If you are hiring foreign crew, you must make sure working and living conditions on board vessels meet New Zealand safety standards, including those set out in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

You must also meet any safety, marine protection, crew living and hygiene standards set by the Director of Maritime New Zealand.

This includes making sure all crew have:

• access to enough fresh cold and hot water
• adequate food (quantity and type)
• enough washing facilities and toilets
• their own bed and suitable bedding
• clean and dry accommodation.

Crew must also be provided with suitable protective clothing and equipment so they can carry out their duties.

The vessel must carry enough medical stores and at least one crew member must be a qualified ‘ship’s medic’. In addition, vessel safety and emergency drills must be carried out regularly.

Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 – New Zealand legislation

You must make sure crew have access to:

• the manning agent, if this applies
• medical and dental treatment
• help with banking services, if asked
• translation services, if asked
• mail services
• New Zealand government agencies, like the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Police, Customs, Ministry for Primary Industries, if asked.

You must make sure crew employment agreements follow New Zealand employment law.

What to include in crew employment agreements

You must pay foreign crew:

• at least the New Zealand minimum statutory hourly wage plus NZD$6.00 per hour
• for all the hours they work
• for at least 42 hours per week on average while they are employed.

Minimum wage rates and types – Employment New Zealand

You can only deduct amounts from crew wages for:

• food (calculated at a maximum of 10% of hours worked  x the minimum wage)
• airfares to and from New Zealand
• Immigration New Zealand work visa application fees.

Deductions must be based on actual and reasonable confirmed costs.

You cannot make deductions that bring the hourly rate below the New Zealand minimum wage for all hours worked.

Wage advances

If crew want to pay the costs of personal items like cigarettes, phone cards and non-protective clothing from their wages, these are considered wage advances and not deductions.

You must pay crew regularly, either monthly or at every port call. Payment frequency must be set out in crew employment agreements.

If crew have only been paid the minimum hourly wage pay plus NZD$6.00 per hour, you must pay them for any hours they worked above the 42 hours a week, and you must pay them at least 24 hours before leaving New Zealand.

You must provide each crew member with a New Zealand bank account and pay wages into that account, unless they want to be paid in cash. No employer, manning agent, crew representative, or any other person associated with them, may have access to, or Power of Attorney over, any crew member’s New Zealand bank account.

Crew can only be paid in cash if they notify you in writing in their own language.

If crew choose to be paid in cash, you must:

• pay them while they are in New Zealand
• provide a final payslip at least 24 hours before they leave New Zealand so they have the opportunity to contact and meet with an authorised representative before they go.

If you pay in foreign currency, you must record the exchange rate, and provide it to crew at the time they are paid.

The principles apply even if you are an overseas employer.

Standard principles you must include

Contact details you need to include are:

• your name and address
• the crew member’s name and date of birth
• the crew member’s home address, phone number and email address, and
• the crew member's agent’s contact details, if they have an agent.

Employment details you need to include are:

• the length of the employment
• a reason for fixed-term agreements
• a description of the position being offered, including the duties of the job
• the name of the vessel the crew member will be working on
• the expected minimum number of work hours, which must be at least 42 hours per week on average over the length of the employment in New Zealand waters
• a clause agreeing that you will record all the hours the crew member works.

Financial details you need to include are:

• the hourly rate, which must be at least the New Zealand minimum hourly wage plus NZD$6.00
• any amounts that will be deducted
• the reason for the deductions
• the crew member’s agreement these amounts can be deducted
• your agreement you will record any deductions for audit purposes
• the currency you will pay the crew member in
• when and how the crew member will be paid – either to a New Zealand bank account in the crew member’s name, or in cash.

Work rights:

• any reasons you can dismiss the crew member
• an explanation of the crew member’s employment and immigration rights in the crew member’s own language – you can attach a copy of ‘Important information for foreign crews working in New Zealand Fisheries waters’
• a process for resolving problems and disputes that follows the ‘Steps for resolving problems and disputes’ on this page
• an agreement that the crew member had the opportunity to get independent advice about the employment agreement before signing it
• your signature and the crew member's signature and the date the agreement was signed.

Information for Foreign Fishing Crews working in New Zealand Fisheries waters

Explaining crew rights and obligations

Minimum wage rates and types – Employment New Zealand

If a principle does not apply

If you think a standard principle should not apply to your employment agreements, you must provide the reason for this with your Request for Approval in Principle (AIP) to Recruit Foreign Crew of Fishing Vessels.

Steps for resolving problem and disputes

If either party has a problem, there is a process for resolving problems and disputes.

1. Talk to the captain

If a crew member has a problem, they should talk to the captain first.

If at all possible the crew member should continue to work, and all the conditions of their employment agreement must be met.

2. Talk to the employer

If the problem cannot be resolved between the crew member and the captain, the crew member should talk to their employer.

If at all possible the crew member should continue to work, and all the conditions of their employment agreement must be met.

3. Talk to a third party

If the problem cannot be resolved between the employer and the crew member, then:

• the crew member can ask a Labour Inspector for help
• the crew member can contact the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Mediation Service, which provides mediation services to people in employee and employer and other work-related relationships.

Labour Inspectorate – Employment New Zealand

Mediation – Employment New Zealand

4. Take the problem to the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court

If the problem cannot be resolved by a Labour Inspector, or at mediation, then the crew member or the employer can refer the problem to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).

The ERA will formally investigate the problem and make a decision that will bind both the employer and the crew member.

If the you or the crew member do not agree with the decision, you can file a challenge to the Employment Court. They must do so within 28 days.

If the crew member’s problem is about minimum or contractual entitlements, they do not have to go to the ERA first – they can take their problem straight to the Employment Court.

Employment Relations Authority – Employment New Zealand

Employment Court – Ministry of Justice

5. Go to arbitration

If the problem cannot be resolved with the help of MBIE’s mediation service, the employer or the crew member can take the problem to arbitration. The employer and the crew member can choose an arbitrator from a panel of arbitrators set up by the New Zealand Fishing Industry Guild, the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council and MBIE.

The arbitrator will make a decision that will bind both the employer and the crew member. Neither party can appeal the decision the arbitrator makes, unless the arbitration didn’t follow the correct process.

Contact the Guild – New Zealand Fishing Industry Guild

6. Appeal to the District Court

Crew members and employers can only appeal to the District Court if there was an error with the process. They cannot appeal if they simply disagree with the decision.

Crew and employer rights and obligations

Representation

Crew members can ask a representative for their help to resolve a dispute, including from:

• a union
• the New Zealand Fishing Industry Guild
• a Community Law Centre
• a Citizens Advice Bureau.

Good faith

All parties must act in good faith including:

• the employer
• the crew member
• the crew member’s representative, if they choose to use one.

Good faith – Employment New Zealand

Employment Relations Act

Employers and crew members must comply with the Employment Relations Act.

Employment Relations Act 2000 – New Zealand Legislation

Explaining crew rights and obligations

To make sure crew members understand their rights and obligations, you must give each crew member a copy of the this guide in their own language.