Here you can find useful information regarding Working in Iceland. All information has been sourced from the website island.is or mcc.is.

On these websites you can look for jobs in Rangárþing eystra:

Alfreð

Störf.is

Vinnumálastofnun

Starfatorg

Hiring employee from abroad

 

An employer who intends to hire a foreigner from outside of the EEA/EFTA area, needs to have an approved work permit before the foreigner begins work. Applications for work permits must be submitted along with the necessary documentation to the Directorate of Immigration. They will forward the application to the Directorate of Labour if the conditions for the issuing of a residence permit are met.

 

National of an EEA/EFTA state

 

If a foreigner is a national of a state from within the EEA/EFTA area, they do not need a work permit. If the foreigner requires an ID number, you need to contact Registers Iceland.

 

Applying for a job

 

For factory jobs and work that does not require special education, employers in Iceland often have standard application forms. Such forms can be found on recruitment service websites. The forms are often only available in Icelandic, but the EURES application form is available in many languages.

If you are seeking work, you can get assistance and practical advice, free of charge, from the Directorate of Labour counsellors.

 Unemployment benefits

 

Employees and self-employed individuals aged 18-70 are entitled to receive unemployment benefits if they have earned insurance cover and meet the conditions of the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Labour Market Measures Act. Unemployment benefits are applied for online. You will need to meet certain conditions to maintain the rights to unemployment benefits.

 

Workers rights and obligations

 

  • Wages must be in accordance with collective wage agreements.
  • Working hours may not be longer than the working hours permitted by law and collective agreements.
  • Different forms of paid leave must also be in accordance with law and collective agreements.
  • Wages must be paid during sickness or injury leave and an employee must receive a payslip when wages are paid.
  • Employers are required to pay taxes on all wages and must pay appropriate percentages to the relevant pension funds and workers’ unions.
  • Unemployment benefits and other financial support are available, and workers can apply for compensation and rehabilitation pension after illness or accident.

Find out more about your rights and obligations here.

 

 Are you new in the labour market?

 

The Icelandic Confederation of Labour (ASÍ) runs a very informative website for people that are new in the labour market in Iceland. The site is in many languages.

The site contains for example information about basic rights of those on the labour market, instructions on how to find your union, information about how pay slips are set up and useful links for working people in Iceland.

From the site it´s possible to send questions to ASÍ, anonymous if preferred.

Here you can find a brochure (PDF) in many languages that is full of useful information: Working in Iceland?

Holidays and holiday allowance

 

Wage earners are entitled to holidays and holiday allowance. Holidays and holiday allowance is, on the one hand, the right to have holidays/a summer holiday, and, on the other, the right to wages during the holiday, holiday allowance.

Number of holidays

Employees earn at least two days of holiday for each month of employment during the holiday year, which runs from 1 May to 30 April. The minimum holiday entitlement is therefore 24 days a year, based on full-time job ratio.

The number of holidays increases with age for public sector employees, while the increase is based on length of service in the labour market. Arrangements differ between collective wage agreements.

Employees are entitled to take their entire holiday allowance in one go during the period between 2 May-15 September, unless otherwise provided for in collective wage agreements. Decisions concerning holidays, however, must always be made in consultation with the employer and take the nature of the operation into account

The employer may negotiate with the employee for the employee to use his/her holidays outside this period.

Employees may be entitled to the full number of holidays, even if they have not earned the corresponding right to receive wages while on holiday. This can, for example, apply to those who have taken parental leave during the holiday year and those who have changed employer.

Holiday allowance

Holiday allowance is intended to ensure that wage earners are not without income during the summer holidays. They are an addition to monthly wage payments, and taxes and fees are paid on them, as with other wages.

Holiday allowance is calculated at each payment of wages and is at least 10.17% of the total wages. This proportion may be higher according to some collective wage agreements.

Holiday allowance can be paid either at the beginning of the holiday period or during the holiday taking, in which case it is paid at the same time as wages are usually paid. The latter is a common arrangement for people who are paid on a monthly basis.

When an employee leaves employment, the employer shall calculate earned holiday allowance and pay this amount.

Laws and regulations

 

 

 Unions

 

The role of unions is first and foremost to negotiate, on behalf or their members, wages and other employment terms in collective wage agreements and to protect their interests in the labour market. 

 

Activities

In unions, wage earners join hands, on the basis of a common occupational sector and/or education, in protecting their interests.

The majority of unions form larger sector-based or geographically based federations. These federations of unions come together in four employee umbrella associations. Icelandic Confederation of Labour, Federation of State and Municipal Employees, Association of Academics and The Icelandic Teachers' Union. There are also a number of unions that are not members of these federations.

Unions are responsible for protecting the general rights of wage earners, and the union representatives represent their members during collective wage agreement negotiations.

Unions provide their members with information and legal consultancy services about the terms that acts of law and collective wage agreements ensure for them. Union employees are bound by obligations of confidentiality to members seeking their rights.

Diverse social and educational activities take place within the unions.

A range of information on the activities of unions and wage terms may be obtained from the offices of unions and from their websites.

Membership and membership fees

Unions are open to all in the sector involved in its area of operation. Each union establishes further rules on membership.

According to laws and collective wage agreements, all wage earners pay a fee from their wages to the union. The fee accrues to the union that has negotiated the collective wage agreement on which the employee's terms of employment are based.

The fee is paid through the employer, who deducts the fee from the employee's wages and transfers it to the union in question.

Many unions discontinue the fee obligation when members reach the age of 65, 67 or 70, even if they are still employed.

Employees need not be a member of a union if they so choose. They are, however, still required to work in accordance with statutory collective wage agreements.

Links of interest

Laws and regulations