CONVENTION No. 76 Convention concerning Wages, Hours of Work onBoard Ship and Manning
CONVENTION No. 76 Convention concerning Wages, Hours of Work onBoard Ship and Manning
[This Convention had not come into force by 1 September 1965. Itwas revised in 1949 by Convention 93 and in 1958 by Convention 109.]
Whole document
The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,
Having been convened at Seattle by the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-eighth Session
on 6 June 1946, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals concerning
wages, hours of work on board ship and manning, which is the ninth item on
the agenda of the Session, and
Considering that these proposals involve a complete revision of the
Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, 1936, and must take the form
of an international Convention, adopts this twenty-ninth day of June of
the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-six the following Convention,
which may be cited as the Wages, Hours of Work and Manning (Sea)
Convention, 1946:
PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to prejudice any provision
concerning wages, hours of work on board ship, or manning, by law, award,
custom or agreement between shipowners and seafarers, which ensures the
seafarers conditions more favourable than those provided for by this
Convention.
Article 2
1. This Convention applies to every vessel, whether publicly or
privately owned, which is-
(a) mechanically propelled;
(b) registered in a territory for which the Convention is in
force;
(c) engaged in the transport of cargo or passengers for the
purpose of trade; and
(d) engaged in a voyage by sea.
2. This Convention does not apply to-
(a) vessels of less than 500 gross register tons;
(b) wooden vessels of primitive build such as dhows and junks;
(c) vessels engaged in fishing or in operations directly connected
therewith;
(d) estuarial craft.
Article 3
This Convention applies to every person who is engaged in any capacity
on board a vessel except-
(a) a master;
(b) a pilot not a member of the crew;
(c) a doctor;
(d) nursing staff engaged exclusively on nursing duties and
hospital staff;
(e) persons whose duties are connected solely with the cargo on
board;
(f) persons working exclusively on their own account or
remunerated exclusively by a share of profits or earnings;
(g) persons not remunerated for their services or remunerated only
by a nominal salary or wage;
(h) persons, excluding those in the service of a wireless
telegraphy company, who are employed on board by an employer other than
the shipowner;
(i) travelling dockers (longshoremen) not members of the crew;
(j) persons employed in whale-catching, floating factory or
transport vessels or otherwise for the purpose of whaling or similar
operations under conditions regulated by the provisions of a special
collective whaling or similar agreement determining the rates of pay,
hours of work and other conditions of service concluded by an organization
of seafarers;
(k) persons who are not members of the crew (whether working on or
off articles) but are employed while the vessel is in port on repairing,
cleaning, loading or unloading the vessel or similar work or on port
relief, maintenance, watch or care taking duties.
Article 4
In this Convention-
(a) the term "officer" means a person other than a master who is
described in the ship's articles as an officer or who is serving in a
capacity which by law, collective agreement or custom as recognised as
that of an officer;
(b) the term "rating" means a member of the crew other than a
master or officer and includes a certificated seaman;
(c) the term "able seaman" means any person who by national laws
or regulations, or in the absence of such laws or regulations by
collective agreement, is deemed to be competent to perform any duty which
may be required of a rating serving in the deck department other than the
duties of a leading or specialist rating;
(d) the term "basic pay or wages" means the remuneration of an
officer or rating in cash, exclusive of overtime, premiums or any other
allowances either in cash or in kind.
PART II. WAGES
Article 5
1. The basic pay or wages for a calendar month of service of an able
seaman employed in a vessel to which this Convention applies shall not be
less than sixteen pounds in currency of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland or sixty-four dollars in currency of the
United States of America or the equivalent thereof in other currency.
2. In the event of a change in the par value of the pound or the
dollar being notified to the International Monetary Fund-
(a) the minimum basic wage prescribed in paragraph 1 of this
Article in terms of the currency in respect of which such notification has
been made shall be adjusted so as to maintain equivalence with the other
currency;
(b) the adjustment shall be notified by the Director-General of
the International Labour Office to the Members of the International Labour
Organization; and
(c) the minimum basic wage so adjusted shall be binding upon
Members which have ratified the Convention in the same manner as the wage
prescribed in paragraph 1 of this Article, and shall take effect for each
such Member not later than the beginning of the second calendar month
following that in which the Director-General communicates the change to
Members.
