Oslo health councilor Saliba Korkunc (H) initially stated that the contract was breached when Norlandia paid employees less than the municipality did. However, she later said that politically the pay requirement is broken, but formally it is not. Korkunc sent a memo to the city council admitting that the promise was not fulfilled.
The memo states that the intention to prevent employer-controlled pay reductions was not clearly stated in the contract, and the city council did not account for companies deducting from pay to save for pensions. Norlandia formally fulfilled the contract, as it is legal to deduct pension from pay. According to Norlandia Care Norway director Ida Eide, the company follows ordinary national pension and collective agreement terms.
When the municipality operated the nursing homes, it saved for pension on top of employees' pay. The city council will clarify in future contracts that net pay should not be lower than when the municipality operated the homes. Korkunc said they will contact Norlandia to find a solution for affected employees like Paula, but would not give a specific apology.
Smartlegen, which took over the other two nursing homes, did not reduce any employees' pay.