Consultation outcome

The Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 part 2 – draft regulations and guidance

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Government response to the seafarers' wages regulations consultation part 1 and 2

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Detail of outcome

Government’s response to the consultations on the seafarers’ wages regulations and guidance. The response details the feedback received to the consultation and changes that have been made to the:

This includes:

  • changes to the surcharge tariff in the regulations
  • improvements to the guidance on:
    • defining a service
    • communicating with an operator
    • surcharges

Original consultation

Summary

Second of two consultations on the secondary legislation required to implement the Seafarers’ Wages Act and associated guidance.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

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  • the draft guidance clearly explains the procedural aspects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  • copy of the draft guidance for comment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 2 of the consultation process. It covers:

  • 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
  • detail on the equivalent rate to the National Minimum Wage

Part 1 of this consultation focused 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

Documents

The Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023: draft regulations for consultation

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023: draft guidance for consultation

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email webmasterdft@dft.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Updates to this page

Published 15 February 2024
Last updated 10 October 2024 + show all updates
  1. Outcome added.

  2. First published.

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