From the night of Sunday, March 27, we change to daylight saving time and you have to put the clock forward one hour.
- The evenings will be brighter, although the world has gotten darker. I would like us to be able to set the clock to the time when the war and the pandemic are over, says Trade and Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre.
Summer or winter?
Many people wonder how long we will continue normal (winter) time and daylight saving time. Norway is now waiting for EU countries to take a position on the proposal, which means they will stop setting the clock.
- Due to the pandemic, the application has not been finalized by the Council of the European Union. Norway will wait for the EU before deciding how to tackle this, but we'll likely go the same way, says Vestre.
In March last year, the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism called on the Council to accelerate its work. Until the case is closed, the EU and EEA countries, except Iceland, will continue to use daylight saving time and normal (winter) time.
Why are we changing clocks?
The historical reason for the change to daylight saving time has been energy saving. Some countries introduced daylight saving time during World War I to save coal for use in war. George Hudson is said to be the first to propose daylight saving time. He was a scientist and wanted more sun in the evening to collect insects.
Many countries in the EU / EEA area follow the CET time zone. When the proposal proposes that each Member State should decide whether to continue with winter time as normal time or to choose daylight saving time, it runs the risk of increasing the time gap across the EU.
As an employee of the arbeidstilsynet informed us, the law in Norway does not regulate this. It is your employment contract that defines your rights.
If your employment contract does not say anything specific about this when switching to daylight saving time, you will be able to argue that your employment contract gives you the right to x number of hours of work each day/week/month. If your employer allows it, you will work at 1 a.m an hour less due to time summer, the employer gives you 1 hour of work less than agreed in the employment contract. Typically, as an employee, you are entitled to be paid for fixed hours.
So if an employee has an employment contract that gives him the right to work, for example, 35 hours a week, and the employer wants to offer only 34 hours of work in a given week due to the transition to summer time, the employee will still be able to demand payment for 35 hours ( unless otherwise agreed).
Of course, this only applies to people working during the day, or rather at night, when the time changes from 2.00 to 3.00.
Photo Ministry of Trade and Industry / Minister of Trade and Industry Jan Christian Vestre
Read and learn more: Thorough cleaning of working life in the transport industry
