Ferry operators face having to pay UK minimum wage

Ferry operators face having to pay UK minimum wage

Ferry operators in the UK could be forced to pay their workers the UK minimum wage under a change to current laws.

Ministers hope that the change to the law could make P&O take back their 800 staff who were sacked earlier this month via video call.

Legislation will be set out in the commons later this week.

Public outrage has followed P&O’s decision to sack 800 staff without notice, as they are now taking on agency staff who are reported to be paid under the national minimum wage.

P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite has faced calls to resign after he admitted to MPs last week that he had known sacking workers without notice was against the law.

Protests took place at several ports over the weekend, with unions holding demonstrations at Dover, Hull, and Liverpool.

There is currently a loophole that allows ferry operators who use UK ports but are registered overseas to pay less than the minimum wage.

The UK minimum hourly rate is £8.91, while the average rate paid to the agency staff brought in by P&O Ferries would be £5.50.

Unions raised fears over a lack of training of new crew, with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) detaining P&O Ferries’ vessel European Causeway in Northern Ireland on Friday.

The ship was held over “failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation, and crew training”, the MCA said.

P&O Ferries said it would make changes to return the ship to service.

The Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers Union said it would not accept the National Minimum Wage for its members, and that P&O Ferries should honour their existing contracts of employment.

P&O Ferries has said it had to replace crews because it was losing £100m a year and would not be a viable business without making the changes.