Acas clears employers at the Lindsey oil refinery

London - Total, Jacobs Engineering and IREM did not break EU law and acted in accordance with collective agreement in the recruitment of overseas workers for the construction of a desulphurisation unit at the Lindsey oil refinery, the Acas report into the recent dispute at the site has found. The employment relations service, however, added that the dispute highlight issues with the introduction of foreign workers within labour relations system in the UK.

'Whilst the report shows no evidence of the law being broken there is a source of tension around the Posted Workers Directive and its application to construction work and the UK's industrial relations system," said Acas chief executive John Taylor.

Accordin to Acas, the complexity produced by the interrelation of EU law, national agreements and supplementary local collective agreements is a potential source of confusion and dispute. It recommened a review by the relevant parties of the interrelationship between national and local collective agreements to aid transparency and reduce the potential for misunderstandings and conflict.

"An enhanced role for the NAECI independent auditor in both the tendering and project monitoring processes, if this could be agreed, would, we believe, play an important part in helping to overcome some of the difficulties that this dispute has raised," said the Acas report.