Court test for working time rule

Thousands of oil workers could be affected by the legal discussions

Union chiefs have begun a court case to test whether a European directive on a weekly working time limit can be applied to offshore workers.

At the heart of the union's argument is a claim for workers to receive four weeks paid holidays.

However, the oil companies said the directive had no jurisdiction offshore.

A preliminary hearing to rule if the directive can be applied began in Aberdeen and is expected to last for about five days.

Either side has the right to appeal once a decision has been made, which could see the matter going to the European Court of Justice.

The directive's headline regulation is aimed at limiting the average working time for employees in the European Union to 48 hours a week.

We are trying to reduce the annual hours, give the guys a better work/life balance approach Jake Molloy OILC union

Jake Molloy, general secretary of the offshore union the OILC, believes the matter is an important one.

He said: "This is very crucial because after all this is a health and safety directive.

"We are trying to reduce the annual hours, give the guys a better work/life balance approach and for the increasing female working population the same issues apply."

Mr Molloy added: "It's crucial because of fatigue, because of an ageing work force, it is crucial to develop young skills coming into the workforce."

The directive, which came into force in October 1998, is a European Union initiative designed to protect workers from exploitation by employers.

It lays down regulations on matters such as how many breaks employees can take and how much holiday they are entitled to.

But there has been a constant debate on how it is applied and what industries are affected.