Offshore workers secure paid time off

Efforts to ensure offshore workers benefit from their right to paid holiday under amendments made to the Working Time Regulations in 2003 are about to finally bear fruit. An agreement negotiated by the Unite (Amicus) and GMB general unions with the Offshore Contractors Association (OCA) will, if agreed, see workers getting additional paid time off rising to four weeks (28 days) in total by October 2008. The results of a member ballot will be known on 10 September.

Holiday entitlement should have been one of the main benefits accruing to offshore workers from the Working Time Regulations, but offshore employers have argued for years that it was already catered for in the two weeks on-two weeks off rota that many in the industry follow.

Until recently, offshore employers also argued that the Working Time Regulations didn’t apply beyond the UK’s territorial waters, but an amendment to the regulations now makes it clear that the UK continental shelf is covered.

Alan Harvey, Unite national officer, said he hoped that the agreement would show other employers in the sector “what can be achieved by working together” and Graham Tran, Unite regional officer, added that the refusal of other trade associations to participate in an industry-wide initiative would “come back to haunt them”. Keith Hazlewood, GMB national secretary, described the negotiations as difficult but said that the result had been worthwhile.

In return for the agreement, union members are being asked to withdraw legal challenges relating to holiday pay and entitlement against OCA member companies.