Dutch minimum wage applies to crew on ships with Dutch home harbour, Dutch state council rules

January 5, 2019

  Tagged Netherlands

On 17 April 2019, the Dutch State Council (Raad van State) ruled that the Dutch Act on Minimum Wages applies to seafarers working on board of harbour tugboats (havensleepboten), provided their home harbour is in the Netherlands. This means that irrespective of where the ships are sailing in the world, they are obliged to pay minimum wage to the seafarers if the ship’s home harbour is based in the Netherlands. If the ships are only sailing in the Netherlands and not home harboured, the Minimum Wage Act is not relevant.

Employers of the seafarers, and agencies who supply seafarers to ship owners, need to be aware of whether the ship in question has its homebase in the Netherlands in order to avoid a penalty. Should a home harbour be present in the Netherlands and it is found by the Dutch Labour Inspector that a Dutch minimum wage has not been paid, the employer risks a penalty that depends on both the period of underpayment and how much the underpayment is.

Further Information

The verdict of the State Council is published on www.rechtspraak.nl (only in Dutch). The reference is: ECLI:NL:RVS:2019:1235

For further information or to discuss any of the issues raised, please contact Edith Franssen Edith Franssen on +31 10 224 64 53

CELIA Alliance
CELIA Alliance members are identified here. Members of the CELIA Alliance are each independent law firms and do not practice law jointly with any other member of the CELIA Alliance. “CELIA Alliance” and “CELIA” are not trading names. For more information about the CELIA Alliance click here.

Disclaimer
Content is for general information purposes only. The information provided is not intended to be comprehensive and it does not constitute or contain legal or other advice. If you require assistance in relation to any issue please seek specific advice relevant to your particular circumstances. In particular, no responsibility shall be accepted by the authors or by Abbiss Cadres LLP for any losses occasioned by reliance on any content appearing on or accessible from this newsletter. For further legal information click here.

Copying
If you would like to copy or otherwise reproduce this article then you may do so provided that: (1) any such copy or reproduction is for your own personal use or if it is made available to any third party it is done so on a free of charge basis; and (2) the article is reproduced in full together with the contact details, disclaimer and any logos as they appear on each article.