Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023

Introductory

Services to which this Act applies

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• (1) This Act applies to a service for the carriage of persons or goods by ship, with or without vehicles, between a place outside the United Kingdom and a place in the United Kingdom.

• (2) But this Act does not apply to—

• (a) a service that is for the purpose of leisure or recreation, or

• (b) a service provided by a fishing vessel.

• (3) Regulations may specify matters that must or must not be taken into account in determining whether provision for the carriage of persons or goods between two places by ship on two or more journeys constitutes a single service.

• (4) In this Act “ship” includes—

• (a) any kind of vessel used in navigation, and

• (b) hovercraft.

Non-qualifying seafarers

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In this Act, “non-qualifying seafarer” means a person—

• (a) who works on a ship providing a service to which this Act applies,

• (b) whose work on the ship is carried out in relation to the provision of the service, and

• (c) who fails to qualify for the national minimum wage in respect of that work merely because, for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the person does not work, or does not ordinarily work, in the United Kingdom.

National minimum wage equivalence declarations

Request for declaration

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• (1) Subsection (2) applies where a harbour authority has reasonable grounds to believe that ships providing a service to which this Act applies will enter, or have entered, its harbour on at least 120 occasions during a relevant year.

• (2) The harbour authority must, within such period as is determined by regulations, request that the operator of the service provide the authority with a national minimum wage equivalence declaration (in the rest of this Act, an “equivalence declaration”) in respect of the service for the relevant year.

• (3) The duty under subsection (2) is subject to any direction given by the Secretary of State under section 16(1)(a).

• (4) A harbour authority which fails to comply with subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction—

• (a) in England and Wales, to a fine, or

• (b) in Scotland and Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

• (5) Regulations may make provision—

• (a) as to the period within which equivalence declarations are to be provided;

• (b) as to the form of equivalence declarations;

• (c) as to the manner in which equivalence declarations are to be provided.

• (6) In this Act, “relevant year” means—

• (a) the period of 12 months beginning with a date specified in regulations, and

• (b) each successive period of 12 months.

Nature of declaration

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• (1) An equivalence declaration in respect of a service for a relevant year is a declaration within any of subsections (2) to (5).

• (2) A declaration is within this subsection if it is provided before the beginning of the relevant year and it is to the effect that—

• (a) in the relevant year there will be no non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service, or

• (b) in the relevant year non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service will be remunerated in respect of their UK work in relation to the service at a rate that is equal to or exceeds the national minimum wage equivalent.

• (3) A declaration is within this subsection if it is provided during the relevant year and it is to the effect that—

• (a) in what remains of the relevant year there will be no non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service, or

• (b) in what remains of the relevant year non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service will be remunerated in respect of their UK work in relation to the service at a rate that is equal to or exceeds the national minimum wage equivalent.

• (4) A declaration is within this subsection if it is provided during the relevant year and it is to the effect that—

• (a) in so much of the relevant year as has already occurred—

• (i) there have been no non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service, or

• (ii) non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service have been remunerated in respect of their UK work in relation to the service at a rate that is equal to or exceeds the national minimum wage equivalent, and

• (b) in what remains of the relevant year—

• (i) there will be no non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service, or

• (ii) non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service will be remunerated in respect of their UK work in relation to the service at a rate that is equal to or exceeds the national minimum wage equivalent.

• (5) A declaration is within this subsection if it is provided after the end of the relevant year and it is to the effect that—

• (a) in the relevant year there were no non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service, or

• (b) in the relevant year non-qualifying seafarers working on ships providing the service were remunerated in respect of their UK work in relation to the service at a rate that is equal to or exceeds the national minimum wage equivalent.

• (6) For the purposes of this Act, the national minimum wage equivalent is an hourly rate specified in regulations.

• (7) Regulations may make provision for determining for the purposes of this Act—

• (a) the hourly rate at which a non-qualifying seafarer is remunerated in any period in respect of any work, and

• (b) whether, or the extent to which, a non-qualifying seafarer’s work in relation to a service to which this Act applies is UK work.

• (8) Regulations under subsection (7)(a) may in particular make—

• (a) any provision referred to in section 2(2) to (6) of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998;

• (b) provision relating to currency conversion.

