New legislation designed to prevent a repeat of the mass sacking of 800 seafarers by P&O Ferries is being introduced to Parliament by the Labour government this week.
The Employment Rights Bill will introduce new protections specifically devised for seafarers to toughen laws around collective dismissal and cementing wage protections in UK law.
The bill also includes a measure that will end ‘fire and rehire’ practices except where employers genuinely have no alternative, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).
The package of seafarer protections is aimed at preventing another P&O Ferries scandal from happening after the 2022 firing of hundreds of seafarers to be replaced with lower paid agency workers.
The government said it will also close a loophole exploited by P&O Ferries – toughening the collective redundancy notification requirements for operators of foreign vessels.
It means operators planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will first be legally required to notify the government and face potential prosecution or an unlimited fine.
The government also plans to introduce powers to implement international conventions relating to seafarer employment and is “urgently exploring options to introduce mandatory employment standards at sea by setting minimum standards for operators on working conditions”.
Regulations will be laid today (Thursday) to allow the act – passed last year – to come into force on December 1.
Alongside a similar law introduced by the French government, this will establish a ‘minimum wage corridor’ across short sea Channel crossings.
“The act is designed to deliver fair pay, requiring operators that call at least 120 times a year at UK ports to pay their seafarers at least the equivalent of the UK National Minimum Wage equivalent,” the DfT said.
Operators that fail to comply will be forced to pay a surcharge at each port call made. Continued non-compliance could see operators refused access to the port altogether.
Transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “The mass sacking by P&O Ferries was a national scandal which can never be allowed to happen again. These measures will make sure it doesn’t.
“We are closing the legal loophole that P&O Ferries exploited when they sacked almost 800 dedicated seafarers and replaced them with low paid agency workers and we are requiring operators to pay the equivalent of National Minimum Wage in UK waters.”
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: “What we saw with P&O Ferries was an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer and exactly why we’re taking bold action to improve job security in the UK.
These long overdue changes will shield workers from the mistreatment of having their terms and conditions ripped up before their eyes, while benefiting good employers to compete on quality and innovation, rather than a race to the bottom.”