Russell and Others v Transocean International Resources Ltd and Others: SC 7 Dec 2011

russell_transocean

The appellants worked on various shifts for the defendants in off-shore oil-fields. They were given on-shore rest breaks, which the employers said should count toward their holiday entitlements.
Held: The Court dismissed the employees’ appeal and refused a requested reference to the European Court. The rest break, daily rtests and weekley rest periods are to be calculated seperately and cannot be combined, and nor was there any qualitative assessment it being simply that the worker was not required to work during those times. The term ‘rest period’ simply meant any period which was not working time, and ‘any period’ meant every such period irrespective of where the worker was or what he was doing, so long as he was not working. Any period when the Appellants were on field break onshore would fall into that category. The company were therefore entitled to insist that the Appellants take their paid annual leave during periods other than their 26 working weeks when they were onshore on field break.

Lord Hope, Deputy President, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Wilson
UKSC 2010/0231, [2011] UKSC 57, 2012 SLT 239, 2012 SCLR 238, [2012] IRLR 149, [2012] ICR 185, [2012] 1 CMLR 53, [2012] 2 All ER 166
SC, SC Summary, Bailii, Bailii Summary
Working Time Regulations 1998
Scotland
Citing:
Appeal fromTl Russell and Others v Transocean International Resources Ltd and Others SCS 19-Oct-2010
. .
At EATTransocean International Resources Ltd and others v Russell and others EAT 4-Oct-2006
EAT The claimants were offshore workers the vast majority of whom were employed to work on installations situated on or over the UK Continental Shelf (‘UKCS’). They presented applications to the Employment . .
AppliedSrl CILFIT v Ministero Della Sanita ECJ 6-Oct-1982
ECJ The obligation to refer to the Court of Justice questions concerning the interpretation of the EEC Treaty and of measures adopted by the community institutions which the third paragraph of article 177 of the . .
CitedLitster and Others v Forth Dry Dock and Engineering Co Ltd HL 16-Mar-1989
The twelve applicants had been unfairly dismissed by the transferor immediately before the transfer, and for a reason connected with the transfer under section 8(1). The question was whether the liability for unfair dismissal compensation . .
CitedPereda v Madrid Movilidad SA ECJ 10-Sep-2009
ECJ (Free Movement Of Persons) Directive 2003/88/EC – Organisation of working time – Entitlement to paid annual leave – Sick leave – Annual leave coinciding with sick leave – Entitlement to take annual leave at . .
CitedMarleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA ECJ 13-Nov-1990
Sympathetic construction of national legislation
LMA OVIEDO sought a declaration that the contracts setting up Commercial International were void (a nullity) since they had been drawn up in order to defraud creditors. Commercial International relied on an EC . .
CitedStringer and Others v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs ECJ 24-Jan-2008
Europa Directive 2003/88/EC Organisation of working time Article 7 – Right to a minimum period of paid annual leave Entitlement to an allowance in lieu Fundamental social rights in Community law Grant of annual . .
CitedSumsion v BBC (Scotland) EAT 21-Mar-2007
EAT The claimant was employed to work as a standby carpenter by the respondents, for the production of ‘Sea of Souls’, for a period of some 24 weeks. His contract provided that his services would be required for . .
CitedInland Revenue v Ainsworth and others CA 22-Apr-2005
The court considered the calculation of hours under the Regulations when the employee was on extended sickness leave of absence.
Held: Once an employee had exhausted their sick pay entitlement, it was not open to them in addition then to claim . .
CitedMerino Gomez v Continental Industrias del Caucho SA ECJ 18-Mar-2004
Where the dates of a worker’s maternity leave coincided with those of the general annual leave fixed, by a collective agreement, for the entire workforce, the requirements of the Working Times Directive relating to paid annual leave could not be . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment, European

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.449771