Limitation periods you should be aware of in employment disputes

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In disputes concerning the lawfulness of a dismissal or summary dismissal, an employee may bring legal proceedings pursuant to Chapter 17 of the Norwegian Working Environment Act. The rules governing limitation periods for legal action are set out in Section 17-4, which regulates both the length of the limitation periods and when they begin to run.

Different limitation periods apply depending on whether the employee seeks a judgment declaring the dismissal or summary dismissal invalid and wishes to continue the employment relationship, or whether the employee seeks only compensation.

The limitation period for invalidity claims is eight weeks

If an employee wishes to have a dismissal or summary dismissal declared invalid by the courts, legal proceedings must be commenced within eight weeks after the conclusion of the mandatory negotiations. If no negotiations have been held, the limitation period runs from the date the employee received the notice of dismissal or summary dismissal.

It is important to note that if the request for negotiations was submitted too late, the limitation period for bringing legal proceedings runs from the date the dismissal or summary dismissal was received. The deadline for requesting negotiations is two weeks from receipt of the dismissal or summary dismissal.

The limitation periods set out in the Working Environment Act do not prevent the parties from agreeing to a longer deadline. However, it is important to ensure clear evidence of such an agreement, for example by recording it in the minutes of the negotiations. It should be noted that the burden of proving that an alternative deadline was agreed rests with the employee.

The limitation period for compensation claims is six months

If the employee seeks only compensation for an unlawful dismissal, the limitation period is six months from the conclusion of the negotiations. If no negotiations have been held, the six-month period runs from the date the dismissal or summary dismissal was received.

The parties may also agree on a different limitation period in cases where only compensation is sought.

No limitation periods apply in the event of formal defects

If the dismissal or summary dismissal suffers from formal defects because it does not comply with the statutory formal requirements of the Working Environment Act, no limitation periods apply. In such cases, the employer may face legal action long after the dismissal or summary dismissal was issued. This does not mean, however, that the employee has unlimited time to pursue the matter. Statutory limitation rules and the unwritten legal doctrine of passivity place certain restrictions on an employee’s ability to bring claims after a prolonged period of inaction.

The limitation periods are absolute

The limitation periods are absolute. No relief from non-compliance or extension of time can be granted if a deadline is missed. Once the applicable limitation period has expired, the opportunity to bring the matter before the courts is lost, and the employee can no longer pursue the claim through legal proceedings.