Article 6
1. In the case of ships in which are employed such groups of ratings
as necessitate the employment of larger groups of ratings than would
otherwise be employed the minimum basic pay or wages of an able seaman
shall be an amount fixed as the adjusted equivalent of the minimum basic
pay or wages stipulated in the preceding Article.
2. The adjusted equivalent shall be fixed in accordance with the
principle of equal pay for equal work and due allowance shall be made
for-
(a) the extra number of ratings of such groups who are employed;
and
(b) any increase or decrease in cost to the shipowner consequent
on the employment of such groups of ratings.
3. The adjusted equivalent shall be determined by collective agreement
between the organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned or,
failing such agreement and subject to both countries concerned having
ratified the Convention, by the competent authority of the territory of
the group of seafarers concerned.
Article 7
If meals are not provided free of charge, the minimum basic pay or
wages shall be increased by an amount to be determined by collective
agreement between the organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned
or, failing such agreement, by the competent authority.
Article 8
1. The rate to be used for determining the equivalent in other
currency of the minimum basic pay or wages prescribed in Article 5 shall
be the ratio between the par value of that currency and the par value of
the pound of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or
of the dollar of the United States of America.
2. In the case of the currency of a Member of the International Labour
Organization which is a Member of the International Monetary Fund the par
value shall be that currently in effect under the Articles of Agreement of
the International Monetary Fund.
3. In the case of the currency of a Member of the International Labour
Organization which is not a Member of the International Monetary Fund, the
par value shall be the official rate of exchange, in terms of gold or of
the dollar of the United States of America of the weight and fineness in
effect on 1 July 1944, currently in effect for payments and transfers for
current international transactions.
4. In the case of any currency which cannot be dealt with under the
provisions of either of the two preceding paragraphs-
(a) the rate to be adopted for the purpose of this Article shall
be determined by the Member of the International Labour Organization
concerned;
(b) the Member concerned shall notify its decision to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office, who shall forthwith
inform the other Members which have ratified this Convention;
(c) within a period of six months from the date on which the
information is communicated by the Director-General, any other Member
which has ratified the Convention may inform the Director-General of the
International Labour Office that it objects to the decision, and the
Director-General shall thereupon inform the Member concerned and the other
Members which have ratified the Convention and shall report the matter to
the Committee provided for in Article 21;
(d) the foregoing provisions shall apply in the event of any
change in the decision of the Member concerned.
5. A change in basic pay or wages as a result of a change in the rate
for determining the equivalent in other currency shall take effect not
later than the beginning of the second calendar month following that in
which the change in the relative par values of the currencies concerned
becomes effective.
Article 9
Each Member shall take the necessary measures-
(a) to ensure, by way of a system of supervision and sanctions,
that remuneration is paid at not less than the rate required by this
Convention; and
(b) to ensure that any person who has been paid at a rate less
than that required by this Convention is enabled to recover, by an
inexpensive and expeditious judicial or other procedure, the amount by
which he has been underpaid.
PART III. HOURS OF WORK ON BOARD SHIP
Article 10
This Part of this Convention does not apply to-
(a) a chief officer or chief engineer;
(b) a purser;
(c) any other officer in charge of a department who does not keep
watch;
(d) a person employed in the clerical or catering department of a
vessel who is-
(i) serving in a superior grade as defined by a collective
agreement between the organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned;
or
(ii) working chiefly on his own account; or
(iii) remunerated solely on a commission basis or chiefly by a
share of profits or earnings.
Article 11
In this Part of this Convention-
(a) the term "near trade ship" means a vessel exclusively engaged
in voyages upon which it does not proceed farther from the country from
which it trades than the near-by ports of neighbouring countries within
geographical limits which-
(i) are clearly specified by national laws, regulations or by
collective agreement between organizations of shipowners and seafarers;
(ii) are uniform in respect of the application of all the
provisions of this Part of the Convention;
(iii) have been notified by the Member when registering its
ratification by a declaration annexed thereto; and
(iv) have been fixed after consultation with the other Members
concerned;
(b) the term "distant trade ship" means a vessel other than a near
trade ship;
(c) the term "passenger ship" means a vessel licensed to carry
more than twelve passengers;
(d) the term "hours of work" means time during which a person is
required by the orders of a superior to do work on account of the vessel
or the owner.