• (9) The Secretary of State must in making regulations under this section seek to secure that a non-qualifying seafarer is for the purposes of this section remunerated at a rate equal to the national minimum wage equivalent only if their remuneration is in all the circumstances broadly equivalent to the remuneration they would receive if they qualified for the national minimum wage.

• (10) In this Act, “UK work” means work which is carried out in the United Kingdom or its territorial waters.

Offence of operating service inconsistently with declaration

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• (1) The operator of a service to which this Act applies is guilty of an offence if—

• (a) the operator provides a harbour authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for a relevant year, and

• (b) subsection (2), (3) or (4) applies.

• (2) This subsection applies if the equivalence declaration is provided before the beginning of the relevant year and—

• (a) the service is operated inconsistently with the declaration at the beginning of the relevant year, or

• (b) at any later time during the relevant year the service starts to be operated inconsistently with the declaration and the operator fails to notify the harbour authority within four weeks of—

• (i) the fact that the service has started to be so operated, and

• (ii) the time when it started to be so operated.

• (3) This subsection applies if the equivalence declaration is provided during the relevant year and—

• (a) at the time the declaration is provided the service is being operated inconsistently with the declaration, or

• (b) at any later time during the relevant year the service starts to be operated inconsistently with the declaration and the operator fails to notify the harbour authority within four weeks of—

• (i) the fact that the service has started to be so operated, and

• (ii) the time when it started to be so operated.

• (4) This subsection applies if the equivalence declaration is provided during or after the end of the relevant year and it is false or misleading in so far as it concerns the operation of the service before the declaration was provided.

• (5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction—

• (a) in England and Wales, to a fine, or

• (b) in Scotland and Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Surcharges

Imposition of surcharges: failure to provide declaration in time

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• (1) This section applies if—

• (a) a harbour authority requests the operator of a service to which this Act applies to provide the authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for a relevant year, and

• (b) the operator does not provide an equivalence declaration in the prescribed form and manner before the end of the prescribed period.

• (2) If the prescribed period expires before the beginning of the relevant year, the harbour authority must impose a charge on the operator of the service in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service enters its harbour between—

• (a) the beginning of the relevant year, and

• (b) whichever is the earlier of—

• (i) the end of the relevant year, and

• (ii) the time when the operator provides the authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for the relevant year in the prescribed form and manner.

• (3) If the prescribed period expires during the relevant year, the harbour authority must—

• (a) impose a charge on the operator of the service in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service entered its harbour between—

• (i) the beginning of the relevant year, and

• (ii) the end of the prescribed period, and

• (b) impose a charge on the operator of the service in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service enters its harbour between the expiry of the prescribed period and whichever is the earlier of—

• (i) the end of the relevant year, and

• (ii) the time when the operator provides the authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for the relevant year in the prescribed form and manner.

• (4) If the prescribed period expires after the end of the relevant year, the harbour authority must impose a charge on the operator of the service in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service entered its harbour during the relevant year.

• (5) But charges imposed by a harbour authority under subsection (3)(a) or (4) must be refunded if—

• (a) at any time after the end of the prescribed period the operator provides the authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for the relevant year in the prescribed form and manner, and

• (b) the declaration is within section 4(4) or (5).

• (6) For the purposes of this section, in relation to an equivalence declaration which an operator of a service is required to provide—

• “prescribed period” means the period within which the operator is required to provide the declaration in accordance with regulations under section 3(5)(a);

• “prescribed form and manner” means the form and manner in which the operator is required to provide the declaration in accordance with regulations under section 3(5)(b) and (c).

Imposition of surcharges: in-year declaration that is prospective only

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• (1) This section applies if—

• (a) a harbour authority requests the operator of a service to which this Act applies to provide the authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for a relevant year,

• (b) the operator provides the declaration during the relevant year in accordance with regulations under section 3(5), and

• (c) the declaration is within subsection (3) of section 4 (and not also within subsection (4) of that section).

• (2) The harbour authority must impose a charge on the operator of the service in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service entered its harbour between the beginning of the relevant year and the time the declaration was provided.

