Overtime work violation: Saipem says issue had been solved in the appropriate fora

Italian oilfield services provider Saipem has responded to the overtime work violation charge of Norwegian union, Industri Energi for two offshore workers due to the violation of working hours regulations.

Lens Online contacted Saipem which reverted promptly on the issue. A spokesperson from Saipem stated via e mail that, “On the initiative of Saipem alone, which also approached the Labor Inspector, the issue regarding 2 ROV pilots was addressed and managed together with Unions without any intervention of the Judicial Authority.

 Norwegian union, Industri Energi, said on Thursday it has ensured that two ROV pilots in Saipem are compensated a total of over NOK 966,000 (about $113,300) after violating the working hours regulations over the course of two months.

Industri Energi said it received a notification of a breach of working time regulations on board the semi-submersible rig Scarabeo 8 last autumn.

According to the union, the two ROV pilots from Saipem Ltd had been on board the Scarabeo 8 rig for more than 8 weeks and worked uninterrupted 12 hours per day, from 28 September to 25 November.

Industri Energi reported the case to both the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority and the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway.

OSA Inspector Wayne Pena has previously stated that this was a gross violation of the working hours regulations, completely unacceptable, and that it had to be cleaned up.

On the comment of Wayne Pena describing, it as ‘social dumping’, the spokesperson recanted: … Saipem rejects any charge of “social dumping”.

“Saipem would like to stress that compliance with relevant local labor legislation is key to our operations in all countries where we are present,” the spokesperson stated.

Saipem Ltd, a subsidiary of the Saipem Group, which provides the ROV services onboard the rig Scarabeo 8 is reported to have closed down the Norwegian branch and dismissed all its offshore employees.

The company was reported as well to have continued its operations on the Norwegian shelf a few months later, but only with seconded British workers from Saipem Ltd and seconded workers from GPS, which is their staffing company in Switzerland.

Pena said in December 2020 that after considerable and sustained pressure from Industri Energi, they were able to get the members reinstated.

“I would particularly like to highlight that no court action ever took place – instead there was an agreement between workers and the company, with the mediation of the union – and that the payment was not a matter of compensation, but of a regularisation of payments between the parties,” the spokesperson of Saipem stressed.

Industri Energi said it has now completed negotiations with Saipem Ltd and ensured that the two ROV pilots receive compensation of NOK 483,465 (about $56,710) each.