A new multilingual chatbot from Norway’s Labour Inspection Authority offers official, verified guidance on employment rules in multiple languages.
Foreign workers are among the most vulnerable groups in Norway’s labour market. Without a clear understanding of local rules, even well-intentioned employers and employees can end up on the wrong side of the system.
Language barriers and complex regulations only increase that risk. To help bridge this gap, Norway has now launched a new AI-powered chatbot designed specifically to make workers’ rights easier to understand.
Many international residents in Norway will already be familiar with Arbeidstilsynet, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority. The agency is responsible for enforcing labour regulations and overseeing everything from employment contracts and working hours to minimum wages and workplace safety.
Over the years, ‘Life in Norway' has published extensive guides explaining these rules and how Norway’s working life functions in practice. From guides on working hours to what to expect in terms of sick pay when you fall ill, we try to cover the basics.
However, while general information is essential, it has never been realistic to answer individual questions or provide personal advice on specific employment situations.
That kind of tailored guidance requires official, up-to-date interpretation of the law. This is where a newly launched AI chatbot could make a real difference.
A New AI Chatbot for Foreign Workers
This week, Arbeidstilsynet launched a multilingual AI chatbot called Leon, designed to help foreign workers understand their rights quickly and in their own language.
In a press release announcing the launch, Director of the Labour Inspection Authority Ingvill Kvernmo said language barriers are often the main reason foreign employees are at risk.
“Foreign workers are among the most vulnerable in the labour market. When you know neither the regulations nor the language, the risk of being exploited increases. Guidance in one’s own language is key to reaching this group,” Kvernmo said.
Leon is available in Norwegian and eleven other languages commonly spoken by international workers in Norway: English, Bulgarian, Estonian, French, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
More Than ‘Just a Translation'
According to Arbeidstilsynet, the new chatbot is not simply a translation tool. It uses AI to provide verified, up-to-date information based on the official content published on arbeidstilsynet.no, delivering answers in the user’s chosen language.
Arbeidstilsynet says this ensures users receive reliable guidance rather than the mixed quality advice often found through global AI chat services or online forums.
The chatbot can handle both simple and more complex questions across the authority’s full area of responsibility. In theory, at least.
In my own testing, I found the tool constantly asking for more information before it would provide any useful answers, and it was very vague about what information it needed. Perhaps this will improve in time.
The initiative will also allos Arbeidstilsynet to identify which topics foreign workers most frequently need help with, which should improve future guidance and outreach.
Part of a Wider Government Effort
The chatbot launch is part of the Norwegian government’s broader strategy to combat “social dumping” and workplace crime.
Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Kjersti Stenseng attended the launch at the Service Centre for Foreign Workers in Trondheim. She emphasised that access to understandable information is the first step in protecting workers from exploitation.
“Many foreign workers do not know the Norwegian rules and are therefore more easily exploited,” Stenseng said. “When they receive information in a language they understand, they can take care of their own rights, making it harder for unscrupulous actors to exploit them.”
A Practical Next Step for Foreign Workers
For international residents navigating Norway’s working life, the new chatbot fills a gap between general information and personalised legal advice.
While websites like Life in Norway can explain how the system works, official tools like this one are better placed to handle individual, situation-specific questions.
Leon is now live on the Arbeidstilsynet website, with further improvements and deeper website integration planned in the coming months.
What Should We Cover Next?
Working life in Norway can be confusing, especially for newcomers. Contracts, pay, working hours, holidays, sick leave, unions, and workplace culture all raise questions.
What aspects of working life in Norway would you like Life in Norway to cover in more depth next?
And would you prefer a video format? Life in Norway's YouTube channel continues to go from strength to strength, and I'm always looking out for new types of content to cover on there. Let me know!
