P&O Ferries boss forced to 'clarify' evidence to MPs as he admits crew only get one day off a month

Peter Hebblethwaite, chief executive of P&O Ferries, gives evidence to the Business and Trade Committee on Tuesday Photo: House of Commons/PA < p>Chief of P&O Ferries Peter Hebblethwaite admitted crew members could only get one day off a month after telling a parliamentary committee a week's leave was the minimum requirement.

Mr Hebblethwaite said in a letter to the chairman of the business and trade committee Liam Byrne that seafarers can work continuous days during a rotation and receive pay in lieu of vacation during this time.

Mandatory leave is limited to only one. a month's paid holiday, he said, and even that could be neglected «for those on very short contracts who work until the end.»

Mr Hebblethwaite said he had tried to clarify the situation after as told the committee that recruitment agency P&O routinely exceeded the minimum paid holiday of seven days per month on the Dover-Calais route.

The executive made repeated references to this after he was confronted with allegations that crew members, many of whom flew in from India, Malaysia and the Philippines, often worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week for 17 weeks at a time.< /p>

Mr Hebblethwaite said: “On reflection, some of my comments may not have been as clear as I would have liked.”

In a letter sent to Mr Byrne a few hours later After Tuesday's meeting, P&O also said workers were only guaranteed 10 hours off each day.

Dubai-owned P&O Ferries Ports and logistics giant DP World, which hired workers on new terms after sacking 786 crew members without notice two years ago, said it needed to cut its wage bill to survive. The decision was highly controversial at the time.

Mr Hebblethwaite told the Commons committee that he «deeply regretted» the impact of the redundancies on seafarers and their families and that he would not repeat such a move in the future.

P&O is bracing for a sharp rise in labor costs after France passed legislation requiring it to pay crews at least £9.95 an hour, up from a base rate of £2.86 now or £4.87 per hour. additions. The new rules will also require operators to switch to two weeks on and two weeks off.

This is likely to make the current employment model untenable for a company that will be reluctant to bring in workers every two weeks. or pay for their accommodation while on vacation.