P&O Ferries has been found to have paid some crew members less than half the UK minimum wage.
The company exploited a legal loophole the government vowed to address two years ago.
An analysis of recent payslips by The Guardian and ITV News shows agency workers for the Dubai-owned DP World subsidiary received wages as low as £4.87 an hour.
This contradicts the company’s earlier claim of a minimum £5.15 hourly rate.
This practice follows the controversial dismissal of approximately 800 employees in 2022, replaced by lower-cost staff from India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Those workers endured grueling 12-hour shifts daily without breaks for extended periods.
One worker described the situation as akin to being in “jail,” which has drawn criticism and promises of legislative action from UK officials, including former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
They likened P&O’s actions to “pirates of the high sea.”
Despite pledges to enforce UK minimum wage laws for ferry workers, legal and regulatory changes have been slow, with the British government yet to enact promised legislation.
P&O Ferries: “We always pay at least the minimum wage required by national and international law”
France is moving forward with laws ensuring that cross-Channel operators pay at least the French minimum wage.
It highlights the disparity in governmental response to the exploitation of maritime workers.
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P&O Ferries insists it complies with national and international minimum wage laws.
The firm states its Dover to Calais route crew earn an equivalent of £5.20 an hour, a figure that includes holiday pay according to their calculations.
P&O Ferries said it did “not recognise” the pay rates of below £5 an hour and a spokesperson added: “We always pay at least the minimum wage required by national and international law.”
The delay in implementing the UK’s Seafarers’ Wages Act, which would mandate pay at least equal to the national minimum wage, leaves many workers in limbo.
They continue to face conditions criticised as exploitative and inhumane.
As the second anniversary of P&O’s mass firings passes, the lack of significant legal progress frustrates efforts to improve working conditions for maritime employees.
