Contracts

[thomas]

Gents,
This is one of the prime areas that IROVA should address at its earliest opportunity.

The disparity on pay and conditions worldwide is very confusing to say the least.

I would envisage the IROVA determining a minimum rate for each level of competancy, including experience levels and enhanced payments in areas, decided by IROVA ,for what would amount to risk, at a particular time in a particular region.

I am sad to say that only 13 people so far have registered their support, and therefore the IROVA may go nowhere ,which would be a sad day for our industry ,and a good day for companies, who will clap their hands with glee, that they can continue using us in any way they choose.

If you want to stablise how contracts and pay become acceptable ,then we must come together, and decide how our contracts should be, and not leave it to bean counters within companies.

Register your support at register@IROVA.org

[James McLauchlan]

At purely discussion level I’m reasonably sure that in the UK sector there is not a law for statutory working hours that is applied outside the UK 12 mile zone, in waters viewed as International by just about every UK government department barring the tax man (for greed reasons) and HSE for safety reasons.
UK Immigration laws view the bulk of the North Sea it as International waters and outside their jurisdiction for sure, which is why a work permit is not required for foreign nationals wishing to work in the UK sector.

From my recollection, of attending an OIM Legislation course, I would guess that the UK is just about one of the only so called 1st world countries left that still doesn’t enforce many existing land based employment laws on the North Sea sector it has mineral rights over, although somehow it manages to apply UK tax laws on the sector!!

The lack of UK immigration and employment law enforcement/application in the North Sea is probably why it is so easy for international companies to operate the way they do, especially when it comes to pay and conditions.

Whilst Chief has, in the USA, a 40 hr law on his side there appears to me to be no such law on the side of individuals in the UK offshore sector. I can see how if you are providing a services as a company with deployable assets, including personnel, you can negotiate on a contract by contract basis as I would suggest, more often than not, the operator will need your subsea intervention services as a package more than they normally need yet another member of an ROV team. In Chiefs case they would therefore be more likely to negotiate terms.

For the reasons given above, I would suggest it’s not easy for anyone to have included in a UK contract ‘overtime’ and ‘minimum agreed days’.
Trying to negotiate that as an an individual you’d either be laughed off the phone or be sitting at home for months on end, if not the whole season, or at least until you fell back into line with the current norm.

It would take the likes of an association, as a larger body, to start chipping away at such discrepancies (the list is very long!) but, in my view, it is non negotiable as mere individuals who supply only themselves as a hot body, rather than an operator providing equipment and personnel.

[Jeremy Mullins]

Hello all,
I am new to the forum, and to the industry as well, but I do have some experience repairing and troubleshooting electronic systems and I also have over 2 years sea time. I have an offer to go out on an "Upman" job in Africa. Can anyone explain what this means? Like I say I am a greenhorn, so go easy on me! Thx.

J

[Mark DuPriest]

"upman" is British based jargon for increasing the normal crew level.

[Jeremy Mullins]

Thanks, Lucas. Sounds like water-boy to me but thats all good. I am happy enough to get out on any job at this point. Cheers.

[Scott Beveridge]

Gents,
This is one of the prime areas that IROVA should address at its earliest opportunity.

The disparity on pay and conditions worldwide is very confusing to say the least.

I would envisage the IROVA determining a minimum rate for each level of competancy, including experience levels and enhanced payments in areas, decided by IROVA ,for what would amount to risk, at a particular time in a particular region.

I am sad to say that only 13 people so far have registered their support, and therefore the IROVA may go nowhere ,which would be a sad day for our industry ,and a good day for companies, who will clap their hands with glee, that they can continue using us in any way they choose.

If you want to stablise how contracts and pay become acceptable ,then we must come together, and decide how our contracts should be, and not leave it to bean counters within companies.

Register your support at register@IROVA.org

I, myself, would enjoy seeing the minimum rate stated throughout all ROV levels and have companies adhere to this. Regulation of this could be any number of different ways but feasible none the less.

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