By
Rebecca Gibson |
In August 2013, the International Labour Organization’s Marine Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 came into force. Widely known as the ‘seafarers’ bill of rights’, the international standard sets minimum requirements for almost all aspects of working conditions for seafarers, including hours of work and rest. In response to this, Adonis, in partnership with Crystal Cruises, developed the Time Clock module – a complete electronic solution designed to help cruise and ferry lines better manage their crews’ schedules and monitor their work and rest hours.
Time Clock, which is part of Adonis’ complete Crew Management and Payroll software suite, is designed to provide the industry with the most modern and reliable tool for crew administration and planning. The swipe card-based logging system registers and analyses crew member activities such as work, drill, meal or rest with information verified against pre-set rules for rest hours and overtime calculations. And because all the crew data is available in real time, violations are reported and acted upon immediately. Notifications can be executed onboard or onshore, as the information is shared securely between the ship and the cruise line’s land operations.
The solution also integrates with Adonis Payroll, allowing users to directly transfer all working hours data into the module. This ensures that overtime hours are calculated properly as the system takes into account rules based on individuals’ regular working hours, weekend rates, additional shifts and holiday quotas. There is no need to manually input transactions into the system or use spreadsheets, and the entire workflow is controlled by a customisable chain of approval, which identifies the various levels of approval required before transactions are transferred to the payroll.
According to Adonis product director Erick Meijer, Time Clock represents the most modern and efficient way to track time and attendance of crew members, capture overtime for payroll and stay in compliance with work and rest hours regulations.
“The solution empowers individual crew members by giving them access to their data through a web portal,” he explains. “This means that they can view and make registrations, receive messages, post requests and upload travel expense reports for reimbursement through payroll. At the same time, team leaders and department heads can review work and rest hours, and approve overtime hours and travel expenses.”
Crystal Cruises is not the only line taking advantage of this solution today. Recognising the value of Time Clock, many more operators in the industry are using the software not only to ensure compliance with MLC 2006, but also to streamline their crew administration and planning processes.