Welcome to the University of Oslo |
(Norsk) |
This is an English web-version of a booklet containing some information that may be useful to new employees, and which we hope will give you an introduction to the University as a place of work. More extensive descriptions of many of the points in this text can be found from the internet gates: "About UiO" ("Om UiO") and "For employees" (norwegian text only).
The responsibility for introducing and following up new employees lies with the closest senior leader of the unit you are employed at. The University has a common introductory programme, which may be taken as a basis for introducing new employees. This programme includes among other things the appointment of a mentor or contact person. The mentor should assist his or her new colleague in becoming part of the community, getting acquainted with routines and other practical matters.
Every term a one-day introductory course is held for new employees where information is given about the way the university is organised, its administrative structure, and personnel policies and procedures. The course is held by the Organisation and Personnel Department .
Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) was founded 1811 by king Frederik VI and is the oldest and largest institution for research and academic teaching in Norway. The Royal Fredrik's University opened its doors in the autumn term of 1813 with a staff of five professors, one lecturer, and 17 students. During the first years lectures were held in rented premises, but in 1833 the first university building was ready. I the autumn term of 1852 students and staff could move to new and modern premises at Karl Johans gate 47.
The university grew slowly but surely, and in its anniversary year of 19911 the number of students was 1550. Lectures in some subjects had to be held other places than in the University buildings, some in the centre of town, some at Tøyen manor house - a royal gift to the University. Some years later - in 1914 - a new university library was opened on Drammensveien.
The move from the city centre to Blindern started already in the 1930s when buildings for natural sciences were built. The really great expansion at Blindern came when the student numbers exploded at the start of the 1960s. In the course of a ten-year period a row of big new building were raised at Blinder, for example the Administration building, the welfare building, pre-clinical dentistry and buildings for the Departments of Arts, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. The dental clinics in Geitmyrsveien were built and at Blindern the Biology building. The latest major buildings are the pre-clinical medical section at Gaustad, the Informatics buildings in Gaustadbekkdalen, the building for the department of Education and the new University Library. In the autumn of 2003 the university had 28 500 students and 5400 employees (counting both part- and full-time posts).
The University of Oslo's aims are to give higher education, do research and disseminate knowledge about scientific methods and results.
Several different kinds of staff contribute in achieving the aims for the university. About half of the 4500 employees are in academic posts, while the rest are in administration, maintenance, libraries and the technical services.
More about UiOs main aims (in Norwegian)
The University of Oslo has eight faculties:
Under the faculties there are 60 or so departments and a number of centres.
In addition there are 17 museums and collections, and four hospitals affiliated to the university. Also the following belong to the University of Oslo: The biological research station at Drøbak, the alpine research centre at Finse, the University archeaological station, Isegran (buildings at Fredrikstad), the Norwegian institutes in Rome and Athens, and the manor house of the Baronny of Rosendal.
The university management is divided into two parts: the faculty and the administration.
The Uiversity Board, Universitetsstyret, is the university's highest body. The Senate, Kollegiet,is headed by the Rector and consists of eleven members. The Senate's members are elected from the academic staff, the technical/administrative staff, the students plus four external representatives. The University Chancellor is the secretary for the Board and responsible for implementing those decisions that are made.
Faculties and departments have a parallel management structure, with elected boards as their highest bodies.
At all three levels there is an administration which in cooperation with the elected management plans and facilitates the work of the governing bodies. The administration is also responsible for implementing decisions taken and the daily running of their units.
The central administration looks after of a number of common tasks and FELLESFUNKSJONER for the faculties, departments and centres. The university's administrative organising has been through an extensive decentralization process. This entails a large degree of local BESLUTNINGSMYNDIGHET and local responsibility within fields such as finance and personnel management.
This text is in a separate document.
Information is a line- and leadership responsibility. That means that it is your manager who is responsible for ensuring a good internal flow of information in your unit or department. He or she is also responsible for external information and imparting knowledge about those fields he or se is manager of. The central Information Department gives advice and assistance to managers and other with large information projects.
The Information Department has editorial responsibility for the University's homepages on the internet. The University of Oslo's web pages constitute one of the largest websites in the country, both as regards the amount of information and number of visitors per day. All employees have access to the internet. They can also set up their own homepages and link them to the University's pages.
