Who Must Be Included on the Personalliste and What Data Is Required?

Do you run a business in Norway in an industry that must keep a personallisteA staff register showing who is actually at work at a location, with start and end times. Mandatory in certain Norwegian industries.? In this article, we explain who must be included on the list, who can usually be left out, and what data has to be recorded.

This is a practical topic, because during an inspection by SkatteetatenThe Norwegian Tax Administration, which among other things inspects personalliste. (the Norwegian Tax Administration) or Arbeidstilsynet (the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority), what matters is the current record: who actually worked, when they started, and when they finished. A well-maintained electronic personalliste, connected to a digital timelisteA timesheet recording actual working hours, breaks and overtime per employee. and an electronic vaktplanA shift plan showing planned working hours – who works when., reduces errors and saves time.

Who must be included on the personalliste?

Personalliste is a live list of the people actually working in the business or premises covered by the requirement, for example in a serveringssted (restaurant or catering venue), hair salon, skjønnhetspleie business (beauty services), bilverksted (car workshop), or bilpleie (car detailing). According to Skatteetaten, the list must also show the start and end time of work.

You include everyone working at the location covered by the requirement, even if they are only there briefly or help out seasonally:

• the owner or daglig leder - the person running the business day to day,
• permanent employees,
• ekstrahjelp - casual workers, for example on weekends or during busy periods,
• ferievikarer - holiday and seasonal replacements,
• unpaid staff - ulønnet personale, meaning people working without pay,
• innleid personale - leased-in staff, for example from a vikarbyrå during holiday periods or peak demand,
• people from other occupational groups if they work on the premises, for example vakter or garderobepersonell in a restaurant.

In practice, you include everyone who actually performs work in the part of the business covered by the requirement. If the same person works in several locations on the same day, they should be registered at each workplace. Entries have to be made immediately when work starts and ends, so an electronic personalliste linked to a digital timeliste and an electronic vaktplan significantly reduces the risk of missing information.

If you want to streamline this process, Timelista updates the personalliste when people clock in and out. That gives you a current overview of staff on the premises without manually re-entering data. For you, that means fewer errors and an easier way to show who worked and when during an inspection.

If you want to check whether your industry is subject to this requirement at all, this article may also help: What is personalliste and which industries must keep one?

Who is usually not included on the personalliste?

As a rule, personalliste covers people performing work in your operation, including ulønnet personale and innleid personale. Skatteetaten explains this clearly.

The usual line is this: you include people working in your business and leave out external contractors if you can document that they are carrying out the assignment through their own company or another company.

Person or company	Usually include in personalliste?	Practical condition
Security from an external vaktvirksomhet - a licensed security company	No	The security company carries out the service as its own business, and the employees have uniforms and visible ID cards.
External renhold - cleaning company	No	The cleaning is performed by a renholdsvirksomhet or someone with their own sole proprietorship, and the workers have the required ID cards for cleaning.
DJ, musicians, electrician	No	You can show that the assignment is part of their own business or their work in another company, for example with an invoice, contract, or company details.
Subcontractor in an industry covered by the requirement, for example in a bilverksted	Not in your list, but…	Such a contractor may have to keep their own personalliste if they themselves operate in an industry covered by the requirement.

Be careful with administrative staff. Administration should be included when it works close to the operational part of the business, for example invoicing at kundemottak (customer reception) in a workshop. Pure back-office administration, physically separated from the operational area, usually does not need to be included in the personalliste.

A good rule for inspections is to keep documentation for people you leave off the list. In practice, a contract, invoice, the contractor’s organisasjonsnummer, proof of a security license, or an ID card for cleaning services helps. If you use a spreadsheet, also check when Excel may be a problem: Can a personalliste be kept in Excel, or must it be electronic?.

What data must be included in the personalliste?

Personalliste must show who is at work on a given day and at what hours. The required data comes from bokføringsforskriften § 8-5-6, second and third paragraphs, as described by Skatteetaten (the Norwegian Tax Administration).

Required information	What to enter in practice	Important note
Company name	The full name of the virksomheten, meaning the company operating the workplace.	Company details must be part of the personalliste.
Organisasjonsnummer	The Norwegian business registration number.	Enter it together with the company name.
Full name of the person	Each person working that day, for example an employee, the owner, daglig leder, ekstrahjelp, ferievikar, ulønnet or innleid personale.	The list covers people actually working in the virksomheten, including unpaid and leased-in staff.
FødselsnummerThe 11-digit Norwegian national identity number. / D-nummer or a unique code	Norwegian national identity number, D-nummerA temporary identity number for people without a Norwegian national identity number., or a unique code from the kodeoversikt (code list assigned to individuals).	If you use codes, the kodeoversikt is part of the personalliste and must be available during an inspection.
Start time	The exact time the person starts work that day.	The entry should be made directly when work starts, meaning immediately at the beginning of the shift.
End time	The exact time the person finishes work that day.	The end time must also be recorded directly when work ends.

You can use an arbeidsplan (work schedule) or an electronic vaktplan as an alternative, but only if it contains the same information as the personalliste and is updated continuously, for example when someone is sick, shifts are changed, or staff are swapped.

The electronic system must be betryggende, meaning secure and reliable: the data must not be easy to change or delete, and a simple spreadsheet or text editor may not meet this requirement. Timelista keeps an electronic personalliste with a change history and a complete revisjonsspor (audit trail), making it easier to document who changed an entry and when.

Frequently asked questions

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