Complaints and claims by seafarers

A complaint or a claim, what is it?

A complaint or a claim may be made in the event of non-compliance to rules on the conditions of employment, work and life on board, such as, in particular, the payment of wages, the work or rest hours, leave, medical care, living conditions, health and safety at work.

Who can file a complaint or claim?

« Any seaman/seafarer may, directly or through representatives ¹, , on board or ashore, formulate complaints or claims on any issue related to compliance with the rules on conditions of employment, work and life on board, either to his/her superior or to the master, or to a Labour inspectorate or any other authority » (art. L. 5534-1 of the Transport Code).

Protecting the right to file a complain

The law protects complainants and persons assisting them in exercising this right against retaliatory measures following a complaint.

Article L. 5534-2 of the Transport Code provides that:

• « I. - No seaman may be punished, dismissed or subjected to a discriminatory measure for having brought a complaint or filed a complaint, directly or through his/her representatives, or for having assisted a seaman in the exercise of this right..
• • II. - Any provision or any act taken against a seaman in ignorance of article I is null. . »

Who may provide advice?

You may seek advice on your complaint or claim:

• on board the ship, to the crew representative or in the absence of a representative, to the person designated by the shipowner;
• in any case, ashore, to a representative of the company’s staff members.

Anonymity of the complaint or claim

The complaint may be anonymous. In case of representation of the seafarer, the identity of the seafarer is not communicated unless the complainant authorizes to do so.

Where to file a complaint or claim?

The complaint or claim can be filed:

• either with the responsible persons on board: (the master or the line manager present on board);
• either with the public authorities: the competent Labour inspectorate (IT), namely of the ship’s port of call and/or of the employer’s headquarters and/or the competent ship safety center (CSN), namely the registration place of the ship on which the seafarer works.

How to file a complaint or claim?

For ships registered with the RIF, under the competence of different ship safety centers (CSN), complaints or claims from seafarers can be made by any means (oral/written) using the Cerfa form no 16006*01 which contains the mandatory information required.

The duly completed form shall be sent to the RIF Office (5 place Sadi Carnot / 13002 - Marseille / tel. : 04 86 94 67 50 | email: rif@mer.gouv.fr ).

The complaint or the claim can also be formulated by other means (telephone, email, …), on the basis of the aforementioned Cerfa form, with the Labour inspectorate services and/or CSN:

Register of complaints and claims on board

The master shall keep a register of complaints and claims on board the ship, in accordance with Article R. 5534-10 of the Transport Code.

This article states that « the master shall keep a register of complaints and claims on board any ship, in which the complaints and claims filed by seafarers are recorded for the persons responsible on board. This register is available, both for seafarers, so as to let them monitor their complaint or claim, and for the inspector of the Labour inspectorate and the inspector of ship safety center and occupational risk prevention. An annex to the logbook can be used as the register of complaints and claims. »