Article 12
1. This Article applies to officers and ratings employed in the deck,
engine-room and radio departments of near trade ships.
2. The normal hours of work of an officer or rating shall not exceed-
(a) when the vessel is at sea, twenty-four hours in any period of
two consecutive days;
(b) when the vessel is in port-
(i) on the weekly day of rest, such time not exceeding two
hours as is necessary for ordinary routine and sanitary duties;
(ii) on other days, eight hours except where a collective
agreement provides for less on any day;
(c) one hundred and twelve hours in a period of two consecutive
weeks.
3. Time worked in excess of the limits prescribed in subparagraphs (a)
and (b) of paragraph 2 shall be regarded as overtime for which the officer
or rating concerned shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with
the provisions of Article 17 of this Convention.
4. When the total number of hours worked in a period of two
consecutive weeks, excluding hours regarded as overtime, exceeds one
hundred and twelve, the officer or rating concerned shall be compensated
by time off in port or otherwise as may be determined by collective
agreement between the organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned.
5. National laws or regulations or collective agreements shall
determine when a ship is to be regarded as being at sea and when it is to
be regarded as being in port for the purposes of this Article.
Article 13
1. This Article applies to officers and ratings employed in the deck,
engine-room and radio departments of distant trade ships.
2. When the vessel is at sea and on days of sailing and arrival, the
normal hours of work of an officer or rating shall not exceed eight hours
in any one day.
3. When the vessel is in port, the normal hours of work of an officer
or rating shall not exceed-
(a) on the weekly day of rest, such time not exceeding two hours
as is necessary for ordinary routine and sanitary duties;
(b) on other days, eight hours except where a collective agreement
provides for less on any day.
4. Time worked in excess of the daily limits prescribed in the
preceding paragraphs shall be regarded as overtime for which the officer
or rating shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the
provisions of Article 17 of this Convention.
5. When the total number of hours worked in a period of one week,
excluding hours regarded as overtime, exceeds forty-eight, the officer or
rating shall be compensated by time off in port or otherwise as may be
determined by collective agreement between the organizations of shipowners
and seafarers concerned.
6. National laws or regulations or collective agreements shall
determine when a ship is to be regarded as being at sea and when it is to
be regarded as being in port for the purposes of this Article.
Article 14
1. This Article applies to persons employed in the catering department
of a vessel.
2. In the case of a passenger ship normal hours of work shall not
exceed-
(a) when the vessel is at sea and on days of sailing and arrival,
ten hours in any consecutive period of fourteen hours;
(b) when the vessel is in port-
(i) when passengers are on board, ten hours in any period of
fourteen hours;
(ii) in other cases-
on the day preceding the weekly day of rest, five hours;
on the weekly day of rest, five hours for persons engaged
in messing duties and such time not exceeding two hours as is necessary
for ordinary routine and sanitary duties in the case of other persons;
on any other day, eight hours.
3. In the case of a vessel not a passenger ship, normal hours of work
shall not exceed-
(a) when the vessel is at sea and on days of sailing and arrival,
nine hours in any period of thirteen hours;
(b) when the vessel is in port-
on the weekly day of rest, five hours;
on the day preceding the weekly day of rest, six hours;
on any other days, eight hours in any period of twelve hours.
4. When the total number of hours worked in a period of two
consecutive weeks exceeds one hundred and twelve the person concerned
shall be compensated by time off in port or otherwise as may be determined
by collective agreement between the organizations of shipowners and
seafarers concerned.
5. National laws or regulations or collective agreements between the
organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned may make special
arrangements for the regulation of the hours of work of night watchmen.
Article 15
1. This Article applies to officers and ratings employed in near and
distant trade ships.
2. Time off in port should be the subject of negotiations between the
organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned on the basis that
officers and ratings should receive the maximum time off in port that is
practicable and that such time off should not count as leave.
