Thursday 21 February 2008

Oil & Gas UK Welcomes Working Time Tribunal Decision

Oil & Gas UK today thanked the Aberdeen employment tribunal for its ruling on the various issues put forward in the recent working time tribunal hearing as it brings welcome clarity to a complex area of law.

Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK said: "We are delighted that the tribunal has soundly rejected the arguments put forward by the OILC during the hearing that the Jaeger principle should apply to the offshore oil industry so that all time spent offshore would count as working time. This lifts a very dark cloud from over the industry. In addition, it has held that rest can be and is provided perfectly sufficiently offshore.

"We are further delighted that the Tribunal has also rejected Unite's claim that persons working on a two on two off rota are entitled to a further four weeks' holiday taken from their working time. The Tribunal has instead held that, in effect, the minimum four weeks' holiday provided for under the Working Time Directive should be taken equally from time spent offshore and that spent onshore. This gives an additional two weeks' annual leave, which equates to twelve two week trips offshore per year."

The Tribunal's judgement also deals very helpfully with a number of other important issues including the fact that time spent travelling to and from the installations is not working time.

This is a lengthy and detailed judgement which clearly deserves respect and will need careful study by individual employers before we can comment on the likelihood of an appeal.

NOTES TO EDITORS 1. Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.  Its members are companies licensed by the Government to explore for and produce oil and gas in UK waters and those who form any part of the industry's supply chain.  It has 67 members. 2. Offshore workers on typical rotas enjoy at least 26 weeks off work per year which is spent onshore. This provides enough time off to cover four weeks' holiday, every weekend and Bank Holiday with more than seven weeks to spare. 3.Working Time Regulations Timeline: - 16 May 2005: The first cases relating to offshore leave entitlement were brought before the Industrial Tribunal in Aberdeen.  The Tribunal Chairman announced that the issue of whether the working time regulations were applicable to the whole of the UK offshore needed to be clarified before the more substantive issue of leave entitlement could be determined.  - 26 July 2005: The Tribunal Chairman ruled that the regulations were indeed intended to cover all of the offshore area, up to 200 miles. The industry appeal was unsuccessful and was subsequently dropped.     - 1 October 2006: Amendments to the Working Time Regulations came into effect, confirming that the regulations are applicable to all UK offshore areas. - 8 October 2007: Aberdeen Employment Tribunal hearing on the application of working time offshore begins. - 21 February 2008: Aberdeen Employment Tribunal decision announced.

For further information, please contact: Sally Fraser Oil & Gas UK Media Relations                2nd Floor                                                      232-242 Vauxhall Bridge Road    London SW1V 1AU                  

Tel:       020 7802 2404 Fax:      020 7802 2401 Email:   sfraser@oilandgasuk.co.uk Pager :  07659 183 999 http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk