David Tyme on territorial jurisdiction and the right not to be unfairly dismissed
The salient facts of Dolphin Drilling Personnel PTE Limited v Alan Winks and Dolphin Drilling Limited UK EATS/0049/08/BI are that the claimant, a British citizen with a home in Doncaster, was employed by Dolphin Drilling Personnel PTE Limited (DDPPL), a Singapore company, as a storeman on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and latterly off the coast of Nigeria where he was employed when his employment terminated. DDL, a UK registered company, managed and operated the oil rig that the claimant worked on.
DDPPL provided crews to work on oil rigs and is situated in Singapore where its Director, Human Resource Manager and Coordinators are based.
The tribunal’s decision
The tribunal found that the claimant was employed by DDPPL having determined that personnel functions were undertaken by “real people” in Singapore and that the appropriate test to determine the jurisdictional issue was simply whether the employee had a “substantial connection” with Great Britain (GB). In reaching its conclusion
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