Article 16
1. The competent authority may exempt from the application of this
Part of this Convention officers not already excluded therefrom by virtue
of Article 10, subject to the following conditions:
(a) the officers must be entitled in virtue of a collective
agreement to conditions of employment which the competent authority
certifies constitute full compensation for the non-application of this
Part of the Convention;
(b) the collective agreement must have been originally concluded
before 30 June 1946 and the agreement or a renewal thereof must be still
in force.
2. A Member having recourse to the provisions of paragraph 1 shall
supply to the Director-General of the International Labour Office full
particulars of any such collective agreement and the Director-General
shall lay a summary of the information received by him before the
Committee referred to in Article 21.
3. The said Committee shall consider whether the collective agreements
reported to it provide for conditions of employment which constitute full
compensation for the non-application of this Part of this Convention. Each
Member ratifying the Convention undertakes to give consideration to any
observations or suggestions made by the Committee concerning such
agreements and further undertakes to bring any such observations or
suggestions to the notice of the organizations of shipowners and officers
who are parties to such agreements.
Article 17
1. The rate or rates of compensation for overtime shall be prescribed
by national laws or regulations or be fixed by collective agreement, but
in no case shall the hourly rate of payment for overtime be less than one
and a quarter times the basic pay or wages per hour.
2. Collective agreements may provide for compensation by equivalent
time off duty and off the vessel in lieu of cash payment or for any other
method of compensation.
Article 18
1. There shall be no consistent working of overtime.
2. Time spent in the following work shall not be included in normal
hours of work or be regarded as overtime for the purpose of this Part of
this Convention:
(a) work that the master deems to be necessary and urgent for the
safety of the vessel, cargo or persons on board;
(b) work required by the master for the purpose of giving
assistance to other vessels or persons in distress;
(c) musters, fire, lifeboat and similar drills of the kind
prescribed by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
for the time being in force;
(d) extra work for the purposes of customs or quarantine or other
health formalities;
(e) normal and necessary work by officers for the determination of
the position of the ship and for making meteorological observations;
(f) extra time required for the normal relieving of watches.
3. Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to impair the right and
duty of the master of a vessel to require, or the duty of an officer or
rating to perform, any work deemed by the master to be necessary for the
safe and efficient operation of the vessel.
Article 19
1. No person under the age of sixteen years shall work at night.
2. For the purpose of this Article, "night" means a period of at least
nine consecutive hours between times before and after midnight to be
prescribed by national laws or regulations or collective agreements.
PART IV. MANNING
Article 20
1. Every vessel to which this Convention applies shall be sufficiently
and efficiently manned for the purposes of-
(a) ensuring the safety of life at sea;
(b) giving effect to the provisions of Part III of this
Convention; and
(c) preventing excessive strain upon the crew and avoiding or
minimising as far as practicable the working of overtime.
2. Each Member undertakes to maintain, or to satisfy itself that there
is maintained, efficient machinery for the investigation and settlement
of any complaint or dispute concerning the manning of a vessel.
3. Representatives of the organizations of shipowners and seafarers
shall participate, with or without other persons or authorities, in the
operation of such machinery.
PART V. APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION
Article 21
1. Effect may be given to this Convention by (a) laws or regulations;
(b) collective agreements between shipowners and seafarers (except as
regards paragraph 2 of Article 20); or (c) a combination of laws or
regulations and collective agreements between shipowners and seafarers.
Except as may be otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this
Convention shall be made applicable to every vessel registered in the
territory of the ratifying Member and to every person engaged on any such
vessel.
2. Where effect has been given to any provision of this Convention by
a collective agreement in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this Article, then
notwithstanding anything contained in Article 9 of this Convention the
Member shall not be required to take any measures in pursuance of Article
9 of this Convention in respect of the provisions of the Convention to
which effect has been so given by collective agreement.
3. Each Member ratifying this Convention shall supply to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office information on the
measures by which the Convention is applied, including particulars of any
collective agreements in force which give effect to any of its provisions.
