06 - Seafarer Employment Agreement

Model of MLC compliant Seafarer Employment Agreement

1. Parties to the Employment Agreement

This agreement is made between:

Seafarer's full name

Seafarer's Date of Birth or Age

Seafarer's Place of Birth

and

Shipowner's Name of Shipowner's Address

2. Capacity in which seafarer is to be employed

The capacity in which you are initially employed is insert details of capacity.

3. Notice of Termination of Employment (Delete whichever is not applicable)

Definite Period Agreement

Your employment is for a period commencing on insert date and ending on insert date unless it is terminated for justified reasons in advance of this point or the ship is at sea at that point time in which event it will continue until its arrival in port at which point it will terminate.

The length of notice which you are obliged to give to terminate your employment is insert notice period.

The length of notice which you are entitled to receive from the shipowner to terminate your employment is insert notice period.

OR

Indefinite Agreement

Your employment is for a period commencing on insert date unless it is terminated for justified reasons in advance of this point or the ship is at sea at that point time in which event it will continue until its arrival in port at which point it will terminate.

The length of notice which you are obliged to give to terminate your employment is insert notice period.

The length of notice which you are entitled to receive from the shipowner to terminate your employment is insert notice period.

OR

Voyage Agreement

Your employment is for the length of the voyage of ship commencing on insert date from the port of insert name of port until insert date or the vessel' arrival in the port of insert name of port at which point it will terminate, unless it is terminated for justified reasons in advance of this point.

4. Place of work

You will be employed on ship name

OR

You will be employed on any vessel owned, managed or chartered by the shipowner

5. Wages and Account of Wages

Your wages on commencement will be amount / currency per week/month/year. payable by method of payment at weekly/monthly intervals on the number of each week/month.

You will be provided with a monthly account of all payments due to you and the amounts paid, including wages, additional payments, permitted/statuary deductions and the rate of exchange used where payment has been made in a currency which is different from that agreed above.

6. Hours of Work and Rest

Your hours of work will be arranged such as to ensure that you receive a minimum of 10 hours available for rest in each 24-hour period and a minimum of 77 hours rest in each seven-day period.

Your hours of rest may be divided into no more than two periods, one of which shall be at least six hours in length, and the interval between consecutive periods of rest shall not exceed 14 hours.

The Master is requied to maintain a record of your daily hours of rest. The records should be kept in English and the working language of the ship if that is not English.

The records of your hours of rest are required to be endorsed by the Master or a person authorised by the Master, and by you, and a copy of the record as endorsed will be presented to you.

You may be required, at the absolute discretion of the Master, to work additional hours during an emergency affecting the safety of the ship, its passengers, crew or cargo or the marine environment or to give assistance to other ships or persons in peril.

You may also be required to work additional hours for safety drills such as musters, fire-fighting and lifeboat drills. In such circumstances you will be provided subsequently with compensatory rest period(s).

7. Paid annual leave

You are entitled to take insert number working days in each month/year of employment.

The above minimum amount includes 8 days for public holidays which should be included in the leave period and allocated prorate across the year.

You will be paid your normal basic remuneration during such leave. If your employment commenced or terminates part way through the year, your entitlement to paid annual leave during that year will be assessed on a pro rata basis. Deductions from final salary due to you on termination of employment will be made in respect of any paid annual leave taken in excess of your entitlement.

There is no provision for the carry over of paid annual leave from one year to the next. All paid annual leave must be taken in the year in which it accrues. There is also no provision for payment to be made in lieu of untaken leave except where paid annual leave has accrued but has not been taken at the date of termination of employment.

8. Termination of Employment

Your employment under this agreement may be terminated in the following circumstances:

1. by mutual consent;
2. Your misconduct as prescribed in the Code of Conduct for the Merchant Navy or the shipowner's Code of Conduct;
3. Your need to terminate the agreement for compassionate or other urgent reasons, this shall be without penalty to you;
4. If in the opinion of the Master your continued employment would be likely to endanger the vessel or any person onboard;
5. By appropriate notice in accordance with paragraph 3 above.

Should the vessel be lost, sold or otherwise cease to be a Cayman Islands ship and your employment is terminated before the date indicated in section 3 of this agreement you will be paid the greater of either two month's salary or your notice period.

9. Health and Social Security Benefits

If you are on a voyage at the time that you become sick or injured, you will be paid your normal basic remuneration until you have been repatriated in accordance with the repatriation provisions set out below. After you have been repatriated, you will be paid your normal basic remuneration for the first 16 weeks of your recuperation.

You will be provided with any medical care on-board should that become necessary, free of charge, including access to necessary medicines, medical equipment and facilities for diagnosis and treatment and medical information and expertise. Where practicable and appropriate, you will be given leave to visit a qualified medical doctor or dentist in ports of call for the purpose of obtaining treatment.

In the event of sickness or incapacity, you will be provided with medical care, including medical treatment and the supply of necessary medicines and therapeutic devices and board and lodging away from home until your recovery or until your sickness or incapacity has been declared of a permanent character, subject to a maximum period of 16 weeks. In addition the shipowner will meet the cost of the return or your property left on board to you or your next of kin.

In the event of the seafarer's death or long-term disability due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard occurring from the date on which the seafarer leaves home to join the vessel to the date on which the seafarer is duly repatriated, the seafarer will be entitled to compensation, the levels of which will be attached as an annex to this agreement.

In the event of your death occurring on board or ashore during a voyage, the shipowner will meet the cost of burial expenses and the return or your property left on board to your next of kin.

10. Repatriation

You will be entitled to repatriation, at the expense of the shipowner, if you are away from your country of residence:

• when this agreement is terminated;
• when this agreement expires;
• in the event of illness or injury or other medical condition requiring your repatriation, in the event that the ship is proceeding to a Warlike Operations Area or the event of termination or interruption of employment in accordance with an industrial award or collective agreement;
• in circumstances where you are no longer able to carry out your duties under this agreement or cannot be expected to do so e.g. shipwreck, the sale of your ship or a change in your ship's registration, and
• The entitlement to repatriation entails transport by economic flight to insert place name or country.

The Insert flag state's Regulations on repatriation shall be made available to you on board the ship.

You may not be entitled to repatriation at the expense of the shipowner in circumstances where you have been dismissed on disciplinary grounds or have breached your obligations under this Agreement. In such circumstances the shipowner will still be liable to repatriate you but is entitled to recover from any wages due to you the cost of doing so.

The minimum period of service following which you will be entitled to repatriation at no cost to you is insert number of weeks weeks.

11. Seafarer's Complaint Procedure

If you have a complaint regarding your employment you should follow the shipowner's “Seafarer's Complaint Procedure”. The procedure will be made available to you, if so requested, before you sign.

12. Compensation in respect of loss of personal property as a result of the loss or foundering of the vessel

Where you lose personal property, as a result of the vessel on which you are serving foundering or being lost, the shipowner will pay compensation up to a maximum of insert amount.

13. Disciplinary Rules and Procedure

The disciplinary rules applicable to you are set out in the Code of Conduct for the Merchant Navy, which has been agreed between the UK's Chamber of Shipping, Nautilus UK and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.

The Code of Conduct will be made available to you, if so requested, before you sign this agreement.

If you are dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision taken in relation to you, you should refer to the disciplinary procedure set out in the Code of Conduct, which may be obtained from insert state contact details.

14. Additional Provisions included by Shipowner

Insert any additional provisions here, for example, relating to the shipowner's policies on alcohol and drugs, or the shipowner's Code of Conduct.