Merchant Shipping Act 1970

Wages, etc.

7 Payment of seamen's wages

(1) Except as provided by or under this Act or any other enactment, the wages due to a seaman under a crew agreement relating to a ship shall be paid to him in full at the time when he leaves the ship on being discharged therefrom (in this section and section 8 of this Act referred to as the time of discharge).

(2) If the amount shown in the account delivered to a seaman under section 8(1) of this Act as being the amount payable to him under subsection (1) of this section is replaced by an increased amount shown in a further account delivered to him under section 8(3) of this Act, the balance shall be paid to him within seven days of the time of discharge ; and if the amount so shown in the account delivered to him under section 8(1) of this Act exceeds £50 and it is not practicable to pay the whole of it at the time of discharge, not less than £50 nor less than one-quarter of the amount so shown shall be paid to him at that time and the balance within seven days of that time.

(3) If any amount which, under the preceding provisions of this section, is payable to a seaman is not paid at the time at which it is so payable the seaman shall be entitled to wages at the rate last payable under the crew agreement for every day on which it remains unpaid during the period of fifty-six days following the time of discharge; and if any such amount or any amount payable by virtue of this subsection remains unpaid after the end of that period it shall carry interest at the rate of 20 per cent, per annum.

(4) Subsection (3) of this section does not apply if the failure to pay was due to a mistake, to a reasonable dispute as to liability or to the act or default of the seaman or to any other cause, not being the wrongful act or default of the persons liable to pay his wages or of their servants or agents; and so much of that subsection as relates to interest on the amount due shall not apply if a court in proceedings for its recovery so directs.

(5) Where a seaman is employed under a crew agreement relating to more than one ship the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect, in relation to wages due to him under the agreement, as if for any reference to the time of discharge there were substituted a reference to the termination of his employment under the crew agreement.

(6) Where a seaman, in pursuance of section 5 of this Act, is discharged from a ship outside the United Kingdom but returns to the United Kingdom under arrangements made by the persons who employed him, the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect, in relation to the wages due to him under a crew agreement relating to the ship, as if for the references in subsections (1) to (3) to the time of discharge there were substituted references to the time of his return to the United Kingdom, and subsection (5) were omitted.

8 Account of seaman's wages

(1) Subject to subsection (4) of this section and to regulations made under section 9 or 62 of this Act, the master of every ship registered in the United Kingdom shall deliver to every seaman employed in the ship under a crew agreement an account of the wages due to him under that crew agreement and of the deductions subject to which the wages are payable.

(2) The account shall indicate that the amounts stated therein are subject to any later adjustment that may be found necessary and shall be delivered not later than twenty-four hours before the time of discharge or, if the seaman is discharged without notice or at less than twenty-four hours' notice, at the time of discharge.

(3) If the amounts stated in the account require adjustment the persons who employed the seaman shall deliver to him a further account stating the adjusted amounts ; and that account shall be delivered not later than the time at which the balance of his wages is payable to the seaman.

(4) Where a seaman is employed under a crew agreement relating to more than one ship any account which under the preceding provisions of this section would be required to be delivered to him by the master shall instead be delivered to him by the persons employing him and shall be so delivered on or before the termination of his employment under the crew agreement.

(5) If a person fails without reasonable cause to comply with the preceding provisions of this section he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20.

9 Regulations relating to wages and accounts

The Board of Trade may make regulations—

(a) authorising deductions to be made from the wages due to a seaman under a crew agreement (in addition to any authorised by any provision of this Act or of any other enactment for the time being in force) in cases where a breach of his obligations under the agreement is alleged against him and such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the regulations are complied with, or in such other cases as may be specified in the regulations;

(b) regulating the manner in which any amounts deducted under the regulations are to be dealt with;

(c) prescribing the manner in which wages due to a seaman under a crew agreement are to be or may be paid;

(d) regulating the manner in which such wages are to be dealt with and accounted for in circumstances where a seaman leaves his ship in the United Kingdom otherwise than on being discharged therefrom;

(e) prescribing the form and manner in which any account required to be delivered by section 8 of this Act is to be prepared and the particulars to be contained therein (which may include estimated amounts).

10 Power of superintendent or proper officer to decide disputes about wages

(1) Any dispute relating to the amount payable to a : seaman employed under a crew agreement may be submitted by' the parties to a superintendent or proper officer for decision; but the superintendent or proper officer shall not be bound to accept the submission or, if he has accepted it, to decide the dispute, if he is of opinion that the dispute, whether by reason of the amount involved or for any other reason, ought not to be decided by him.

