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Ways for Ship Crew to Seek Redress

November 20, 2025
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Ways for Ship Crew to Seek Redress

Ways to Seek Redress Against Disciplinary Punishments, Mobbing, and Psychological Harassment

1. Introduction: The Fine Line Between Discipline and Mobbing

A ship is one of the work environments where the hierarchical structure is most strongly felt. For reasons of safety, navigation, and commercial interests, the captain's and supervisors' disciplinary authority is strong; however, this authority is not unlimited. Practices that, under the guise of discipline, turn into humiliation, systematic pressure, exclusion, and psychological damage are legally "mobbing" (psychological harassment) and can lead to serious liability for damages.

Therefore, in maritime labor law, distinguishing between the limits of legitimate disciplinary actions and behaviors that constitute mobbing is critical for establishing the right strategies for seeking redress for ship personnel

2. Legal Framework: Maritime Labor Law, Turkish Code of Obligations, and Captain's Authority

2.1. The Role of Maritime Labor Law

The relationship between seafarers and shipowners/employers is largely the Maritime Labor Law No. 854. While the law covers working conditions, wages, overtime, job security, and some penal provisions for seafarers, it does not catalog the disciplinary regime in detail.

Article 38 of the DİK (Turkish Labor Law) wage deductions as a disciplinary penalty; it also outlines the circumstances and extent to which it can be applied.

In cases where there is no provision in the Labor Law, the prevailing view in legal doctrine is that these gaps the Labor Law , but the Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK) and general principles of private law.

2.2. Turkish Code of Obligations Article 417: Employer's Duty of Care and Mobbing

Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations explicitly regulates the employer's obligation to protect the employee's personality, ensure occupational health and safety, and take necessary measures to prevent the employee from being subjected to psychological harassment

This provision has the following consequences for the ship's crew:

  • Employers and ship officers the honor, dignity, and mental integrity .

  • The ship's crew is also responsible for preventing, intervening in, and stopping psychological harassment perpetrated by other personnel on board.

  • Otherwise, liability for damages would arise under Articles 417 and 49-58 of the Turkish Code of Obligations.

2.3. Captain's Authority and Limitations

In legal doctrine and some foreign regulations, the captain is described as having an authority "similar to the head of the family" in the organization of a ship; however, this authority is limited by the obligation to treat his crew in a humane manner

     Captain;

  • To maintain ship discipline,

  • Giving orders for safety and order,

  • To conduct disciplinary investigations if necessary

They have the authority to do so. However, this authority arbitrary, humiliating, or systematic pressure . This is where the distinction between legitimate discipline and mobbing emerges.

3. Disciplinary Actions for Ship Crew: What is Legitimate?

3.1. Basis for Disciplinary Authority

The grounds for disciplinary actions that can be applied to ship personnel are generally as follows:

  • Maritime Labor Law (especially Article 38 – penalty for wage deduction),

  • Collective bargaining agreement provisions (disciplinary board, types of penalties, procedure),

  • Individual maritime service contract,

  • The employer's internal disciplinary regulations (provided they are valid and interpreted in favor of the employee),

  • Turkish Code of Obligations provisions and the principle of good faith.

For every disciplinary penalty, a "legal basis, collective bargaining agreement, or contractual basis" must be sought. Arbitrary sanctions that are not included in the contract or collective bargaining agreement, and that are also contrary to the law, are legally questionable.

3.2. Wage Deduction Penalty (DİK Article 38)

According to Article 38 of the DİK (Directorate General of Civil Procedure):

  • The employer or their representative may only impose wage deductions as a penalty for reasons specified in the collective bargaining agreement and the employment contract

  • The reasons must be communicated to the crew immediately.

  • The total amount of deductions that can be made in a month cannot exceed three days' wages.

Therefore;

  • Practices such as "I deduct 10 days' worth of salary at my discretion" are clearly against the law.

  • Making deductions based on vague grounds not specified in the collective bargaining agreement or contract is also legally flawed.

  • If the time and rate limits are not adhered to, the worker can request the return of the deducted wages in the labor court

3.3. Other Disciplinary Penalties: Warning, Reprimand, Transfer, etc.

Collective bargaining agreements and internal disciplinary regulations frequently stipulate the following penalties:

  • Written warning,

  • Condemnation,

  • Temporary assignment/relocation,

  • Temporary deprivation of certain social rights,

  • Termination of employment contract in case of repeated offenses.

These sanctions the principle of proportionality . For example, "transferring to a lower-level staff position" for a minor delay in work, consistently assigning someone to poor shifts, and intentionally worsening their living environment are practices that go beyond punishment and approach mobbing.

4. Discipline or Mobbing? Elements of Psychological Harassment

4.1. How is mobbing defined?

In legal doctrine and Supreme Court jurisprudence, mobbing systematic, continuous psychological attacks aimed at intimidation and exclusion .

In summary, the elements are:

  1. Targeting: The specific selection of a particular seafarer,

  2. Continuity and systematicity: Not one-off initiatives, but practices spread over a specific period.

  3. Purpose or outcome: Behaviors aimed at intimidating, isolating, discrediting, or forcing an employee to resign.

  4. Psychological impact: A humiliating, degrading, discriminatory, and oppressive atmosphere.

The Supreme Court of Turkey considers psychological harassment a violation of the employer's duty of equal treatment and care , as well as a violation of personal rights , and may accept claims for moral damages based on this.

