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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 1999/63/EC of 21 June 1999 concerning the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST)
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Having regard to the Agreement on social policy annexed to the Protocol on social policy attached to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Articles 3(4) and 4(2) thereof;
Whereas Article 4(2) of the Agreement on social policy provides that agreements concluded at European level may be implemented at the joint request of the signatory parties by a Council Decision on a proposal from the Commission;
Whereas the signatory parties hereby make such a request,
THE SIGNATORY PARTIES HAVE AGREED THE FOLLOWING:
Textual Amendments
For the purpose of the Agreement:
the term ‘hours of work’ means time during which a seafarer is required to do work on account of the ship;
the term ‘hours of rest’ means time outside hours of work; this term does not include short breaks;
[F2the term ‘ seafarer ’ means any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship to which this Agreement applies;
the term ‘ shipowner ’ means the owner of the ship or another organisation or person, such as the manager, agent or bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners in accordance with this Agreement, regardless of whether any other organisation or persons fulfil certain of the duties or responsibilities on behalf of the shipowner.]
Within the limits set out in Clause 5, there shall be fixed either a maximum number of hours of work which shall not be exceeded in a given period of time, or a minimum number or hours of rest which shall be provided in a given period of time.
Without prejudice to Clause 5, the normal working hours' standard of seafarer is, in principle, based on an eight-hour day with one day of rest per week and rest on public holidays. Member States may have procedures to authorise or register a collective agreement which determines seafarers' normal working hours on a basis on less favourable than this standard.
maximum hours of work which shall not exceed
fourteen hours in any 24 hour period; and
72 hours in any seven-day period;
or
minimum hours of rest which shall not be less than:
ten hours in any 24 hour period; and
[X177 hours in any seven-day period.]
the schedule of service at sea and service in port; and
the maximum hours of work or the minimum hours of rest required by the laws, regulations or collective agreements in force in the Member States.
the effective training of the seafarers concerned, in accordance with established programmes and schedules, would be impaired; or
the specific nature of the duty or a recognised training programme requires that the seafarers covered by the exception perform duties at night and the authority determines, after consultation with the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organisations concerned, that the work will not be detrimental to their health or well-being.
The records referred to in Clause 8 shall be examined and endorsed at appropriate intervals, to monitor compliance with the provisions governing hours of work or hours of rest that give effect to this Agreement.
No person under 16 years of age shall work on a ship.
The shipowner shall provide the master with the necessary resources for the purpose of compliance with obligations under this Agreement, including those relating to the appropriate manning of the ship. The master shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the requirements on seafarers' hours of work and rest arising from this Agreement are complied with.
the hearing and sight of the seafarer concerned, and the colour vision in the case of a seafarer to be employed in capacities where fitness for the work to be performed is liable to be affected by defective colour vision, are all satisfactory; and
the seafarer concerned is not suffering from any medical condition likely to be aggravated by service at sea or to render the seafarer unfit for such service or to endanger the health of other persons on board.
a medical certificate shall be valid for a maximum period of two years unless the seafarer is under the age of 18, in which case the maximum period of validity shall be one year;
a certification of colour vision shall be valid for a maximum period of six years.
the period of such permission does not exceed three months; and
the seafarer concerned is in possession of an expired medical certificate of recent date.
Shipowners shall provide information on watchkeepers and other night workers to the national competent authority if they so request.
Seafarers shall have safety and health protection appropriate to the nature of their work. Equivalent protection and prevention services or facilities with regard to the safety and health of seafarers working by day or by night shall be available.
[F2Every seafarer shall be entitled to paid annual leave. The annual leave with pay entitlement shall be calculated on the basis of a minimum of 2,5 calendar days per month of employment and pro rata for incomplete months. The minimum period of paid annual leave may not be replaced by an allowance in lieu, except where the employment relationship is terminated.]
Editorial Information
X1 Substituted by Corrigendum to Council Directive 1999/63/EC of 21 June 1999 concerning the Agreement on the organisation of working time of seafarers concluded by the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) and the Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST) (Official Journal of the European Communities L 167 of 2 July 1999).
Textual Amendments
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