(2) The decision of a superintendent or proper officer on a dispute submitted to him under this section shall be final.

11 Restriction on assignment of and charge upon wages

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the following provisions shall have effect with respect to the wages due or accruing to a seaman employed in a ship registered in the United Kingdom, that is to say.—

(a) the wages shall not be subject to attachment or arrestment ;

(b) an assignment thereof before they have accrued shall not bind the seaman and the payment of the wages to the seaman shall be valid notwithstanding any previous assignment or charge; and

(c) a power of attorney or authority for the receipt of the wages shall not be irrevocable.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes.

(3) Nothing in this section applies to any disposition relating to the application of wages—

(a) in the payment of contributions to a fund declared by regulations made by the Board of Trade to be a fund to which this section applies ; or

(b) in the payment of contributions in respect of the membership of a body declared by regulations made by the Board of Trade to be a body to which this section applies;

or to anything done or to be done for giving effect to such a disposition.

12 Power of court to award interest on wages due otherwise than under crew agreement

In any proceedings by the master of a ship or a person employed in a ship otherwise than under a crew agreement for the recovery of any sum due to him as wages the court, unless it appears to it that the delay in paying the sum was due to a mistake, to a reasonable dispute as to liability or to the act or default of the person claiming the amount or to any other cause, not being the wrongful act or default of the persons liable to make the payment or their servants or agents, may order them to pay, in addition to the sum due, interest on it at the rate of twenty per cent, per annum or such lower rate as the court may specify, for the period beginning seven days after the sum became due and ending when the sum is paid.

13 Allotment notes

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a seaman may, by means of an allotment note issued in accordance with regulations made by the Board of Trade, allot to any person or persons part of the wages to which he will become entitled in the course of his employment in a ship or ships registered in the United Kingdom.

(2) A seaman's right to make an allotment under this section shall be subject to such limitations as may, by virtue of the following provisions of this section, be imposed by regulations made by the Board of Trade.

(3) Regulations made by the Board of Trade for the purposes of this section may prescribe the form of allotment notes and—

(a) may limit the circumstances in which allotments may be made ;

(b) may limit (whether by reference to an amount or by reference to a proportion) the part of the wages that may be allotted and the number of persons to whom it may be allotted and may prescribe the method by which that part is to be calculated ;

(c) may limit the persons to whom allotments may be made by a seaman to persons of such descriptions or persons standing to him in such relationships as may be prescribed by the regulations;

(d) may prescribe the times and the intervals at which payments under allotment notes are to be made.

(4) Regulations under this section may make different provision in relation to different descriptions of seamen and different circumstances.

14 Right of person named in allotment note to sue in own name

(1) A person to whom any part of a seaman's wages has been allotted by an allotment note issued in accordance with regulations made under section 13 of this Act shall have the right to recover that part in his own name and for that purpose shall have the same remedies as the seaman has for the recovery of his wages.

(2) In any proceedings brought by a person named in such an allotment note as the person to whom any part of a seaman's wages has been allotted it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, that the seaman is entitled to the wages specified in the note and that the allotment has not been varied or cancelled.

15 Right, or loss of right, to wages in certain circumstances

(1) Where a ship registered in the United Kingdom is wrecked or lost a seaman whose employment in the ship is thereby terminated before the date contemplated in the agreement under which he is so employed shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be entitled to wages at the rate payable under the agreement at the date of the wreck or loss for every day on which he is unemployed in the two months following that date unless it is proved that he did not make reasonable efforts to save the ship and persons and property carried in it.

(2) Where a ship registered in the United Kingdom is sold while outside the United Kingdom or ceases to be so registered and a seaman's employment in the ship is thereby terminated before the date contemplated in the agreement under which he is so employed, then, unless it is otherwise provided in the agreement, he shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, be entitled to wages at the rate payable under the agreement at the date on which his employment is terminated for every day on which he is unemployed in the two months following that date.

(3) A seaman shall not be entitled to wages by virtue of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section for a day on which he was unemployed, if it is shown—

(a) that the unemployment was not due to the wreck or loss of the ship or, as the case may be, the termination of his employment on the sale of the ship or its ceasing to be registered in the United Kingdom ; or

(b) that the seaman was able to obtain suitable employment for that day but unreasonably refused or failed to take it.

16 Protection of certain rights and remedies

(1) A seaman's lien, his remedies for the recovery of his wages, his right to wages in case of the wreck or loss of his ship, and any right he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage shall not be capable of being renounced by any agreement.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not affect such of the terms of any agreement made with the seamen belonging to a ship which, in accordance with the agreement, is to be employed on salvage service, as provide for the remuneration to be paid to them for salvage services rendered by that ship.

