Working Time jurisdiction dispute settled in favour of offshore employees

摘要

The Working Time Directive does apply to UK oil employees working offshore, a Scottish employment tribunal has decided, thus paving the way for a further hearing on the contentious issue of annual leave entitlement. The ruling was made in favour of offshore union Amicus, which argued that the Directive -transposed into UK law as the Working Time Regulations - applies beyond the UK territorial water limit of 12 miles to include offshore workers. The claim was challenged by a group of 14 offshore employers. The UK Offshore Operators' Association (UKOOA) said it believed the Working Time Directive was always intended to be applicable to all UK offshore areas but because of Amicus's action, the issue of jurisdiction did have to be settled. UKOOA spokesperson Trisha O'Reilly told SHP: "We always believed all offshore installations were covered but once questions started to be asked and the legal process began, we had to make sure the definitions were quite clear."