Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure NO-2016-1/2582 – measures in Norway
Country | Norway , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 01 January 2016 |
Context | COVID-19, Restructuring Support Instruments |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery into a green future
– Active labour market policies (enhancing employability, training, subsidised job creation, etc.) |
Author | Aasmund Arup Seip, FAFO and Eurofound |
Measure added | 23 June 2022 (updated 03 November 2022) |
With the BIO scheme, employers can get funding to raise the competence of their employees so that they can keep their job. The aim of the BIO scheme is also to prevent employees from being excluded from the labour market in connection with restructuring processes. The measure is outlined in the regulations on labour market measures , which was implemented in January 2016.
The BIO scheme is created for companies that need to make a major change to their production or establish themselves in new markets, and the aim is also to prevent employees from being excluded from the labour market in connection with restructuring processes. With the BIO scheme, employers can get funding to raise the competence of their employees so that they can keep their job.
The BIO scheme has traditionally been invoked in connection with major restructuring processes, where they are seen to have substantial labour market effects; an example would be a cornerstone company (a company with major importance for local communities) facing major financial challenges. Companies can apply for co-funding of training measures to ease the restructuring process, and for contribution to wage expenses. The training may be related to changes in production methods, transition to new products or services, changes in manufacturing equipment.
The training period for participants should not exceed 26 weeks as a rule, unless employees rotate between training courses and work. Funding may include:
The period of training for each participant can last up to 26 weeks.
From 1 January 2020, the BIO scheme was transferred from the state to the regional county councils. As part of the governments' response to COVID-19, the state funding for the scheme was almost doubled, from NOK 55 million (€5.28 million as of 31 August 2020) to NOK 105 million (€10.09 million). On 20 April 2020, the government also introduced a temporary scheme where you can combine training, such as provided through the BIO, and education with unemployment benefit without an application.
There is little information about the use of the measure, except from a list of companies that have been granted money from the BIO-scheme each months. The budget for the measure in NOK 20,438,000, which is about €2 million. This was more than double the amount of the budget from the year before.
An evaluation from 2010 shows that companies find the scheme useful, and claim to have laid off fewer employees temporarily, that employees have increased their competence and that the company has had a market growth.
The evaluation report points at some weaknesses:
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Employees in standard employment
|
Applies to all businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
Company / Companies
Local / regional government Public employment service |
National funds
Regional funds |
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Unknown | Unknown |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
Unknown
Unknown
Citation
Eurofound (2022), In-house training (BIO), measure NO-2016-1/2582 (measures in Norway), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/NO-2016-1_2582.html
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