The framework regulations § 37

§ 37 Ordinary working hours

Section 10-4, first, second, fourth and fifth subsections, and Section 10-5 of the Working Environment Act do not apply to the scope of these regulations. Section 10-4, third subsection of the Working Environment Act applies only to employees who have on-call duty according to agreement, instructions, etc.
Ordinary working hours shall not exceed twelve hours per day (24-hour period) and an average of 36 hours per week over a period of maximum one year. As regards employees who regularly work more than three hours during the night, ordinary working hours shall not exceed an average of eight hours per day (24-hour period) over a period of one year.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion can decide that Section 10-12, fourth subsection of the Working Environment Act, shall also apply to employees' associations not entitled to submit recommendations, but which organise employees in several enterprises, and which do not have a restricted geographic field of activity.
As regards employees on mobile facilities registered in a foreign state's ship register, the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion can decide that working hours provisions stipulated in collective wage agreements applicable to comparable activities, shall apply correspondingly pursuant to Section 10-12, fourth subsection or previous subsection, of the Working Environment Act.
Section last changed: 17 June 2016

The provision mainly continues the previous Section 47 of the Framework Regulations. The previous second and fourth subsections have been deleted, as this follows from Section 10-12, first, second and fourth subsection of the Working Environment Act.
The exemptions for Sections 10-10 and 10-11 of the Working Environment Act in the previous first subsection have been moved to Sections 43 and 44.
The special rules regarding working hours are stipulated because several of the provisions in Chapter 10 of the Working Environment Act regarding working hours are not suitable for offshore petroleum activities. For activities at onshore facilities, the provisions regarding working hours in Chapter 10 of the Working Environment Act, apply.
Whether a working relationship falls under the exceptions in Section 10-12, first and second subsection of the Working Environment Act, shall be specifically determined in the individual case. Odelsting Proposition No. 49 (2004-2005) page 322 describes that management work is replaced with employees in management position, without this entailing a substantive change as to what this involves in relation to current law.
The provision in Section 10-12, second subsection of the Working Environment Act is meant to include employees that are not in a management position, but who still have senior and responsible positions. To fall under the term particularly independent position, it is not enough to be able to control your own working hours and/or have flexible working hours. A particularly independent position shall also entail a clear and obvious independence or independence as regards how and when work tasks are organised and executed.
As regards working hours schemes for employees in management or particularly independent positions, these are also subject to the requirements that follow from Section 10-2, first subsection of the Working Environment Act. Work shall therefore be organised such that e.g. the requirement in Section 10-2, first subsection regarding the working hours schemes not resulting in unfortunate burdens, is fulfilled. Section 7 of the supplementary Activities Regulations requires that working hours for employees in management or particularly independent positions offshore shall be registered when the position is significant to safety.
For employees hired for a period shorter than one year, the working hours are averaged for the duration of the employment, see also Odelsting Proposition No. 49 (2004-2005), comment regarding Section 10-6. The purpose of the rule is to prevent by-passing of the working hours framework for employees hired for shorter periods.
Section 10-12, fourth subsection of the Working Environment Act entails that unions that have a right of nomination, can agree on working hours schemes without hindrance from the limitations mentioned in Section 37, second subsection, with the restrictions that follow from Section 10-12, fourth subsection of the Act. The maximum number of total daily working hours, including overtime, follows from Section 41, second subsection.
This section's third subsection provides an expanded access to agree on arrangement of the regular working hours. The Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion assumes that unions that are given opportunity to enter into such agreements, shall be well established in the petroleum activities. It is further assumed that the unions organise different groups of employees in a geographical area larger than one field, and that the unions are representative of the employees in question.