(c)
(1) Subject to subsection (d), and except as provided in paragraph (2), when payment is not made as provided under subsection (b) of this section without sufficient cause, the master or owner shall pay to the seaman 2 days’ wages for each day payment is delayed.
(2) The total amount required to be paid under paragraph (1) with respect to all claims in a class action suit by seamen on a passenger vessel capable of carrying more than 500 passengers for wages under this section against a vessel master, owner, or operator or the employer of the seamen shall not exceed ten times the unpaid wages that are the subject of the claims.
(3)
A class action suit for wages under this subsection must be commenced within three years after the later of—
(A) the date of the end of the last voyage for which the wages are claimed; or
(B) the receipt, by a seaman who is a claimant in the suit, of a payment of wages that are the subject of the suit that is made in the ordinary course of employment.
(f) Deposits in Seaman Account.—
On written request signed by the seaman, a seaman employed on a passenger vessel capable of carrying more than 500 passengers may authorize, the master, owner, or operator of the vessel, or the employer of the seaman, to make deposits of wages of the seaman into a checking, savings, investment, or retirement account, or other account to secure a payroll or debit card for the seaman if—
(1) the wages designated by the seaman for such deposit are deposited in a United States or international financial institution designated by the seaman;
(2) such deposits in the financial institution are fully guaranteed under commonly accepted international standards by the government of the country in which the financial institution is licensed;
(3) a written wage statement or pay stub, including an accounting of any direct deposit, is delivered to the seaman no less often than monthly; and
(4) while on board the vessel on which the seaman is employed, the seaman is able to arrange for withdrawal of all funds on deposit in the account in which the wages are deposited.
| Historical and Revision Notes |
| Revised section |
Source section (U.S. Code) |
| 10504 |
46:596 46:597 46:598 |
Section 10504 specifies when seamen on coastwise voyages may obtain portions of their wages. The section does not apply to fishing vessels, whaling vessels or yachts, and portions of it do not apply to vessels taking oysters. It does apply to foreign vessels while in United States ports.
Amendments
2010—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–281, § 902(b)(1), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “Subject to subsection (d), and except as provided in paragraph (2), when” for “When”, and added pars. (2) and (3).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 111–281, § 902(b)(2), added subsec. (f).
1986—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–640, § 10(b)(4), struck out last sentence which read as follows: “However, this subsection applies to a vessel taking oysters.”
Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 99–640, § 10(b)(5), struck out “(except a vessel taking oysters)” after “vessel”.
1985—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99–36 amended subsec. (d) generally, thereby including reference to a vessel engaged in coastwise commerce.
Effective Date of 1985 Amendment
Pub. L. 99–36, § 1(b), May 15, 1985, 99 Stat. 68, provided that:
“The effective date of subsection (a)(5) of this section [amending this section] is August 26, 1983.”