4.2. Examples of Workplace Mobbing Specific to the Maritime Workplace

In a ship environment, workplace bullying (mobbing) typically manifests in the following ways:

  • Assigning the same staff the hardest, dirtiest, and riskiest shifts repeatedly ,

  • Preventing them from sharing a resting area, leaving them alone in the cabin, social isolation,

  • Constant taunting, name-calling, and threatening statements like "I'll take you down before you even see land,"

  • Threats to professional reputation such as, "If you don't give me a reference on the shore, you won't find a job in the industry, "

  • Constantly forcing staff to "give explanations" through unfair reports,

  • Disparaging reports and health complaints, and systematically pressuring people by saying, "Stop being picky, you'll have to work.".

Such practices exceed the purposeand constitute psychological harassment within the meaning of Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations.

5. Ways to Seek Redress: What Can Be Done Against Disciplinary Action and Mobbing?

5.1. Internal Application Channels: Captain, Company Management, Union

The first step should often to implement internal procedures :

  • Written appeal against an unfair disciplinary penalty

  • A written application to the captain or the company's human resources department

  • Appeal to the disciplinary board , if stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement

  • Have the union representative file a complaint and prepare a report.

At this stage, it is important to ensure that every step leaves a written record ; this includes keeping records of emails, petitions, SMS messages, and WhatsApp messages.

5.2. Refund of Wage Deduction and Cancellation of Disciplinary Penalty

For unfounded or irregular wage deductions exceeding the limits set out in Article 38 of the Turkish Civil Code, ship personnel:

  • In the labor court (the court responsible for seafarers subject to the DİK law)

  • By filing a "wage claim" lawsuit,

  • You can request a refund of the wrongfully deducted amounts, along with legal interest.

Furthermore, if it is proven that the disciplinary punishment worsened working conditions, harmed the employee's career, and was unfair and disproportionate, compensation for non-pecuniary damages can also be claimed on the grounds of violation of personal rights

5.3. Compensation for Workplace Bullying and Justifiable Termination

Key points for ship personnel who are victims of mobbing:

  1. Right to terminate the contract for just cause:

    • If psychological harassment constitutes a fundamentally negative change in working conditions and a violation of personal rights, the employee may terminate the contract for just cause.

    • In this case, severance pay arises if the conditions are met (according to the Turkish Civil Code or Turkish Code of Obligations regime).

  2. Compensation for material and moral damages:

    • According to Articles 417, 49, and 58 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, material damages such as loss of income and medical expenses arising from mobbing, as well as moral damages due to humiliating treatment, can be claimed.

The Supreme Court considers situations where an employee is forced to leave their job through systematic pressure and exclusion as mobbing, and may award the employee compensation for non-pecuniary damages as well as claims arising from the termination.

5.4. Criminal Law and Administrative Applications

Certain behaviors during the mobbing process may also a crime :

  • Insult (Turkish Penal Code Article 125),

  • Threat (Turkish Penal Code Article 106),

  • Sexual harassment (Turkish Penal Code Article 105),

  • Intentional injury, unlawful detention, etc.

In these cases, the ship's crew file a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office .

Administrative appeals may also be made through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, port authorities, flag state supervisory authorities, and trade union channels; MLC complaint mechanisms become particularly important on ships engaged in international voyages.

6. Proof and Strategy: What Should the Ship's Crew Collect?

In cases of mobbing and unfair disciplinary actions, the most critical issue proof. The Supreme Court expects mobbing allegations to be substantiated with specific events, presented date by date, and supported by witness testimonies and documentary evidence.

From the practical point of view of the ship's crew:

  • Shift schedules, duty rosters, records showing consistently bad shift assignments,

  • Ship's logbook entries, internal correspondence, emails, SMS/WhatsApp messages,

  • Audio or written recordings of insults, threats, and coercion by captains and officers (to the extent legally permissible),

  • Testimony from personnel working on the same ship,

  • Medical reports, psychiatric/psychologist reports showing psychological effects,

It is crucial in determining the course of the case.

In practice, a "mobbing diary" (including date, time, event, and witnesses) systematizes evidence in both internal applications and court proceedings.

7. Conclusion: Discipline is for the order of the ship, not for undermining the dignity of the seafarer

It is, of course, inevitable that ship personnel work under discipline; however, this unlawful pressure and psychological violence .

In summary:

  • The limits of disciplinary penalties by Article 38 of the Labor Law, collective bargaining agreements, and contract provisions ; arbitrary wage deductions and disproportionate sanctions are unlawful.

  • Employers and ship officers are obligated, under Article 417 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, to ensure that ship personnel are not subjected to psychological harassment ; mobbing (workplace bullying) gives rise to serious liability for damages.

  • Seafarers who are victims of mobbing can effectively protect their rights.

FAQ – Short Questions & Answers

1. Can unlimited wage deductions be imposed as a penalty on ship personnel?
No. According to Article 38 of the Turkish Civil Code, wage deductions can only be made for reasons specified in the collective bargaining agreement or contract, and cannot exceed three days' wages in a month. Anything more is illegal and can be claimed back through legal action.

2. Does every harsh or loud speaking count as mobbing?
One-off outbursts of anger are generally not considered mobbing; mobbing systematic, continuous, and targeted pressure. However, if such behavior becomes frequent and reaches a point where it damages the person's dignity, it is considered psychological harassment.

3. In which court should a ship crew member experiencing mobbing file a lawsuit? Labor courts have jurisdiction over claims for wages and compensation for seafarers subject to the Turkish Civil Code ; mediation is often a prerequisite for filing a lawsuit. Labor courts also have jurisdiction over disputes arising from employment relationships involving foreign-flagged vessels or contracts subject to the Turkish Code of Obligations.

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