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Code of Federal Regulations (Last Updated: July 5, 2024) |
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Title 29 - Labor |
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Subtitle B - Regulations Relating to Labor |
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Chapter V - Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor |
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SubChapter B - Statements of General Policy or Interpretation Not Directly Related to Regulations |
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Part 783 - Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act to Employees Employed as Seamen |
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Who Is “Employed as a Seaman” |
§ 783.31 - Criteria for employment “as a seaman.”
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§ 783.31 Criteria for employment “as a seaman.”
In accordance with the legislative history and authoritative decisions as discussed in §§ 783.28 and 783.29, an employee will ordinarily be regarded as “employed as a seaman” if he performs, as master or subject to the authority, direction, and control of the master aboard a vessel, service which is rendered primarily as an aid in the operation of such vessel as a means of transportation, provided he performs no substantial amount of work of a different character. This is true with respect to vessels navigating inland waters as well as ocean-going and coastal vessels (Sternberg Dredging Co. v. Walling, 158 F. 2d 678; Walling v. Haden, 153 F. 2d 196, certiorari denied 328 U.S. 866; Walling v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 149 F. 2d 9, certiorari denied 327 U.S. 722; Douglas v. Dixie Sand and Gravel Co., (E.D. Tenn.) 9 WH Cases 285). The Act's provisions with respect to seamen apply to a seaman only when he is “employed as” such (Walling v. Haden, supra); it appears also from the language of section 6(b)(2) and 13(a)(14) that they are not intended to apply to any employee who is not employed on a vessel.