The Titanic – HR 100 years on

This weekend marks 100 years since RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg. Whilst much has been made of the passengers on board, largely due to James Cameron’s’ late 90’s film, the story of the crew is less known.

In 1912 most sea vessels did not have a permanent crew, workers were recruited weeks before the sailing date and often first stepped onboard just a few hours before passengers. Most of the crew were not seaman either, although many were professionals in their fields they had never worked upon a sea vessel. Just 192 crewmembers of the original 888 survived.

Pay on board the ship varied greatly, from £105 (equivalent to £7,704 today) a month for Captain Smith to a mere £3 10s (£254 today) for stewardesses – although those on lower wages could easily boost pay through tips.

A century ago a crewmember’s contract (and his pay) was immediately terminated when a ship went down. A partial payment for the incomplete voyage would then be made to survivors or to the dependents of those who died. The Titanic’s owners, White Star Line, eventually provided cash equal to a couple of weeks pay to the deceased’s families, although they had no legal obligation to do so.

It’s not difficult to see the progression maritime work has taken in the last 100 years. Health and safety is a considerable issue and many who work at sea need significant amounts of training and experience, as well as regular health-checks. Whilst pay will still vary greatly, national minimum wage still applies for seafarers and although some employment contracts may still expire if a ship sinks, death in service clauses are commonplace and an employer would have a difficult time both legally and from a PR prospective to simply pay dependants the wages owed.

National Minimum Wage – Are you aware of the changes?

In October 2011, the national minimum wage will increase by 2.5%. This will affect low paid workers with an increase of 15 pence, rising to £6.08 an hour.

However, it has been debated that this increase does not match the increasing cost of living, as union Unite commented.

“This small increase in the minimum wage is completely outstripped by the current rate of inflation,” said Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.

British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also stated that this may make young people too expensive to employ, when unemployment is already very high.

“The change to the national minimum wage rates announced today is the wrong increase, at the wrong time,” said BCC’s David Frost. “These changes will be a barrier to job creation, and ultimately economic recovery.”

With costs being so high to employ staff, organisations may be unwilling to spend so much and therefore reduce their hiring. BCC argue the increase should be delayed until the economy has further recovered, when business confidence is higher.

Legislation that you and your supplying agencies need to know about

Legislation relating to temporary agency workers is constantly being updated and renewed.  It is therefore important to know that agencies are not cutting corners and perhaps more importantly, that they themselves are aware of any relevant legislation.

Combined with the Government’s determination to ensure compliance it is essential that organisations are aware of where responsibility lies. Whether it be with the recruitment agency or the end user of temporary agency workers, failure to understand could have a detrimental effect on your organisation, resulting in fines or indeed prosecution.

Legislation that you must be clear on, irrespective of industry, includes legislation relating to:

• National Minimum Wage (NMW)
• Agency Workers Regulations (AWR)
• Immigration Points-Based System
• Corporate Manslaughter
• Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC)
• Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) checks
• The Removal of VAT Concessions
• Equality Bill

You will find a detailed summary for each of the above within in our legislation section on our website.