Supreme Court Holds State Wage and Hour Laws are Inapplicable to Offshore Drilling Platforms
The Energy Law Blog of Liskow & Lewis discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could have far-reaching implications concerning wage-and-hour laws for workers on oil and gas platforms located in open water on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Authors Jackie E. Hickman and Thomas J.McGoey II explain the background of the case:
“The plaintiffs in Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton, were offshore rig workers who filed a class action asserting that their employer violated California’s minimum wage and overtime laws by failing to pay them for stand-by time while they were on the drilling platform. Both parties agreed that the platforms were governed by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), but they disagreed regarding whether the California’s wage-and-hour laws were incorporated into OCSLA and therefore applicable to workers on the platform.”
The Supreme Court found that federal law is exclusive and state law only applies where there “is a gap in federal law’s coverage.”