Imposition of surcharges: operating inconsistently with declaration

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• (1) Subsections (2) and (3) apply if—

• (a) the operator of a service to which this Act applies has provided a harbour authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for a relevant year, and

• (b) either—

• (i) the operator notifies the authority that at a specified time after the declaration was provided the service was, or started to be, operated inconsistently with the declaration, or

• (ii) the authority has reasonable grounds to believe that, at a time after the declaration was provided, the service was, or started to be, operated inconsistently with the declaration.

• (2) The harbour authority must impose a charge on the operator in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service entered or enters the harbour between—

• (a) the time mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii), and

• (b) the end of the relevant year.

• (3) But if after the time mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii) the operator provides the harbour authority with a fresh equivalence declaration in respect of the service for the relevant year, the authority must not impose a charge under subsection (2) in respect of an occasion when a ship providing the service enters the harbour after the fresh declaration is provided (unless that subsection applies again by reference to that or a later declaration).

• (4) Subsections (5) and (6) apply if—

• (a) the operator of a service to which this Act applies has provided a harbour authority with an equivalence declaration in respect of the service for a relevant year, and

• (b) the authority has reasonable grounds to believe that the declaration is false or misleading in so far as it concerns the operation of the service before the declaration was provided.

• (5) The harbour authority must impose a charge on the operator in respect of each occasion when a ship providing the service entered or enters the harbour during the relevant year.

• (6) But if the operator provides the harbour authority with a fresh equivalence declaration in respect of the service for the relevant year, the authority must not impose a charge under subsection (5) in respect of an occasion when a ship providing the service enters the harbour after the fresh declaration is provided (unless that subsection applies again by reference to that or a later declaration).

Surcharges: general

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• (1) The amount of a surcharge is to be determined by a tariff of surcharges specified in regulations.

• (2) A duty to impose a surcharge is subject to any direction given by the Secretary of State under section 16(1)(a).

• (3) A harbour authority which fails to comply with a duty to impose a surcharge is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction—

• (a) in England and Wales, to a fine, or

• (b) in Scotland and Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

• (4) Regulations may make provision as to—

• (a) how the imposition of a surcharge is to be notified to the operator;

• (b) the period within which a surcharge must be paid;

• (c) the manner in which a surcharge must be paid;

• (d) notification of the imposition of a surcharge to the Secretary of State;

• (e) publication of the fact that a surcharge has been imposed.

• (5) Regulations may make provision requiring a harbour authority that has imposed a surcharge to notify the Secretary of State if so much of the period within which the surcharge must be paid as is specified in the regulations has expired without the surcharge having been paid in accordance with regulations under subsection (4)(c).

• (6) A harbour authority may retain a surcharge paid under this section and apply it for the purposes of shore-based welfare facilities for seafarers.

• (7) References in the Harbours Act 1964 or the Harbours Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 to ship, passenger and goods dues do not include a surcharge.

• (8) In this Act, “surcharge” means a charge under section 6, 7 or 8.

Objections to surcharges

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• (1) Where a surcharge is imposed by a harbour authority, an interested party may object to the imposition of the surcharge or its amount.

• (2) An objection under this section to the amount of a surcharge may be made only on the grounds that the amount is not in accordance with the tariff of surcharges specified in regulations under section 9(1).

• (3) An objection under this section is to be made to the Secretary of State in writing.

• (4) Regulations must provide for a period within which objections under this section must be made.

• (5) In subsection (1) “interested party” means—

• (a) a person appearing to the Secretary of State to have a substantial interest in the imposition of the surcharge or its amount, or

• (b) a body appearing to the Secretary of State to be representative of persons within paragraph (a).

• (6) Where an objection is made under this section, the Secretary of State must—

• (a) send a copy of the objection to the harbour authority, and

• (b) publish online a notice stating—

• (i) that the objection has been made and the grounds on which it has been made, and

• (ii) that representations in relation to the objection may be made to the Secretary of State within the period specified in the notice (which may not be less than six weeks from its publication).

• (7) If any representations are made under subsection (6)(b)(ii), the Secretary of State must—

• (a) send copies to the harbour authority and the objector, and

• (b) allow them a reasonable time to comment on the representations.