Merchant Shipping Act 1894

Advance and Allotment of Wages.

140Advance notes restricted.

(1)(a)Where an agreement with the crew is required to be made in a form approved by the Board of Trade, the agreement may contain a stipulation for payment to or on behalf of the seaman, conditionally on his going to sea in pursuance of the agreement, of a sum not exceeding the amount of one month's wages payable to the seaman under the agreement; and

(b)Stipulations for the allotment of a seaman's wages may be made in accordance with this Act.

(2)Save as aforesaid an agreement by or on behalf of the employer of a seaman for the payment of money to or on behalf of the seaman conditionally on his going to sea from any port in the United Kingdom shall be void, and any money paid in satisfaction or in respect of any such agreement shall not be deducted from the seaman's wages, and a person shall not have any right of action, suit, or set-off against the seaman or his-assignee in respect of any money so paid or purporting to have been so paid.

141Regulations as to allotment notes.

(1)Any stipulation made by a seaman at the commencement of a voyage for the allotment of any part of his wages during his absence shall be inserted in the agreement with the crew, and shall state the amounts and times of the payments to be made.

(2)Where the agreement is required to be made in a form approved by the Board of Trade, the seaman may require that a stipulation be inserted in the agreement for the allotment by means of an allotment note, of any part (not exceeding one half) of his wages in favour either of a near relative or of a savings bank.

(3)Allotment notes shall be in a form approved by the Board of Trade.

(4)For the purposes of the provisions of this Act with respect to allotment notes—

(a)the expression " near relative " means one of the following persons, namely, the wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, child, grandchild, brother, or sister of the seaman.

(b)the expression " savings bank " means a seamen's savings bank under this Act, or a trustee savings bank, or a post office savings bank.

142Allotments through savings banks.

(1)An allotment in favour of a savings bank shall be made in favour of such persons and carried into effect in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations of the Board of Trade.

(2)The sum received by a savings bank in pursuance of an allotment, shall be paid out only on an application made, through a superintendent or the Board of Trade, by the seaman himself, or, in case of his death, by some person to whom his property, if under one hundred pounds in value, may be paid under this Act.

143Right of suing on allotment notes.

(1)The person in whose favour an allotment note under this Act is made may, unless the seaman is shown, in manner in this Act specified, to have forfeited or ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid, recover the sums allotted, when and as the same are made payable, with costs from the owner of the ship with respect to which the engagement was made, or from any agent of the owner who has authorised the allotment, in the same court and manner in which wages of seamen mot exceeding fifty pounds may be recovered under this Act; provided that the wife of a seaman, if she deserts her children, or so misconducts herself as to be undeserving of support from her husband, shall forfeit all right to further payments under any allotment made in her favour.

(2)In any proceeding for such recovery it shall be sufficient for the claimant to prove that he is the person mentioned in the note, and that the note was given by the owner or by the master or some other authorised agent; and the seaman shall be presumed to be duly earning his wages, unless the contrary is shown to the satisfaction of the court, either—

(a)by the official statement of the change in the crew caused by his absence, made and signed by the master, as by this Act is required, or

(b)by a certified copy of some entry in the official log-book to the effect that he has left the ship, or

(c)by a credible letter from the master of the ship to the same effect, or

(d)by such other evidence as the court in their absolute discretion consider sufficient to show satisfactorily that the seaman has ceased to be entitled to the wages out of which the allotment is to be paid.

144Time for payment of allotment note.

A payment under an allotment note shall begin at the expiration of one month, or, if the allotment is in favour of a savings bank, of three months, from the date of the agreement with the crew, or at such later date as may be fixed by the agreement, and shall be paid at the expiration of every subsequent month, or of such other periods as may be fixed by the agreement, and shall be paid only in respect of wages earned before the date of payment.