Your seafarers' employment agreement (SEA) is the foundation of all your rights on board. The MLC requires it to be clear, written and legally enforceable (Regulation 2.1).
Your rights before signing
- You must be given the chance to examine the agreement and seek advice. Being rushed to sign breaches this right.
- It is signed by you and the shipowner (or a representative), and each party keeps a signed original.
- Clear information on your conditions must be easy to obtain on board, and a copy of your agreement can be reviewed by inspectors in port.
- If a collective bargaining agreement applies, a copy must be available on board.
Items every agreement must contain (Standard A2.1, para 4)
- Your full name, date of birth or age, and birthplace
- The shipowner's name and address
- Place and date the agreement was made
- The capacity in which you will work
- Wages, or the formula for calculating them
- Paid annual leave, or the formula for calculating it
- Termination and its conditions (indefinite, fixed-term or voyage agreement)
- Health and social security benefits provided by the shipowner
- Your entitlement to repatriation
- Reference to the collective agreement, if any
- Any other particulars required by national law
Image: European Space Agency / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
Termination and notice
Minimum notice for early termination is set nationally but cannot be shorter than seven days. For indefinite agreements, the shipowner's notice period may not be shorter than yours. Your need to leave at shorter notice without penalty for compassionate or other urgent reasons must be taken into account.
Record of employment
When you sign off, you receive a document recording your service on board. It may not contain any statement about the quality of your work or your wages. A discharge book can satisfy this requirement.
Practical tip: On the wage line, check the split between basic, overtime and leave pay, and the currency. Make sure the repatriation clause says who pays and to where.
Source: ILO, Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 — Regulation 2.1, Standard A2.1. This article is based on the MLC 2006 text published by the ILO and is for general information. Your flag State's law or your collective agreement may give you more favourable terms; in a specific dispute, talk to your union or a lawyer.
Full series: MLC 2006 Guide: Seafarers' Rights
