GovWire

The Seafarers Wages Act is designed to protect those working on ships operating a regular international service to/from the UK from being paid less than an equivalent to the National Minimum Wage while in UK territorial waters. The act became law on 23 March 2023.

We now need to introduce secondary legislation to bring the provisions in the act fully into force.

This is a technical consultation and asks for views on whether:

• the draft regulations reflect the policy intent
• the draft guidance clearly explains the procedural aspects

The documents on this page are a:

• consultation document that explains what we are asking and how you can respond
• copy of the draft regulations for comment
• copy of the draft guidance for comment

This is part 1 of the consultation process. It focuses on the areas of the regulations made under the act which cover the procedural matters:

• declarations (timings, form and manner)
• administration of surcharges (notification, timings and publication)
• communication of refusal of access
• specification of the responsible/relevant harbour authority

The second part of the consultation will cover the rate of the surcharge that harbour authorities will be required to impose on the operator of a service (surcharge tariff) if the operator does not provide a declaration, and detail on the equivalent rate to the NMW. We plan to publish in early 2024.