17 Claims against seaman's wages for maintenance, etc. of dependants

(1) Where, during a seaman's employment in a ship, expenses are incurred by a responsible authority for the benefit of any dependant of his and the expenses are of a kind specified in regulations under this section and such further conditions, if any, as may be so specified are satisfied, the authority may by notice in writing complying with the regulations require the persons employing the seaman—

(a) to retain for a period specified in the notice such proportion of his net wages as may be so specified; and

(b) to give to the responsible authority as soon as may be notice in writing of the seaman's discharge from the ship;

and the persons employing the seaman shall comply with the notice (subject to subsection (3) of this section) and give notice in writing of its contents to the seaman.

(2) For the purposes of this section—

(a) the following persons, and no others, shall be taken to be a seaman's dependants, that is to say, his spouse and any person under the age of sixteen whom he is liable, for the purposes of any enactment in force in any part of the United Kingdom, to maintain or in respect of whom he is liable under any such enactment to make contributions to a local authority; and

(b) expenses incurred for the benefit of any person include (in addition to any payments made to him or on his behalf) expenses incurred for providing him with accommodation or care or for exercising supervision over him;

but no expenses shall be specified in regulations under this section unless they are such that a magistrates' court has power under any enactment in force in any part of the United Kingdom to order the making of payments in respect thereof.

(3) Not more than the following proportion of a seaman's net wages shall be retained under subsection (1) of this section (whether in pursuance of one or more notices) that is to say.—

(a) one-half if the notice or notices relate to one dependant, only;

(b) two-thirds if the notice or notices relate to two or more dependants.

(4) Where a responsible authority have served a notice under this section on the persons employing a seaman a magistrates' court may, on the application of the authority, make an order for the payment to the authority of such sum, not exceeding the proportion of the seaman's wages which those persons were required by virtue of this section to retain, as the court, having regard to the expenses incurred by the authority and the seaman's means, thinks fit.

(5) Any sums paid out of a seaman's wages in pursuance of an order under this section shall be deemed to be paid to him in respect of his wages; and the service, on the persons who employed the seaman, of such an order or of an order dismissing an application for such an order shall terminate the period for which they were required to retain the wages.

(6) An application for an order under this section for the payment of any sum by the persons who employed a seaman shall be deemed, for the purposes of any proceedings, to be an application for an order against the seaman; but the order, when served on those persons, shall have effect as an order against them and may be enforced accordingly.

(7) Parts I and III of the [1950 c. 37.] Maintenance Orders Act 1950 shall have effect as if an order under this section were included among those referred to in subsections (1) and (2) of section 4, subsections (1) and (2) of section 9 and subsections (1) and (2) of section 12 of that Act; and any sum payable by any persons under an order made under this section in any part of the United Kingdom may, in any other part of the United Kingdom, be recovered from them as a debt due to the authority on whose application the order was made.

(8) Any notice or order under this section may be served by registered post or recorded delivery service.

(9) The Board of Trade may make regulations specifying—

(a) the expenses in respect of which a notice may be served by a responsible authority under subsection (1) of this section;

(b) any conditions that must be satisfied if such a notice is to be served;

(c) the period that may be specified in such a notice (being a period beginning with the service of the notice and ending a specified number of days after the seaman's discharge from his ship);

(d) the form of such a notice and the information to be contained therein; and

(e) the amounts to be deducted from a seaman's wages in computing his net wages for the purposes of this section;

and the amounts specified under paragraph (e) of this subsection may include amounts allotted by allotment notes issued under section 13 of this Act.

(10) In this section "responsible authority" means the Secretary of State, the Ministry of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland or any local authority; but any application to be made or notice to be given under this section by or to a responsible authority may, if the authority is the Secretary of State or the Ministry of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland, be made or given on behalf of the Secretary of State or Ministry by or to the Supplementary Benefits Commission or, as the case may be, the Supplementary Benefits Commission for Northern Ireland.

(11) In this section "local authority" includes a welfare authority constituted under the [1946 c. 19 (N.I.).] Public Health and Local Government (Administrative Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1946 and " magistrates' court"—

(a) in relation to Scotland, means the sheriff, and

(b) in relation to Northern Ireland, means a court of summary jurisdiction.

18 Remedies of master for remuneration, disbursements, etc.

The master of a ship shall have the same lien for his remuneration, and all disbursements or liabilities properly made or incurred by him on account of the ship, as a seaman has for his wages.