Section 20

Except as otherwise provided in this Act or any other written law, the wages due to a seafarer under a seafarer’s employment agreement must be paid to the seafarer in full on a monthly basis, before the expiry of the last day of the month in respect of which the salary is payable.

If any amount which, under subsection (1), is payable to a seafarer is not paid at the time at which it is so payable, the seafarer is entitled to wages at the rate last payable under the seafarer’s employment agreement for every day on which the amount remains unpaid until it is paid in full.

Subsection (2) does not apply if the failure to pay was due to any reasonable dispute as to liability or to the act or default of the seafarer or to any other cause, not being the wrongful act or default of the person liable to pay the seafarer’s wages or of the person’s employee or agent.

The master of a ship must deliver to each seafarer employed on the ship under a seafarer’s employment agreement, a monthly account of wages due to the seafarer under that agreement, including but not limited to basic wage, basic leave wage, overtime pay and other allowances stated in the agreement, and additional payments and deductions subject to which the wages are payable (called in this section the account).

Where the payment is made in a currency or at a rate that is different from the one agreed to, the account should also indicate the rate of exchange used, which is either —

The account must indicate that the amounts stated in it are subject to any later adjustment that may be found necessary and the master must deliver the account before the expiry of the last day of the month in respect of which the salary is payable.

If the amounts stated in the account require adjustment, the person who employed the seafarer must deliver to the seafarer a further account stating the adjusted amounts, and must deliver that account to the seafarer before the expiry of the last day of the next month in respect of which the salary is payable.

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 wages and other entitlements (including the remittance of any allotments made in accordance with section 21) under —

Any person who, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with subsection (4), (6) or (7) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.