1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay (Offshore Employment) Order 1987 and shall come into force on 1st November 1987.

(2) In this Order-

"the 1975 Act" means the Sex Discrimination Act 1975;

"the Frigg Gas Field" means the naturally occurring gas-bearing sand formations of the lower Eocene age located in the vicinity of the intersection of the line of latitude 59° 53' North and of the dividing line between the sectors of the Continental Shelf of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Norway and includes all other gas-bearing strata from which gas at the start of production is capable of flowing into the above-mentioned gas-bearing sand formations;

"oversea company" has the same meaning as in section 744 of the Companies Act 1985(2).

2.-(1) In relation to employment concerned with exploration of the sea bed or subsoil or the exploitation of their natural resources, but subject to paragraph (2), subsections (1) and (2) of section 10 of the 1975 Act shall each have effect as if the last reference to Great Britain in those subsections included-

(a)any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964(3), except an area or part of an area in which the law of Northern Ireland applies; and

(b)in relation to employment concerned with the exploration or exploitation of the Frigg Gas Field, the part of the Norwegian sector of the Continental Shelf described in the Schedule to this Order.

(2) This Order shall have no application to employment which is concerned with the exploration or exploitation of the Frigg Gas Field unless the employer is-

(a)a company registered under the Companies Act 1985,

(b)an oversea company which has established a place of business within Great Britain from which it directs the offshore operations in question, or

(c)any other person who has a place of business within Great Britain from which he directs the offshore operations in question.

SCHEDULENORWEGIAN PART OF THE FRIGG FIELD

1. The part of the Norwegian sector of the Continental Shelf described in this Schedule is the area defined by-

(a)the sets of lines of latitude and longitude joining the following surface co-ordinates-

(b)a line from the point 02° 03' 00"E 59° 50' 00"N west along the parallel of latitude 59° 50' 00"N until its intersection with the Dividing Line;

(c)a line from the point of intersection specified in paragraph (b) above along the Dividing Line until its intersection with the parallel of latitude 60° 00' 45"N;

(d)a line from the point of intersection specified in paragraph (c) above east along the parallel of latitude 60° 00' 45"N until its intersection with the meridian 02° 05' 30"E.

2. In this Schedule, the "Dividing Line" means the dividing line as defined in an Agreement dated 10th March 1965 and made between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the government of the Kingdom of Norway(4) as supplemented by a Protocol dated 22nd December 1978(5).

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings within the scope of Part II of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (which is concerned with discrimination in the employment field) and within the scope of the Equal Pay Act 1970 (c. 41) employment concerned with the exploration of the sea bed or subsoil or the exploitation of their natural resources in areas which have been designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964. It also brings within scope certain such employment in the Norwegian sector of the Continental Shelf in relation to the Frigg Gas Field. It only has application, however, to employment concerned with the Frigg Gas Field if the employer is a British company or has a place of business in Great Britain from which he directs the offshore operations.