Bill 146.

Summary.

The bill governs employment relationships aboard domestic service merchant vessels and Panamanian flagged commercial fishing vessels operating domestically or internationally. It makes its provisions mandatory and defines exclusions for warships, certain temporary or land based services aboard vessels, training placements and employment governed by the special regime of the Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá). Within its scope, it directs the application of relevant international conventions, the Labor Code (Código de Trabajo) and labor law principles. It establishes an order of legal sources, gives ratified international conventions priority over conflicting domestic rules and requires the interpretation most favorable to seafarers and fishers.

The provisions render agreements that reduce recognized rights void and disregard simulated contracts or employers when identifying an employment relationship. They govern limitation periods for claims, interruption of those periods and expiry of certain disciplinary powers. A shipowner may not initiate or communicate measures against a crew member during incapacity or leave; the corresponding time limits are suspended. The bill prohibits unjustified discrimination, requires equal living and working conditions, and provides for equal pay for work of equal value. It refers changes of shipowner to the Labor Code and defines the persons, contracts, vessels, wages and other terms used in the framework.

For domestic service vessels, hiring foreign crew members would require a work permit issued by the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral) and compliance with technical requirements set by the Panama Maritime Authority (Autoridad Marítima de Panamá). The bill establishes the proportion of Panamanian crew members and foreign crew members with the specified family or residence ties. It also sets rules for small crews and technical or specialized personnel. Those authorities would regulate permits and requirements. Ordinary working time is based on eight (8) hours, weekly rest and national holidays or days of mourning. Overtime gives rise to agreed compensation subject to the prescribed minimum and must be recorded.

Weekly rest on domestic service merchant vessels may be accumulated under the conditions prescribed for crew members who remain aboard overnight. The bill sets minimum daily and weekly rest, governs how it may be divided and permits interruption for emergencies, rescue, safety drills, formalities and specified fishing operations. It requires compensatory rest or overtime pay and signed records of rest. It addresses work performed on rest days and national holidays or days of mourning, with distinct rules for domestic and international fishing. Crew members would receive paid annual and proportional leave. The bill regulates its scheduling, division and interruption and makes waivers of leave void.

Work aboard a vessel requires the minimum age and medical certificates suited to the duties, with a good health certificate for the excepted vessels and fishers. The bill governs certificate contents, issuance and validity, including color vision certificates and continued validity during a voyage. The Panama Maritime Authority would regulate their issuance, while each crew member must hold current technical documents for the position occupied. Vessels must carry sufficient qualified crew. When determining manning levels, the maritime authority must consider rest and fatigue; fishing vessel manning is governed by the applicable rules it issues.

Crew agreements may be indefinite, for a fixed term, for a voyage or for a season. They must be in writing, supplied to crew members and state the parties’ and vessel’s identities, term, duties, pay, rest, leave, social security, occupational risk coverage and other listed conditions. The bill provides for registration with the General Directorate of Seafarers (Dirección General de la Gente de Mar), copies aboard, probation and circumstances in which successive contracts create an indefinite or extended relationship. It also requires a crew list or hiring register and extends a fisher’s contract until port arrival when its term expires during navigation. It lists grounds for temporary suspension while preserving contractual continuity where applicable.

On pay, the bill recognizes periodic payment, individual statements and the priority afforded to employment claims. It regulates when wages begin for a crew member joining a vessel or traveling to it and the consequences of extending, canceling or interrupting a contracted voyage. It limits deductions and protects specified payments from attachment or assignment. It requires an itemization of consolidated pay, prohibits contracts intended to evade employment benefits, imposes joint liability on the shipowner and provides for the Thirteenth Month payment under Cabinet Decree No 221 of November 18, 1971 (Decreto de Gabinete No 221 de 18 de noviembre de 1971). For domestic fishing, it establishes guaranteed wage and production based methods and identifies the rest compensation included in each. The provisions would concern shipowners, merchant operators, fishing businesses, crew members, fishers and insurers, alongside the labor and maritime authorities, the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) and the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social) in the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá).