Singapore legislation
Section 14
Section 14
Seafarer’s employment agreement
(1)
A person must not cause or permit another person without a seafarer’s employment agreement to be employed as a seafarer on a ship.
(2)
Every shipowner must —
ensure that the seafarer’s employment agreement is read over and explained to the seafarer;
ascertain that the seafarer understands the agreement;
ensure that the seafarer has been given an opportunity to examine and seek advice on the agreement before the seafarer signs it; and
ensure that the agreement is signed both by the seafarer and by or on behalf of the shipowner.
(3)
The master or shipowner must cause to be supplied to the seafarer a signed original of the seafarer’s employment agreement under which the seafarer is employed.
(4)
If a seafarer’s employment agreement is not in English, a copy of the standard form of the seafarer’s employment agreement must be available in English on board the ship.
(5)
Where a collective agreement forms all or part of a seafarer’s employment agreement, a copy of that collective agreement must be available on board the ship and, where that collective agreement is not in English, the portions of that collective agreement that are subject to an inspection in port as specified in the Second Schedule must also be available in English.
(6)
The Authority may prescribe the form of and the matters to be included in the seafarer’s employment agreement and the particulars to be entered into it.
(7)
Any term of a seafarer’s employment agreement that imposes a condition of service which is less favourable to a seafarer than any of the terms contained in this Act is unenforceable by the shipowner to the extent that it is so less favourable.
(8)
Any term in an employment agreement providing for the seafarer to forego any part of the minimum annual leave prescribed under section 22 is unenforceable insofar as it purports to deprive the seafarer of that right or to remove or reduce the liability of the shipowner to grant the minimum annual leave prescribed under this Part except under such circumstances as may be prescribed by the Authority.
(9)
Either party to a seafarer’s employment agreement may at any time give to the other party notice of the firstmentioned party’s intention to terminate the agreement.
(10)
The length of the notice must be the same for both the shipowner and the seafarer and must be in accordance with the seafarer’s employment agreement, provided that the notice period is not less than 7 days, except in circumstances prescribed under subsection (14)(c).
(11)
Such notice must be written and may be given at any time, and the day on which the notice is given must be included in the period of the notice.
(12)
Either party to the seafarer’s employment agreement may, without waiting for the expiry of the notice mentioned in subsection (10), terminate the agreement by paying to the other party a sum equal to the amount of salary at the gross rate of pay which would have accrued to the seafarer during the period of the notice.
(13)
Despite subsections (9) and (12) or any term of the seafarer’s employment agreement, where a seafarer is held captive on or off a ship as a result of an act of piracy or armed robbery against the ship, the seafarer’s employment agreement continues to have effect during the period of captivity, regardless of whether —
the date fixed for the expiry of the seafarer’s employment agreement has passed; or
either party to the seafarer’s employment agreement has given notice to suspend or terminate it.
(14)
The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for all matters relating to the engagement and discharge of seafarers, including the following matters:
the categories of seafarer’s employment agreements;
seafarer’s discharge books and other records of employment;
the circumstances under which a notice period shorter than the minimum notice period of 7 days may be permitted.
(15)
Any person who employs a seafarer or enters into a seafarer’s employment agreement with a seafarer in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.