4. Each Member ratifying this Convention undertakes to take part, by
means of a tripartite delegation, in any Committee representative of
Governments and shipowners' and seafarers' organizations, and including,
in an advisory capacity, representatives of the Joint Maritime Commission
of the International Labour Office, which may be set up for the purpose of
examining the measures taken to give effect to the Convention.
5. The Director-General shall lay before the said Committee a summary
of the information received by him under paragraph 3 above.
6. The Committee shall consider whether the collective agreements
reported to it give full effect to the provisions of the Convention. Each
Member ratifying the Convention undertakes to give consideration to any
observations or suggestions concerning the application of the Convention
made by the Committee, and further undertakes to bring to the notice of
the organizations of shipowners and of seafarers who are parties to any of
the collective agreements mentioned in paragraph 1 any observations or
suggestions of the aforesaid Committee concerning the degree to which such
agreements give effect to the provisions of the Convention.
Article 22
1. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall be responsible for
the application of its provisions to vessels registered in its territory
and shall, except where effect is given to the Convention by collective
agreements, maintain in force laws or regulations which-
(a) determine the respective responsibilities of the shipowner and
the master for ensuring compliance therewith;
(b) prescribe adequate penalties for any violation thereof;
(c) provide for adequate public supervision of compliance with
Part IV of the Convention;
(d) require the keeping of the records of hours worked necessary
for the purposes of Part III of the Convention and of the compensation
granted in respect of overtime and of excess hours of work;
(e) ensure to seafarers the same remedies for recovering payments
due to them in respect of compensation for overtime and for excess hours
of work as they have for recovering other arrears of pay.
2. The organizations of shipowners and seafarers concerned shall, so
far as is reasonable and practicable, be consulted in the framing of all
laws or regulations for giving effect to the provisions of this
Convention.
Article 23
For the purpose of giving mutual assistance in the enforcement of this
Convention, every Member which ratifies the Convention undertakes to
require the competent authority in every port in its territory to inform
the consular or other appropriate authority of any other such Member of
any case in which it comes to the notice of such authority that the
requirements of the Convention are not being complied with in a vessel
registered in the territory of that other Member.
PART VI. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 24
For the purpose of Article 28 of the Hours of Work and Manning (Sea)
Convention, 1936, the present Convention shall be regarded as a
Convention revising that Convention.
Article 25
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to
the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.
Article 26
1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the
International Labour Organization whose ratifications have been registered
with the Director-General.
2. It shall first come into force six months after the date at which
the following conditions have been fulfilled:
(a) the ratifications of nine of the following Members have been
registered: United States of America, Argentine Republic, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Greece, India, Ireland,
Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Yugoslavia;
(b) at least five of the Members whose ratifications have been
registered have at the date of registration each not less than one million
gross register tons of shipping;
(c) the aggregate tonnage of shipping possessed at the time of
registration by the Members whose ratifications have been registered is
not less than fifteen million gross register tons.
3. The provisions of the preceding paragraph are included for the
purpose of facilitating and encouraging early ratification of the
Convention by Member States.
4. After the Convention has first come into force, it shall come into
force for any Member six months after the date on which its ratification
has been registered.
Article 27
1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after
the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention comes
into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the
International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not
take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.
2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not,
within the year following the expiration of the period of ten years
mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation
provided for in this Article, will be bound for another period of ten
years and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of
each period of ten years under the terms provided for in this Article.
Article 28
1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall
notify all the Members of the International Labour Organization of the
registration of all ratifications, declarations and denunciations
communicated to him by the Members of the Organization.
2. When notifying the Members of the Organization of the registration
of the last of the ratifications required to bring the Convention into
force, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the
Organization to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.
Article 29
The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall
communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for
registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United
Nations full particulars of all ratifications, declarations and acts of
denunciation registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the
preceding Articles.
Article 30
At such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the
International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a
report on the working of this Convention and shall examine the
desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of
its revision in whole or in part.
Article 31
1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this
Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise
provides,
(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention
shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention,
notwithstanding the provisions of Article 27 above, if and when the new
revising Convention shall have come into force;
(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into
force, this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the
Members.
2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual
form and content for those Members which have ratified it but have not
ratified the revising Convention.
Article 32
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are
equally authoritative.
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