WORKING TIME TRIBUNAL APPEAL HEARING - Tuesday 16th December.
On the first day of proceedings at the Employment Appeal Tribunal John Hendy QC put the case for 4-weeks’ paid holiday on behalf of OILC/RMT members and workers offshore generally. Mr Hendy argued that the purpose of the Directive was to improve health and safety and this objective should not be subordinated to purely economic considerations. A counter-argument presented by the offshore employers is that the cost of applying the 4-week holiday provision will be prohibitive. Mr Hendy directed the Appeal Tribunal to case law which supports the OILC/RMT position.
The case law demonstrates that when workers are compelled to stay at their place of work, the time must be considered work. This in turn means that rest can only be taken away from work, and this offshore workers achieve in the field break. Since holidays and rest must be taken at seperate times, it follows that four weeks holidays are due. The employers argue that the field break suffices as holiday.