Motor-vehicle minimum rates rise 6 November; Svalbard added

Motor-vehicle-trade employers must pay higher binding minimum hourly rates from 6 November 2026LovdataArbeidstilsynetLovdata. Tariffnemnda's new regulation FOR-2026-10-22-2237 on partial general application (delvis allmenngjøring) of Biloverenskomsten 2026–2028Lovdata takes effect that dayLovdata and simultaneously repeals the April 2026 regulationLovdata FOR-2026-04-13-592Lovdata on the predecessor agreement Biloverenskomsten 2024–2026. Tariffnemnda may extend a nationwide collective agreement to all workers performing that kind of work in an industry under allmenngjøringsloven § 5, and this regulation is its motor-vehicle-trades decision for the 2026–2028 agreement round between NHO/Norges Bilbransjeforbund and LO/Fellesforbundet.

The new hourly minima are: skilled workers (fagarbeidere), newly qualified kr 249.00 per hourLovdata and kr 257.00 per hour after one year of practiceLovdata, up from kr 223.50 and kr 237.00; and helpers (hjelpearbeidere), kr 223.50 per hour after turning 18Lovdata and kr 228.00 per hour after one year of practiceLovdata, up from kr 208.00 and kr 212.00. The rates are per hour and apply to employees working in the motor-vehicle tradesLovdata, and the general-application rule is not displaced unless the worker is overall covered by more favourable pay and working conditions under an agreement or the otherwise applicable national law.

The scope is unchanged in kind and now expressly Arctic. The regulation covers employees in repair, service, maintenance, painting, panel beating (oppretting) and warehouse workLovdata. It does not cover employees in businesses mainly engaged in buying and selling vehicles, windscreen replacement and repair (ruteskift og reparasjon av ruter), or petrol-station work; nor employees in firms bound by a collective agreement with a union holding bargaining rights (innstillingsrett); nor apprentices and persons on labour-market measuresLovdata. The new text states expressly that the regulation also applies in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund on SvalbardLovdata, so workshops and hires there fall under the same minima from 6 NovemberLovdata.

The employer also provides necessary workwear and safety footwear at no cost to the worker, meeting health, environment and safety requirements. That duty is unchanged from the April regulation and travels with the new rates.

For the November payroll run, the responsible step is concrete: switch motor-vehicle pay tables to the new minima for hours worked from 6 November 2026Lovdata, confirm which helpers have passed one year of practice for the higher stepLovdata, and apply the same tables to Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund staff under the new express wordingLovdata.

Legal basis: lov 4. juni 1993 nr. 58 om allmenngjøring av tariffavtaler (allmenngjøringsloven) § 5 on Tariffnemnda's general-application decisions, applied through Tariffnemnda's forskrift FOR-2026-10-22-2237 grounding in Biloverenskomsten 2026–2028, in force 6 November 2026Lovdata with repeal of forskrift 2026-04-13-592Lovdata.