E-mail is used extensively as a channel for information.
There is also a number of printed information publications at the university. These are produced and published both centrally and locally and are aimed at both internal and external target groups. For example several faculties and departments have their own internal news publications.
the Information Department published the internal newspaper Uniforum. It is published bi-weekly both electronically and on paper. The department also produces the general science magazine Apollon. This publication presents research at the University of Oslo and is also published both electronically and in a printed edition.
Other important publications issued centrally are the annual report, the lecture overview for the semester, the catalogue of study alternatives and a brochure about the University in both Norwegian and English.
The last printed edition of the address- and telephone directory for the university was published in the spring of 2003. We now refer to the search facility on the internet pages.
The Information Department is located in the 3rd floor of the Administration building. The internal postal address is: Postboks 1076 Blindern. The telephone number is +47 22 85 62 55 , and the e-mail address is informasjon@uio.no.
The trade unions task is to look after their members' interests and secure influence at the workplace, among other ways by:
Forskerforbundet is the country's largest trade union and interest group within research and higher education. Forskerforbundet's local chapter at the University of Oslo is the largest trade union at the institution. The union aims for better wage- and work conditions and for a better and more long-term policy for research and education.
Forskerforbundet organises people within research and higher education with a scientific, administrative or other professional post for which higher education is normally necessary.
Forskerforbundet is part of The Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
Address: Postboks 1048 Blindern,
0316 Oslo,
tel.: 22 85 43 40
e-mail: forskerforbundet@uio.no
web-page:
http://foreninger.uio.no/forskerforbundet/
Tekna - Technical-scientific union - is the country's largest trades- and interest organization for civil engineers and other people with technical-scientific education. The Union works to achieve better pay- and work conditions for its members, for professional and leadership competency developement, and for better conditions for research and technology both in the public and private sector.
Tekna's chapter at the university is open for all such degree-holders in any post at the university. NIF is affiliated to the main trades union federation "Akademikerne".
Address: Postboks 1059 Blindern,
0316 Oslo
e-post:
tekna-styret (at) uio.no
web-side:
http://foreninger.uio.no/tekna/
NITO organises engineers, bio-engineers and technicians, and also students. Those NITO-members who are tied to the university as staff or because they are located here, are members of NITO's local chaper "UiO" and the Oslo- and Akershus group.
NITO is affiliated to the main trades union federation "Akademikernes Fellesorganisasjon".
More information may be found on their web-site: http://foreninger.uio.no/nito/
Parat-UiO (National union for university-, polytechnic-, and research personnel) is affiliated to the main trades union division Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund (YS).
Parat-UiO organises employees in all kinds of posts at the University of Oslo. The organisation has the right of wage negotiation and has a large number of representatives.
Address: Postboks 1049 Blindern,
0316 Oslo
tel.: 22 85 54 50
e-mail: parat@uio.no
home-page:
http://foreninger.uio.no/parat
The union is open to all state employees at the University of Oslo. The union is a part of Norwegian Civil Service Union (Norsk tjenestemannslag, NTL), which is part of the Norwegian Federation of State Employees Unions (LO-Stat). This is in turn part of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO - Landsorganisasjonen i Norge).
Address: Postboks 1034 Blindern,
0316 Oslo,
tel. 228 54420 /
55764
e-mail: kontor@ntl.uio.no
home-page:
http://foreninger.uio.no/ntl/
Employee's working conditions are defined by various laws and agreements:
The Civil Servant Act
(Tjenestemannsloven)
Work conditions for employees at
the University of Oslo are in the main defined and regulated by the Civil
Servant Act.
The act applies to workers in the service of the state and is
primarily intended to define their rights and duties in relation to employment
conditions and dismissal. All new staff receive a copy of the act (in
Norwegian).
The General Agreement for civil servants
(Hovedavtalen)
The General Agreement is an agreement
set out by, and entered into, by the state and the main trades unions
confederations.
Its aim is to ensure, by means of information, counselling
and negotiations, employees' general right to co-decision via their unions.
Adaptation Agreement
(Tilpasningsavtalen)
Pursuant to the General Agreement,
the University of Oslo and the trades union confederations at the university
have entered into a local Adaptation Agreement. This agreement sets out further
rules about how the right to co-decision should be practised within the
university.
