Den første dagen får hver arbeidstaker en nøkkelbrikke og et adgangskort til kontoret.

Because Norwegian follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

Here, the sentence starts with the time expression Den første dagen, so that takes the first position. As a result, the verb får must come second, and the subject comes after it:

• Den første dagen = first position
• får = second position
• hver arbeidstaker = subject after the verb

If you started with the subject instead, the order would be:

• Hver arbeidstaker får en nøkkelbrikke og et adgangskort til kontoret den første dagen.

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence emphasizes when it happens.

Den første dagen means the first day or, more naturally in English, on the first day.

In Norwegian, time expressions often appear without a preposition, especially when they function as adverbials of time. So Norwegian can say:

• Den første dagen = on the first day
• I morgen = tomorrow
• Neste uke = next week

Using på den første dagen is possible in some contexts, but it is less neutral here and would sound more marked. The version without på is the most natural in this sentence.

Because this is a definite noun phrase: the first day, not just a first day or first day in a general sense.

In Norwegian, when a noun is definite and has an adjective, you usually get double definiteness:

• den
  • adjective + noun in definite form

So:

• dag = day
• dagen = the day
• den første dagen = the first day

This is a very common pattern:

• den store bilen = the big car
• det nye huset = the new house
• de gamle bøkene = the old books

Første is an ordinal number used like an adjective, and in this structure it stays as første.

In den første dagen, the important thing is that the phrase is definite, and Norwegian uses:

• den
  • første
    • dagen

Unlike many regular adjectives, ordinal forms such as første, andre, tredje often have fixed forms in common use. So første does not change here.

Får is the present tense of å få, which often means to get or to receive.

So here:

• får = gets / receives

The sentence is saying that on the first day, each employee gets or is given a key fob and an access card.

Some common forms of å få are:

• å få = to get
• får = get / gets
• fikk = got
• har fått = have/has gotten

Because hver means each / every, and it is followed by a singular noun in Norwegian.

So:

• hver arbeidstaker = each employee / every employee

This is normal grammar. Norwegian treats it as singular, which is why the verb is also singular:

• Hver arbeidstaker får ...

Compare:

• hver student = each student
• hver dag = every day

If you wanted a plural idea, you could use something like:

• alle arbeidstakerne = all the employees

Both can refer to an employee, but they are used a little differently.

• arbeidstaker is often more formal or official
• ansatt is very common in everyday language

So in a workplace, policy, or administrative context, arbeidstaker sounds quite natural. In ordinary conversation, many speakers might more often say:

• hver ansatt får ...

Both are correct, but arbeidstaker has a slightly more formal or legal tone.

They are compound nouns, which are extremely common in Norwegian.

You can break them down like this:

• nøkkelbrikke

  • nøkkel = key
  • brikke = tag / chip / fob
  • together: key fob or key tag

• adgangskort

  • adgang = access / entry
  • kort = card
  • together: access card

In Norwegian, compounds are usually written as one word, unlike English, which may write similar expressions as two words.

Because Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender, and the indefinite article must match the noun.

• en nøkkelbrikke
  brikke is a common-gender noun, so it takes en

• et adgangskort
  kort is a neuter noun, so it takes et

This is one of the basic patterns in Norwegian:

• en for many common-gender nouns
• et for neuter nouns

So you need to learn the gender together with the noun.

Because it refers to a specific office: the office.

• kontor = office
• kontoret = the office

So:

• et adgangskort til kontoret = an access card for/to the office

The definite form makes sense because the workplace office is specific and known in the context.

It most naturally goes with adgangskort.

So the most natural interpretation is:

• each employee gets a key fob
• and an access card to the office

Grammatically, the phrase comes after both nouns, but semantically it fits adgangskort best, because an access card is something that gives access to the office.

So English would usually understand it as:

• a key fob and an access card for the office

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

• Hver arbeidstaker får en nøkkelbrikke og et adgangskort til kontoret den første dagen.

This version starts with the subject and sounds more neutral. The original version starts with Den første dagen, which puts more focus on when the employees receive these things.

So the difference is mainly about emphasis, not basic meaning.