The Department for Transport has set out proposals to extend pay and working protections for seafarers on services between the UK, France and the Channel Islands.
Under the proposed law, seafarers would be guaranteed pay equivalent to the National Minimum Wage for the whole of journeys that run between the three jurisdictions, the Department said.
Wage and work-time protections
The government consultation would also introduce limits on maximum sea-work periods and minimum rest periods for qualifying seafarers, addressing hours at sea as part of the package rather than pay alone.
Crucially, the measures are intended to extend protections beyond UK territorial waters for the first time, closing a gap that the Department presented as part of its case for the reforms.
Charter status and industry response
Alongside the proposals the Department reported progress under a voluntary Seafarers Charter. DFDS, Brittany Ferries and Stena Line have achieved Seafarers Charter status on services between the UK, France and the Channel Islands.
The charter covers welfare, working conditions, pay, social provision, fair contracts, training and professional development, and the Department has said it will keep the document under review.
P&O Ferries met every assessed requirement except for one element of social-welfare provision on the relevant routes, according to the Departments account of the assessments.
The government intends to review the Seafarers Charter within two years and to continue discussions with industry and unions as the consultation proceeds.
The announcement also recalled the economic scale of the sector, citing a contribution to the UKs gross value added of 38.7 billion in 2019 as part of the background justification for taking action.
If enacted, the proposed law and the work-time provisions under consultation would set a statutory floor for pay and working hours on cross-Channel services, while the charter offers a voluntary framework covering broader welfare and training standards.
Taken together, the measures signal a combined regulatory and cooperative approach in which statutory guarantees would sit alongside a charter that operators may adopt and that the Department will revisit within a two-year timeframe.
Questions remain for stakeholders about how the new rights would be enforced on the water, how qualifying seafarers will be defined in practice and how the review of the charter will be resourced, matters the Department has indicated it will continue to explore with industry and unions.
The proposals form part of the governments stated effort to strengthen conditions for those working on short international ferry and freight services across the Channel and to align labour standards with other statutory protections onshore.