Friday 4 July 2003

UK Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Statement: Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2003

The UK offshore oil and gas industry issued the following statement in response to the amended Working Time Regulations which were tabled in Parliament today (4 July 2003).

The new regulations are designed to bring previously excluded sectors, including the UK offshore oil and gas industry, within the provisions of the Working Time Directive.

The industry is pleased that the amended regulations acknowledge the unique working environment offshore in allowing companies to calculate working time over a 52 week reference period, said Bill Murray, chief executive of the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA).

However, due to the complexity of the many different contractual arrangements offshore, the Government was clearly not able to reach a legislative solution or to offer definitive guidance on the application of the fours weeks paid holiday to the offshore sector.

The Industry has always been clear that the current work cycles already accommodate four weeks annual leave and that, moreover, the total number of hours worked offshore is well within the maximum permitted by the European directive.

It is our understanding that the Employment Relations Minister Gerry Sutcliffe will be writing to the Industry setting out what he believes will be an appropriate solution.

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Notes to Editors

Following the introduction of the Working Time Directive in 1993 (implemented in the UK in 1998), the EU subsequently decided to include previously excluded sectors within the Directive through amending legislation passed in June 2000. The UK is committed to introducing the legislation into law by August 2003.

The amended Directive takes account of the special working arrangements of the originally excluded sectors, which include the offshore oil and gas industry.

On 31 October 2002, the DTI published its Consultation Paper on the draft Regulations to implement the Horizontal Amending Directive on Working Time to previously excluded sectors. The Trade Associations representing various parts of the offshore industry UKOOA, IADC, WSCA IMCA, OCA and COTA responded collectively to the DTI Consultation Document regarding the implementation of the Directive. The consultation closed on 31 January 2003.

Oil and gas production workers will typically work a four week cycle spending a fortnight on the platforms followed by two weeks off, although there are a number of variations to cycles worked.

This means that over the year offshore workers work on average a total of 26 weeks, with the remaining 26 weeks spent at home on paid rest leave, with the typical annual earnings for a qualified technician being £40,000

For more information, please call 020 7802 2400.