Eliminating Toxic Cultures at Sea: Practical Steps for Cruise Lines

Harassment, bullying, and discrimination remains a serious issue across the shipping industry, and cruise ships are no exception.

In a 2022 survey of 1128 female seafarers from 78 countries, conducted by stakeholders including the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association, Anglo Eastern, International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network and the International Chamber of Shipping, 25% of the participants reported that physical and sexual harassment is common in the shipping sector, with a further 60% reporting that they have encountered gender-based discrimination whilst working onboard a ship.¹ Cruise operators should be taking action to prevent harassment onboard to protect the wellbeing of crew and meet their legal obligations.

All seafarers have the right to work without experiencing harassment (including sexual harassment), bullying and discrimination. The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 provides for the fundamental right to the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and requires shipowners to take account of the International Chamber of Shipping’s Guidance (published jointly with the International Transport Workers’ Federation) on eliminating shipboard harassment and bullying when establishing its health and safety procedures.

Harassment and bullying on board can have serious consequences for the physical and mental health and well-being of seafarers and can lead to decreased motivation and productivity, increased absenteeism and can compromise cohesive and effective teamwork and ultimately safety.

Cruise crew members working cannot easily escape a toxic, discriminatory, bullying or harassing working environment, as on a ship, the boundaries between work, home and private life are blurred and thus the impact of such an environment can be compounded. Crew are isolated from their family, friends and support networks, and working in extremely close quarters, with very little personal space.

Dealing with discrimination, bullying and harassment allegations and claims is time-consuming and expensive. In addition, the potential for reputational harm both for the ship, and the company is real if the issue is not taken seriously and such allegations and complaints are not handled properly. For the victims and indeed the accused, there can also be huge personal cost in terms of the adverse effect on mental health and wellbeing. Thankfully, the tide is now turning and a growing number of companies within the shipping industry are taking the matter seriously.

Under English law this is particularly important as the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on 26 October 2024. This Act introduced a mandatory duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of employees. The duty covers both steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees by other employees, or by third parties (such as customers) from occurring. This change also means that where an employer has breached their duty, an employment tribunal can apply a 25% uplift on the compensation awarded to a claimant in a claim involving sexual harassment and the Equality & Human Rights Commission can also take enforcement steps against the employer.

Whilst a robust anti-harassment and bullying policy is one way of combatting a toxic culture onboard, 97% of respondents to the 2022 survey referred to above stated that their company had a harassment and bullying policy, but nearly 60% of the respondents acknowledged having experienced harassment, which indicates that a policy is not enough and a holistic approach is required.

Practical steps cruise lines should take

So what practical steps should a cruise line take to minimise the risk of discrimination, bullying and harassment occurring on board and to quickly and effectively deal with any issue that might arise, thereby preventing a toxic on board culture from developing?

Amongst other steps, employers might consider:

• Adopting a top-down culture of zero tolerance to harassment, discrimination and bullying on board, led by the captain, senior officers, heads of department and line managers.
• Embedding a “speak up” culture without fear of reprisals.
• Ensuring comprehensive background screening and reference checks are conducted on all new crew members, including details of any grievances raised against them, disciplinary action taken against them and criminal records checks.
• Ensuring policies are consistent and tie in with each other. Updating anti-harassment, email and internet policies to ensure they expressly cover virtual sexual harassment and cyber bullying. Disciplinary procedures should make clear that bullying, discrimination and/or harassment will constitute a disciplinary offence, potentially justifying summary dismissal for gross misconduct.
• Ensuring on-board complaint procedures comply with Regulation 5.1.5 of the MLC. Providing all crew with a copy of the ship’s on-board complaint procedure and details of a person on board to whom confidential complaints can be made and who will assist them with making a complaint, including attending any meetings with them. Crew members should also be made aware that they have a right to complain directly to the captain. The procedures should provide for the fair, effective and expeditious handling of crew complaints and should prohibit victimisation of a crew member for filing a complaint.
• Requiring crew members to communicate with each other only on platforms that are subject to the employer’s monitoring procedures. Victims of bullying, harassment or discrimination should be encouraged to take screen shots or photos of inappropriate messages and communications which can be used as evidence in internal investigations, disciplinary procedures and any subsequent litigation. For deterrent effect, make it clear that emails and instant messaging conversations on work devices may be preserved and used as evidence.
• Encouraging crew members not to give out personal contact details and to communicate only via work mobile phone numbers and work email addresses, as applicable.
• Drawing the ship’s anti-harassment policy to the attention of passengers and suppliers and including anti-harassment provisions in the ship’s terms of conditions of business with third parties (e.g. supply contracts).
• Conducting regular training for crew members at all levels, including during the induction process. Ensuring policies are communicated regularly and appropriately to improve awareness of their effectiveness. Updating policies regularly to take account of legislative changes and best practice guidance.
• Taking steps to remove the stigma and shame which puts victims off reporting. Making it clear that sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination can unfortunately happen to crew members at all levels of seniority, all ages and across all genders and sexual orientations.
• Treating all complaints seriously and handling them promptly. Victims often believe it is their fault. It takes courage to speak up. Delays in dealing with complaints can lead to the victim believing that the employer is not taking their complaint seriously, which means they may seek redress outside their employer by reporting it to the police, flag state, port authority or by going to the media, such that the employer loses control of the situation with all the risks that this entails. Delay can also impact adversely on the victim’s mental health leading them to be signed off work sick.
• Recognising that investigatory grievance and disciplinary procedures are stressful for both parties involved and that the alleged perpetrator is innocent until proven guilty. Providing the alleged perpetrator and victim with access to confidential counselling, i.e. an employee assistance programme.
• Not simply moving the alleged victim to a different job or ship as a way of resolving a case of harassment or bullying. It is often a junior female who makes the complaint and that could give rise to both gender and age discrimination complaints under English law. It could be considered a further act of victimisation against the crew member for having raised the complaint of harassment or discrimination. Further, if the victim has more than two years’ continuous employment then they could, under English law, bring a constructive unfair dismissal claim on the ground that moving them rather than the perpetrator constitutes a fundamental breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence the employer owes them.
• Training captains, line managers and the Designated Person Ashore on how to spot the warning signs and how to deal with sensitive issues. Warning signs can include increased sickness absence, lack of participation in team meetings or reluctance to work with a particular individual.
• Appointing workplace champions on board and ashore who receive specialist training in the sensitive issues involved in discrimination, bullying and harassment. Be aware that victims may only want to report sexual harassment to someone who is the same gender as them.
• Publicising reporting procedures, which need to be easily accessible and user friendly. Displaying anti-harassment, anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies in prominent public places on board and ensuring that they are available online. They could be put on an app which is automatically installed on all crew members’ devices, and which also includes access to a confidential reporting hotline.
• Stressing that reporting procedures are not just for victims of discrimination, bullying and harassment and that anyone who observes the inappropriate conduct of others is under a duty to report it and will be protected from victimisation. Stressing the importance of captains, senior officers, department heads and line managers intervening when they witness inappropriate conduct, so that a culture of banter, bullying or harassment does not grow inadvertently. The number of reports from bystanders, such as other crew members, is a good way of measuring the practical effectiveness of your reporting procedures.
• Tracking the progress of crew members who report sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying and witnesses in investigations to ensure that they do not suffer victimisation or detrimental treatment.
• Using anonymous staff surveys and exit interviews to monitor patterns of bullying, harassment or discrimination or areas of the ship where harassment, bullying or discrimination is at increased risk of occurrence, and dealing with it swiftly to stamp it out before it becomes pervasive.
• Reviewing any settlement agreements at a senior level to monitor effectively the number of discrimination, harassment and bullying claims.
• Remember that under English law, confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements must have carve-outs for protected disclosures under whistle-blowing legislation, which includes breaches of legal obligations if the public interest element is satisfied, so they may not be effective to prevent employees from raising issues of discrimination, harassment and bullying externally. In addition, from 1 October 2025, any provision in an agreement that purports to preclude a disclosure of information by a victim of criminal conduct (or a person who reasonably believes they are a victim) to certain recipients, including law enforcement, qualified lawyers and other professionals will also be void.
• Adopting a Code of Conduct. Crew members should be involved in drafting the Code of Conduct which should be a values-based charter which actively promotes a working environment in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect and understands cultural and religious differences. If crew members buy into the Code of Conduct, they are more likely to act in accordance with it and take positive steps to ensure that others adhere to it too.

With our experienced employment team and wider knowledge of the cruise industry and its employment practices/operational constraints, we are well placed to assist you with any employment related crew issues.

Footnote

1. Women seafarers face discrimination and bullying – The International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS)