There is no rule that entitlement to annual holiday must come out of working time, only that it cannot come out of "rest periods" as strictly defined in the Working Time Regulations 1998 - any other conclusion produces absurd results in the case of "shut-down trades" and teachers who, for example, could insist on taking holiday during term time.

This case concerns offshore workers on oil and gas rigs in the North Sea: however, the importance of this decision by the Inner House of the Scottish Court of Session is far wider in its scope.