Section 8 in The Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour) Rules, 2016
8. Seafarers' employment agreements.
(1)Every Indian flag ship shall comply with the following requirements regarding seafarers' employment agreement, namely:-(a)seafarers working on Indian flag ships shall have a seafarers' employment agreement signed by both the seafarer and the ship owner or a representative of the ship owner or where they are not employees, evidence of contractual or similar arrangements providing them with decent working and living conditions on board the ship as required by the Act and the rules made thereunder;(b)seafarers signing a seafarers' employment agreement shall be given an opportunity to examine and seek advice on the agreement before signing, and such other facilities as are necessary to ensure that they have freely entered into an agreement with a sufficient understanding of their rights and responsibilities;(c)the ship owner and seafarer concerned shall each have a signed original of the seafarers' employment agreement;(d)the ship owner shall ensure that clear information as to the conditions of the employment is easily obtained on board by seafarers, including the master of the ship and that such information including a copy of the seafarers' employment agreement is accessible to the Director General of Shipping or any other entity so notified including port state authorities in ports to be visited;(e)at the end of, or termination of, contract, every seafarer's continuous discharge certificate shall be endorsed with record of employment on board the ship.(2)Where a collective bargaining agreement in full or part forms part of a seafarers' employment agreement, a copy of that agreement shall be made available on board.(3)The seafarers' employment agreement and any applicable collective bargaining agreement shall be in English.(4)The ship owner or its licensed recruitment and placement service provider shall file the articles of agreement signed with the seafarer to the shipping master or other related authority within the time limit as specified by the Director General of Shipping.(5)Seafarers' employment agreements shall in all cases contain the following particulars, inter alia, namely-(a)the seafarers' full name, date of birth, age and place of birth;(b)the name and address of the ship owner;(c)the place where and date when the seafarers' employment agreement is entered into;(d)the capacity in which the seafarer is to be employed;(e)the amount of the wages of the seafarers or, where applicable, the formula used for calculating them;(f)the amount of paid annual leave or, where applicable, the formula used for calculating it;(g)the termination of the agreement and the conditions thereof, including,-(i)if the agreement has been made for an indefinite period, the conditions entitling either party to terminate it, the required period of notice, which shall not be less for the ship owner than for the seafarer;(ii)if the agreement has been made for a definite period, the date fixed for its expiry; and(iii)if the agreement has been made for a voyage, the port of destination and the time which has to expire after arrival before the seafarer should be discharged;(h)the health and social security protection to be provided to the seafarer by the ship owner;(i)the seafarers' entitlement to repatriation;(j)reference to the collective bargaining agreement, if applicable; and(k)any other particulars or the format as may be specified by the Director General of Shipping, in consultation with the representatives of ship owners and the seafarers;(6)The minimum period of notice to be given by the seafarers and ship owners for the early termination of a seafarers' employment agreement shall be in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement or seafarer employment agreement, but in any case shall not be shorter than seven days.(7)A period of notice shorter than the minimum period as in sub-rule (6) may be given in circumstances which are recognised under the applicable collective bargaining agreements as justifying termination of the employment agreement at shorter notice or without notice and in determining these circumstances, it shall be ensured by the ship owner that the need of the seafarer to terminate, without penalty, the employment agreement on shorter notice or without notice for compassionate or other urgent reasons is taken into account.(8)Seafarers' entitlement for compensation from the ship owner in case of injury, loss or unemployment arising from loss of the ship or foundering shall be specified in the collective bargaining agreement or the Seafarers' Employment Agreement.
