Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act 2014 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Conditions of Seafarers’ Employment
14. Seafarer’s employment agreement
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2020.
A person must not cause or permit another person without a seafarer’s employment agreement to be employed as a seafarer on a ship.
seafarer
“seafarer” means any person, including the master, who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship, but does not include —(a)a pilot;(b)a port worker;(c)a person temporarily employed on the ship during the period it is in port; and(d)a person specified in an Order made by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, declaring the categories of persons not to be regarded as seafarers;
Every shipowner must —
shipowner
“shipowner”, in relation to a ship, means the owner of the ship, and includes —(a)the registered owner; or(b)in the absence of registration —(i)the person owning the ship; or(ii)any other person (such as the ship manager, agent or bareboat charterer) who has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with the Convention, whether or not any other organisation or person fulfils certain of the duties or responsibilities on the shipowner’s behalf;
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.
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.
master
“master” includes every person, except a pilot, having command or charge of a ship;
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.
ship
“ship” has the meaning given by the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, but does not include —(a)any vessel which navigates exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port) Regulations apply;(b)any warship or naval auxiliary;(c)any ship engaged in fishing or in similar pursuits;(d)any ship of traditional build such as dhows and junks;(e)any ship that is intended to be operated without any seafarer on board; and(f)any ship specified in an Order made by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, declaring the categories of ships to be excluded from the application of this Act;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
gross rate of pay
“gross rate of pay” means the total amount of money including allowances to which a seafarer is entitled under his or her seafarer’s employment agreement either —(a)for working for a period of time, that is, for one hour, one day, one week, one month or for such other period as may be stated or implied in his or her seafarer’s employment agreement; or(b)for each completed piece or task of work,but does not include —(c)additional payments by way of overtime payments;(d)additional payments by way of bonus payments or annual wage supplements;(e)any sum paid to the seafarer as reimbursement for special expenses incurred by him or her in the course of employment;(f)productivity incentive payments; and(g)travelling, food or housing allowances;
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 —
piracy
“piracy” has the same meaning as in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea adopted on 10 December 1982 by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea;
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.
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.
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.