If you employ people in Norway — or are about to hire your first Norwegian engineer remotely — annual leave is one of the most distinctive parts of the local employment package. The Norwegian Holiday Act (Ferieloven) does not just hand out a fixed number of days. It pairs the leave entitlement with a separate, sizeable cash allowance called feriepenger that is paid the year after it is earned, and bumps both numbers up for employees aged 60 and over.

This guide explains exactly what the Ferieloven requires in 2026: the working-day entitlement, the holiday pay percentages, who qualifies, and the pitfalls international employers most often miss. Every fact below comes from the Holiday Act or guidance published by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet).

Key takeaways

Norwegian employees are entitled to 21 working days of paid annual leave per year under the Ferieloven.
Employees aged 60 and above receive 25 working days — an extra week on top of the standard floor.
A separate holiday pay (feriepenger) of at least 10.2% of the previous year’s earnings is paid when leave is taken; the rate rises to 12.5% for employees aged 60+.
Leave accrues during one calendar year and is taken during the following year — the “holiday year” runs one year behind the “earning year”.
All untaken accrued leave and feriepenger must be paid out in cash on termination of employment.

The statutory entitlement under the Ferieloven

The Holiday Act of 1963 (Ferieloven, Lov 1963-06-29 no. 1) sets the floor for paid annual leave in Norway. Every employee is entitled to 21 working days of paid annual leave per holiday year. For employees who turn 60 during the holiday year or are already older, the entitlement steps up to 25 working days — five days more, of which the first is granted at the employer’s discretion in terms of timing.

The 21-day baseline is the law’s hard minimum. Most Norwegian employers, especially those bound by a collective agreement (tariffavtale), grant more — often a full five weeks of leave (the so-called “ferieuke” model) negotiated through industry-wide agreements. Anything above 21 days is contractual leave: it sits on top of the statutory floor, but the basic Ferieloven rules on holiday pay still apply unless the contract or collective agreement says otherwise.

What counts as a “working day”

Under §5 of the Ferieloven, a working day is defined as any day other than a Sunday or public holiday. That historic definition matters: it is the reason Norwegian employers and employees often refer to “five weeks” of leave even when the law cites 21 days. The 21-day figure assumes the broader Monday-to-Saturday working-day basis used by the statute.

In practice, almost every Norwegian employer operates a five-day week, so the 21 statutory days are scheduled across roughly four working weeks. Tracking the entitlement against each employee’s actual schedule is a job for your HR system, not a manual spreadsheet.

The over-60 top-up

Employees aged 60 and above receive an additional week — bringing the total to 25 working days. This is not a discretionary benefit. It is a statutory right under §5(2) of the Ferieloven, and it kicks in for the holiday year in which the employee turns 60 (not the year after). For comparison, France grants extra leave linked to age and seniority; Norway grants it strictly on age. Our guide to annual leave entitlements in the Netherlands shows how the Dutch model — tied to weekly hours rather than a fixed number of days — differs again.

Holiday pay (feriepenger) — the cash side of the entitlement

The Ferieloven does something unusual by international standards: it splits the leave entitlement into two pieces. There are the days off, and there is feriepenger, a separate holiday pay amount calculated as a percentage of the previous year’s earnings.

The default rate is at least 10.2% of the previous calendar year’s gross pay. For employees aged 60+, the rate rises to at least 12.5% of the previous year’s earnings, in line with the extra week of leave. Many Norwegian employers and collective agreements voluntarily pay 12% (and 14.3% for the 60+), which corresponds to a five-week leave model — but the statutory floor is 10.2% / 12.5%.

A few rules that catch international employers off guard:

Feriepenger is earned in one calendar year (the opptjeningsår) and paid in the next (the ferieår). It is not part of normal monthly pay.
The amount is paid out when the employee actually takes their leave, typically as a lump sum in June (the traditional summer holiday month) instead of normal salary for that period. For that month the employee receives their feriepenger and does not receive their ordinary monthly salary — a structural quirk that surprises new starters.
It accrues on gross earnings subject to standard payroll rules, including most variable pay components.
It must be paid out in full on termination, with the proportion earned but not yet taken.

If you run global payroll from outside Norway, feriepenger is the line item your Norwegian finance lead will check first. Build it into offer letters, accruals, and total cost of employment from day one.

Eligibility: accrual year vs holiday year

There is no minimum length of service required to be entitled to annual leave under the Ferieloven. Every employee — full-time, part-time, fixed-term, or apprentice — accrues leave from day one. What changes by service is how much paid leave is available, because feriepenger is funded by the previous year’s earnings.

That timing distinction is the most misunderstood feature of the Norwegian system:

Earning year (opptjeningsår): the calendar year in which earnings accrue and feriepenger is calculated.
Holiday year (ferieår): the following calendar year, in which the employee actually takes the leave and is paid the feriepenger.

The practical consequence is that a brand-new starter has the right to take their full 21 days of leave in their first holiday year, but they will not have earned much (or any) feriepenger if they did not work in Norway the previous year. Some employers pay a goodwill advance to bridge that first-year gap, especially for senior hires; others rely on the statutory right of new joiners to decline part of the leave entitlement to avoid being financially worse off.

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Employer obligations under the Ferieloven

Norwegian leave law places several non-negotiable duties on the employer. Treat these as a checklist.

1. Grant the statutory minimum each holiday year

Every employee must receive at least 21 working days of annual leave per holiday year — 25 days for employees aged 60+. Contracts that purport to offer less are void to the extent of the shortfall.

2. Allow the leave to be taken during the holiday year

Under §6 of the Ferieloven, the employer is responsible for ensuring leave is actually taken during the holiday year. The employer can determine the timing within reason, but employees have the right to take at least three consecutive weeks of their leave during the main holiday period (1 June–30 September).

