full-time or not. Here are a few key things to look out for with your contact.

Published: 1 July 2024 11:56 CEST
The key things you need to know about employment contracts in Norway

Along with relatively high wages compared to other countries and a healthy work-life balance, employee rights are one of the things that make a career in Norway attractive.

One thing that helps with employee rights is that every employee needs to be presented with a contract, and an employer can be punished with hefty fines for failing to do so.

Essentially, the contract secures both the employer and employee. Norway’s employment laws were changed in July 2024, meaning workers must receive a written employment agreement within one week of starting their job.

What information must be included in the contract has also been changed to try and provide employees with more security and rights and to ensure a more predictable working environment.

What should a Norwegian working contract contain

All work contracts must contain the name of the employee, employer, and workplace in addition to a description of the work they will be doing. If the worker will need to work at different locations or has the opportunity to be flexible with remote work, then this must be stated.

The contract should describe the worker’s role and working hours, outline breaks, and indicate whether the position is temporary or permanent.

Any probation period needs to be stated in the contract. Typically, probation is limited to six months.

Information on holidays, holiday pay, and the rules for taking a holiday should also be outlined.

Furthermore, the contract should include the salary, when wages will be paid, any other supplements, pension payments, or overtime, and the payment method.

Notice periods for termination should also be included, and the process by which the employer and employee can end the work agreement should be described.

If you are working for a staffing company, you must include the name of the staffing company and the company hiring from the agency.

There should also be a description of the right to skills development and training that the employee will have access to.

Other benefits will also need to be stated in the contract, and any information about how collective agreements affect the employment relationship will need to be outlined, which should include the names of the parties involved in the collective bargaining agreement.

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority’s website provides an overview of everything that should be included in a contract. It also has several example contracts available in different languages. However, at the time of writing, these example contracts are not 100 percent up to date with the new regulations, which came into effect on July 1st, 2024.

Signing the contract

When it comes to signing the contract, you will need to check the details between it and the job offer and make sure everything aligns.

Furthermore, new employees also have the right to ask a union rep or staff representative for help when drafting or amending a work contract.

The contract should be signed by both parties. The Labour Inspection Authority also recommends that both parties involved in the contract signing put their initials on each page to highlight that they agree to the content on each page.

What to look out for

You will need to brush up on some of the more important aspects of Norwegian working law.

This is because employers cannot opt out of the law with contract clauses. For example, if a worker decides to work in a sector where there is a minimum wage (such as hospitality), they must be paid this wage regardless of whether the worker has consented to less.

Another example would be the rules on notice periods, probation and overtime. Workers cannot waive their right to overtime unless the worker is considered exempt from the overtime rules.

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Furthermore, as six months is the legal limit for probation, it cannot be extended any longer unless you were signed off work sick for some of the period. You must always keep a copy of your contract handy and not lose it.

What to do if you are involved in a contract dispute

If you have a well-written contract, had it checked by a staff representative before signing, and have checked the terms and conditions against what the law says, you shouldn’t run into many problems.

Another insurance policy is to always keep a copy of your contract, as some rogue companies give one contract with illegal terms and conditions to workers who might not know better but a second legal contract to show the authorities in case of inspection.

READ ALSO: How foreign workers can be exploited in the Norwegian labour market

Still, if you do have issues, you can go down two avenues. The first is reporting any potential illegality of your work agreement to the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.

They will punish the employer if the contract or other working conditions are illegal.

They cannot, however, solve individual employer-employee disputes. For this, you would need to contact a lawyer or union representative.

Union members will benefit more as the union can approach the employer on their behalf and get access to free legal aid. If the situation escalates, it may need to go through the courts, which could be a very costly and time-consuming process.  

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