The Basic Collective Agreement for the Civil
Service (Hovedtariffavtalen)
This agreement contains
amongst other things the wage-tables, the wage-plans and the common regulations
(fellesbestemmelsene).
Salary conditions are set after negotiations
between the state and the main trades union confederations.
Special Agreement for Academic Staff
(Særavtale for vitenskapelig personale)
There is
a central agreement for the state regarding pay and work conditions for
teaching- and research posts at universities and colleges. The University of
Oslo has its own annotations to the agreement.
The state personnel handbook (Statens
personalhåndbok)
This is a systematically ordered
reference work of work conditions for state employees. It contains laws and
agreements and also ties comments and annotations to the regulations.
Any
larger unit at the university will have a copy of the handbook. It is also
accessible on the internet to members of the staff.
Personnel regulations at UiO
(Personalreglementet ved UiO)
This sets out
supplementary regulations in relation to the Civil Servant Act etc. regarding
appointments and other conditions tied to the employment.
The regulations
(in Norwegian) may be found via the Personnel Department's homepage on the
internet.
Some regulations may be more relevant than others, for example:
Probationary period
Appointments to posts in the state usually have six month probationary
period. During this time the new staff member should receive necessary guidance
and evaluation of his or her work. The employee should be made aware of the
regulations for the probationary period in writing before taking up work and
should also acknowledge this in writing. The regulations for the probationary
period are described in the Civil Servant Act § 8.
Illness
In case of illness the
place of work should be informed immediately. In the case of absence up to
eight days, all that is required is a note from the employee (egenmelding). A
doctor's certificate must be delivered if the absence amounts to more than
eight days. Weekends count towards this, so that a certificate must be
delivered if one is absent both Friday and Monday.
The main rule for sick-pay is that employees with a regular weekly schedule have the right to full salary for up to one year. It is a condition that they have actually commenced their service.
The rules for pay during illness are described further in the "Rammevilkår for personalforvaltningen ved UiO".
Resignation
The Civil Servants
Act § 11 states that an employee may at any time resign from his or her
post.
Minimum periods of notice are:
Leave
For some specific
instances the right of leave is described in laws or agreements, which give the
employee an unrestricted right to take leave. This applies for instance to
maternity leave, military service and posts with trade unions.
In other instances the right to grant leave lies with the employer.
Applications will then be considered with regard to a balance between the
employee's interests and those of the employer. Examples may be welfare leave,
education leave and leave in connection with transfers to other places of work.
Application for leave is usually sent to the local management at the
respective units.
The limits for leave are described in the "Rammevilkår for personalforvaltningen ved UiO".
Service seniority
Service
seniority is calculated in accordance to the rules given in the Basic
Collective Agreement. On the whole it is of no practical interest to staff
above a certain level which includes most academic staff.
By service seniority is ment service time in post on the same wage-plan, and other previous service which may be accepted according to further regulations. A wage-plan is an overview of posts in an occupational category, and the rules for wage increases and advancement for these posts.
The main rule for calculating salary is that all previous public service in Norway, and all other experience of relevance for the work, counts towards seniority.
Norwegian military service and care for relatives may also be counted according to further regulations.
Holidays
Rules for state
employees holiday are set out in the Holiday Act and The Basic Collective
Agreement for the Civil Service.
Everyone has the right to five weeks' holiday per year. From the age of 60 one has the right to a further one week.
Holidays are not necessarily with pay the first years. Full holiday pay is only given to those who have worked in the Norwegian state for the whole of the previous calendar year. Staff who have no - or only a partial - right to holiday pay, and who have not received holiday pay from another employer, may in their first year choose between a reduced holiday with full pay, or a full 5-week holiday but with reduced pay. (More about Holidays and Holiday Pay.)
Rules and procedures
These are
described in the regulations handbook and the finance handbook for the
university. These books are only available through the University's web
pages.
The contract you have received has the full references to the laws and regulations describing your conditions of work.
As a new employee at the university you will meet a host of abbreviations. Here are some of them. A more extensive list may be found on webpage for administrative terminology.
Get in touch with the University of Oslo