In wake of the P&O Ferries scandal, new laws have been introduced to ensure seafarers with close links to Britain are paid the national minimum wage.
The move has been taken in a bid to improve working conditions on ships after P&O Ferries decision to fire 800 of its staff last year.
Shipowners will now be required to show they pay their staff the UK’s national minimum wage if their ships regularly travel to Britain or dock in the country’s ports 120 times or more each year.
The rules, which passed into law today, form part of the UK government’s nine-point plan to improve seafarers working conditions, after P&O Ferries laid off 800 British staff with a view to replacing them agency workers paid below the minimum wage.
The new rules are aimed at closing legal loopholes that let shipowners pay their workers less than the minimum wage for their time at sea.
Previously, only seafarers who ordinarily worked in the UK were entitled to receive minimum wage while in Britain’s territorial waters.
The new Seafarers’ Wage Act will instead seek to ensure all workers on ships that regularly travel to Britain are covered by the UK’s minimum wage protections.
The UK’s national minimum wage currently sits at rates of 9.50 an hour for those aged 23 and over, 9.18 an hour for those aged 21-23, and 6.83 an hour for those aged 18-20.
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