Introduction

After the European Union enlargement in 2004, migration from new member states in Eastern and Central Europe to old member states in Western Europe became one of the most conspicuous population movements in Europe, affecting the demographic, social and economical situation in both countries of origin and destination. Poland is the dominant origin country, and the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland are the main destinations (Kaczmarczyk & Okólski 2008). But Polish migrants have also entered the labour markets of Spain, Italy and the Nordic countries in substantial numbers. In Norway, almost 134,000 original work permits have been granted to workers from the new EU member states in the first four years since the enlargement – a substantial addition to the existing work force of approximately 2.1 million people. Almost 114,000 of these permits have been renewed after the initial permits expired. On top of the registered applications, an unknown number of posted, self-employed and other unregistered workers have entered the Norwegian labour market. Concentrated in a few sectors, these labour migrants have made a significant impact in construction, shipyards, manufacturing industries, agriculture and household service provision, and Polish workers now make up the single largest group of immigrants in Norway (Statistics Norway).

With a relatively high wage level, a strong trade union movement and ambitious policies regarding welfare and social inclusion, Norway introduced a series of new policy measures aiming to protect the working conditions of labour migrants. These measures included transitional regulations of wages for migrants, new statutory wage regulations in the construction sector and new measures for control and enforcement of labour standards. This chapter addresses the ways in which these new policy measures have affected processes of segmentation and inclusion among labour migrants in the capital city of Oslo, using survey data from a representative sample of Polish migrants. By comparing legal status, wages and access to social benefits for Polish migrants working in construction and domestic cleaning in Oslo, the analysis focuses especially on whether general measures aimed at improving conditions for migrants may have unintended and biased effects for male and female migrants, as well as migrants coming through different channels (labour or mobility of services), due to gendered opportunity structures and differences in labour market functioning and institutional contexts.