Many foreign workers from eastern Europe face exploitation in the Norwegian labour market. Labour officials have found cases of workers being paid far under the minimum wage of NOK 126 an hour, and offered housing that can only be described as miserable.

Some of the workers have two sets of contracts, one that they show inspectors and another that shows what they're really earning, after housing costs and employers' "administrative expenses" are deducted.

The workers often try to avoid questions posed by inspectors on job sites, for fear of losing their jobs.

aftenposten news from norway 15072007