Offshore oil workers

In 2006, the Working Time (Amendment) (No2) Regulations brought offshore working explicitly under the regulations, and meant that offshore workers were entitled to paid holiday.

In Russell v Transocean International Resources Limited [2011] UKSC 57, the Supreme Court held that where workers work a two-week shift offshore, followed by a two-week onshore field break, employers are entitled to require workers to take their statutory annual leave during the onshore field break.

The rail and maritime union RMT said: “The legal system has missed the point completely. The law lords used a mathematical equation to decide the case. But that was never the intention of the directive which is about addressing excessive annual hours of work that are linked to safety problems including fatigue and stress. What they should have considered is that offshore workers work a minimum 2,184 hour year — over 500 more than the average worker and that for six months a year they are away from their homes.”