C2.4.b. Can a seafarer agree to be paid instead of actually taking paid annual leave? Can a seafarer agree to forgo annual leave?
Standard A2.4, paragraph 3 of the MLC, 2006 states that any agreement to forgo the minimum annual leave with pay prescribed in the Standard [see C2.4.a.], except in cases provided for by the competent authority, must be prohibited. While noting that the Convention is silent about the nature and scope of permissible exceptions, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has indicated that this provision needs to be understood in a restrictive manner. In contrast, to read in this Standard a broad authorization to forgo annual leave for cash compensation or otherwise, would defeat the purpose of Regulation 2.4, which is to ensure that seafarers enjoy a period of leave every year for the benefit of their health and well-being, which is also intrinsically linked with ship safety and security 52 . The objective of Regulation 2.4 is evidently to prevent fatigue, vessel unseaworthiness and all risks related thereto.
Entitlement to leave