- We empower foreign workers through knowledge. For two years now, the Know Your Rights campaign has informed foreign workers about their rights and obligations in order to prepare them against exploitation in the Norwegian labor market. During the campaign, over 350 people received information in their own language, and many want to do something about their professional situation after receiving information from the Labor Inspectorate.
Oslo Seminar
"We ended the campaign this week on Wednesday, but that does not mean that we stop working for various groups of foreign workers and contribute to making them less vulnerable to exploitation in the labor market"
- says Torgeir Moholt, director of the work-related crime department at the Labor Inspectorate. “We see that knowledge gives power, and well-informed workers are less susceptible to exploitation. It is difficult to reach certain groups of foreign workers with information about their rights and obligations in Norwegian working life. Thanks to this campaign, we can see that we have broken some important barriers and we have actually done it. If we are to overcome frivolity and crime among employers, we must work in many ways. Empowering employees is one of them, ”says Moholt.
Discovering workplace conditions The campaign started in 2020 with the aim of providing Romanian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Bulgarian workers with sufficient knowledge about their rights in the Norwegian labor market. The main message of the campaign was that you may be entitled to the minimum wage if you work in industries where this has been introduced, that there are statutory limits on how long you can work, that you are entitled to overtime pay, and that you are entitled to legal an employment contract that specifies, inter alia, where you will work, what salary you will receive.
Cele
The campaign is based on extensive work in target groups. Several important success criteria have been identified: Information in your own language in channels that you already use and with topics that attract attention and really concern the target group "In the evaluation of the campaign, it turned out that several people from the target group discovered the conditions in their own workplace that violate laws and regulations. They also found information on what to do next and where to seek help and advice. They are often heavily dependent on their employer, both because of language barriers, because they don't know the rules and because they don't want to lose income, so there are many things that make it difficult to improve their own situation without other help, Moholt says.
international cooperation
International cooperation was important. The campaign was financed by an EEA grant and was carried out in cooperation with labor inspectorates in Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania. Initially it was addressed to employees from these countries, but this gradually changed to also reach Polish and Ukrainian employees in Norway.
“It was important for us to further develop the campaign and also to include Polish employees, and ultimately Ukrainian employees, these are important target groups that need this information,” says Moholt.
“We didn't work on the campaign itself, but we had many important partners. The Romanian Ambassador, Cristian Bădescu, also expresses his satisfaction: "I am very pleased with the results of the campaign and I fully support more such collaborations in the future," he said at the program's inauguration.
Silviya Trakova from the Bulgarian Labor Inspectorate expressed the same and says that they used their knowledge and experience in their own work. Both cooperation and knowledge sharing are important in combating work-related crime and the exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers, not only in Norway but also abroad. And this broadening of knowledge is an important contribution.
“Although this campaign has officially ended, we will continue the key elements of our foreign workforce advisory work, including the maintenance and further development of the knowyourrighs.no website. It is important that the Labor Inspectorate continues to be present in the channels used by foreign workers and that we remain visible and accessible. “We have to attack the problem of work-related crime from several angles.
Reaching those interested
During the many advertising impulses of the campaign, we reached over 350 migrant workers in Norway with important information about their rights and obligations in the workplace. An important condition for the success of the campaign was to acquire knowledge of the target groups in advance. In addition to our own experience, FAFO helped us map target groups, which made it easier for us to design and implement the campaign with the help of Geelmuyden Kiese.
The campaign has a consistently positive message that employees must check their earnings while working in Norway. This is because foreign workers often do not receive the wages they are entitled to when they work in minimum wage industries In Norway. Target groups were redirected to the campaign website www.knowyourrights.no with simple and understandable information on rights and obligations in Norwegian working life in several languages. The key elements of the campaign were videos and banner ads on various social media, mainly Facebook and YouTube, as well as online newspapers from different target audience countries, with a link to the campaign website for more information.
Campaign evaluation
The campaign was assessed by Samfunnsøkonomisk analyse (SØA) in the fall of 2021. they conducted a survey among target groups. As much as 80 percent of respondents say the most important reason they went to the campaign website was that the information was available in their own language. They also give very good feedback on the content and design of the information on our website. The study also shows that a third discovered violations in their own working conditions after reading the information on the campaign website. Of these, 66 percent say they either have or plan to do something to improve their situation. Accordingly, we will undertake further research.
