Scaling your company in Iceland will require a skilled workforce to help you find success. This process requires an established recruitment strategy and an understanding of in-country employment laws to ensure compliant hiring practices.
At G-P, our goal is to make hiring and recruiting employees in Iceland easy so you can focus on other aspects of your company’s growth journey.
Recruiting in Iceland
Iceland labor laws do not have regulations regarding recruitment within the country. However, it’s best practice to have a recruitment plan to increase your speed to hire.
Start the recruitment process by identifying the positions you need to fill and create descriptions for each one. Your job descriptions should include all the essential information about the position, including required experience and education, daily tasks, and necessary skills. You might also include a summary of your company’s mission.
After creating the descriptions, you can advertise them and wait for responses. While preparing for the interview stage, it’s helpful to consider:
- Where you will conduct interviews
- How many interview phases there will be
- What questions you want to ask
Interview questions should help you asses a candidate’s qualifications and what sort of personality they have. Think about what traits would better align with your company culture and what skills are required for the job.
How to hire employees in Iceland
When growing to a new country, finding talent might feel challenging, so it’s a good idea to create a strong advertising strategy. Posting your vacancies in a variety of places will help you reach a broad audience and attract the best candidates. Companies can advertise open positions on job sites, such as Alfred and Job.is, and in local newspapers. Using social media platforms can also help you gain traction in your search for new hires.
Once you extend a job offer to a candidate, the next step is to draft an employment contract. The labor laws in Iceland require written contracts for employment lasting more than 1 month or occurring for more than 8 hours a week.
Employment contracts should cover the rights and obligations of the worker. These terms include:
- Identities of the both parties
- Description of duties
- Start date and duration
- Location of employment
- Termination policies
- Pay schedule and calculation
- Working hours
- Holiday entitlement
- Collective agreement regulations
Before your new hire starts working, you should meet with them and discuss the contract. Clarify the terms to ensure all parties are certain about the responsibilities that come with the job. Both the employer and employee should sign the contract to make it legally binding.
During this initial meeting, you should also obtain the information you need for payroll. You’ll need tax identification numbers (TINs) to deduct income taxes from paychecks. You’ll also need a pension ID to contribute to all relevant retirement funds.
Iceland employment laws
Iceland operates on collective agreements created by trade unions in various industries, so companies will need to consider several regulations when creating compliant employment contracts. Every term described in the contract must meet or exceed the minimum industry requirements.
While the employment contract plays a significant role in compliance practices, you should also consider data privacy policies. The Act on the Protection of Privacy defines sensitive information as any information about:
- Origin
- Race
- Skin color
- Political opinion
- Religious beliefs
- Health data
- Involvement in a punishable offense
- Use of drugs
- Sexual involvement
- Trade union membership
This personal data must only be processed as necessary, not excessively, and employers should not keep it for longer than they need to. Employers must obtain employee consent before any of this information is processed.
Onboarding in Iceland
Onboarding plays a crucial role in the overall hiring process. Seamlessly integrating new hires into the workplace and ensuring they acclimate to their new job duties, sets the foundation for long-term employee engagement and productivity.
Take the time to review the employment contract with your new hires. This practice ensures every worker knows what their rights are and gives them the chance to ask questions about their new responsibilities.
Another helpful step in the onboarding process is creating a code of conduct and going over it with your new hires. With a shared understanding of how to behave in the workplace, your workers will remain respectful of each other and the property.
Additionally, setting up a training program is another essential aspect of onboarding. Ideally, your workers will have relevant experience to help them fulfill their roles, but some processes will be unique to your company. Your training program should teach employees everything they need to know about performing their work.
The extent of the training you offer will vary from position to position. Some training programs might involve a few days of learning basic processes, such as preferred performance management tools.
Grow globally with G-P.
G-P never forgets that behind every hire is a human being. That’s why we’ve backed our fully customizable suite of global employment products with our robust team of HR and legal experts, so we can remain at your side, ready to support you as you build your global teams. With the #1 Global Growth Platform™, you have the recruitment tools and services you need to find your perfect full-time or contract match.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you recruit, hire, and onboard anyone, anywhere.