3. Pay feriepenger correctly

Holiday pay of at least 10.2% of the previous year’s earnings (12.5% for 60+) must be paid when leave is taken. Most Norwegian employers pay the lump sum in June, but the legal trigger is the leave itself.

4. Pay out unused leave on termination

When employment ends, any accrued but unused leave and the corresponding feriepenger must be paid out in cash. This is a statutory right and cannot be contracted away.

5. Apply the 60+ uplift automatically

The extra week and the uplifted holiday pay rate kick in for the holiday year in which the employee turns 60. Failing to upgrade an employee on their 60th birthday is one of the most common compliance breaches uncovered in Arbeidstilsynet inspections.

Common pitfalls for international employers

If your team has previously only employed staff in the UK, US, or Australia, the Norwegian framework will catch you out in predictable ways. Watch for these.

Pitfall 1: Treating feriepenger as a discretionary bonus

Feriepenger is a statutory entitlement, not a perk. Calling it a bonus in the offer letter, paying it as a year-end gesture, or omitting it from termination calculations are all clear breaches of the Ferieloven.

Pitfall 2: Forgetting the 60+ uplift

The extra five days and the 12.5% rate apply automatically once an employee turns 60. There is no application process and no employer discretion. If your HR system does not flag birthdays that cross the threshold, you will under-grant leave and underpay feriepenger.

Pitfall 3: Paying ordinary salary in June and then feriepenger on top

The structural model is that feriepenger replaces ordinary salary for the leave month, not stacks on top of it. Paying both produces a windfall to the employee and a payroll headache to reconcile. For a side-by-side comparison with neighbouring regimes, see our annual leave entitlement in Germany guide, where holiday pay works on a 13-week reference period instead.

Pitfall 4: Mixing the earning year and the holiday year

Reporting feriepenger against the wrong year is a common payroll error, especially for staff hired through global Employer of Record (EoR) arrangements where the calendar boundary is not always clean. Always tag accruals to the opptjeningsår in which the work was done, not the year the cash was paid out.

Pitfall 5: Skipping the cash-out on termination

All accrued but untaken leave plus pro-rated feriepenger must be paid in the final salary slip. There is no opt-out, even by mutual agreement — the right belongs to the employee under the Ferieloven.

Frequently asked questions

How many days of annual leave do employees get in Norway?

The statutory minimum is 21 working days of paid annual leave per holiday year under the Ferieloven. Employees aged 60 and above are entitled to 25 working days. Many Norwegian employers — especially those covered by a collective agreement — voluntarily grant a full five weeks of leave on top of the statutory floor.

What is feriepenger?

Feriepenger is the Norwegian holiday pay — a separate cash entitlement of at least 10.2% of the previous calendar year’s earnings (12.5% for employees aged 60+), paid when the employee takes their annual leave. It is funded by the prior year’s work and typically replaces ordinary salary in the month leave is taken.

Do new employees get annual leave in Norway?

Yes. There is no minimum length of service for the right to take leave under the Ferieloven. However, because feriepenger is calculated on the previous year’s earnings, brand-new starters in Norway often have little or no holiday pay in their first holiday year. They have the right to decline part of their leave entitlement to avoid being worse off financially.

When is feriepenger paid in Norway?

Feriepenger is earned in the calendar year in which the work is done (opptjeningsår) and paid in the following year (ferieår), when the employee takes their annual leave. In practice, most Norwegian employers pay the lump sum in June, replacing the ordinary salary for that month.

Do employees aged 60+ get extra leave in Norway?

Yes. Employees who are 60 or older during the holiday year are entitled to 25 working days of annual leave (instead of 21) and a higher holiday pay rate of at least 12.5% of the previous year’s earnings (instead of 10.2%). The uplift applies in the holiday year in which the employee turns 60.

What happens to unused leave when an employee leaves?

All accrued but unused leave and the corresponding feriepenger must be paid out in cash on termination of employment. This is a statutory right under the Ferieloven that cannot be waived in the employment contract.

Practical compliance checklist

If you employ staff in Norway, your leave management system needs to handle the following at minimum:

Grant 21 working days of annual leave per holiday year, with an automatic uplift to 25 days for employees aged 60+.
Track the earning year separately from the holiday year for every employee.
Calculate feriepenger at no less than 10.2% (or 12.5% for 60+) of the previous year’s gross earnings.
Pay feriepenger when leave is actually taken — typically in June — and adjust ordinary salary accordingly.
Allow employees to take at least three consecutive weeks of leave during the main holiday period (1 June–30 September).
Pay out untaken leave and feriepenger automatically on termination.
Flag the 60th birthday transition in advance so the entitlement is upgraded without manual intervention.

For a wider perspective on managing leave across multiple jurisdictions, our overview of leave management software for European compliance walks through how country-specific rules like Norway’s interact with the broader regional picture.

How Leave Balance helps Norwegian employers stay compliant

Managing the Ferieloven correctly across a Norwegian workforce — alongside UK, AU, or US teams — is the kind of compliance work that breaks generic spreadsheets. Leave Balance is built to handle it.

Country-specific entitlement rules for Norway, including the automatic 60+ uplift to 25 days
Earning year and holiday year tracking so feriepenger is always allocated to the correct opptjeningsår
Holiday pay calculation at the statutory 10.2% / 12.5% floor or higher contractual rates
Termination payout automation that reconciles untaken leave and accrued feriepenger in the final pay run
Multi-country support with separate policies per entity, all on a single dashboard

At $10 per month for unlimited employees and unlimited policies, Leave Balance gives you the country-specific rule engine you need without the cost of an enterprise HRIS. Start your 14-day free trial — no credit card required.