The National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) Order 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order in Council has the effect of extending the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to workers who work, or ordinarily work, in the territorial waters of the United Kingdom.

It also extends the operation of the Act to workers who work, or ordinarily work, in the United Kingdom sector of the continental shelf where the employment is–

(a) connected with the exploration of the sea-bed or its subsoil, or the exploitation of their natural resources in the United Kingdom sector of the continental shelf; or

(b) connected with the exploration or exploitation, in a foreign sector of the continental shelf, of a cross-boundary petroleum field.

The Order has no application in respect of ships in navigation, or engaged in fishing or dredging (section 40 of the Act already treats mariners who work on board UK registered ships as being persons to whom the Act applies, unless the employment is wholly outside the United Kingdom or the person is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom).

Article 5 contains transitional provisions. The Order will come into force on 1st May 1999.