Read this before you sign: what a fair yacht contract looks like

Plenty of crew join a boat on a handshake and a WhatsApp message. It works until it doesn't. WHAT SHOULD BE IN WRITING • Your position, and who you report to. • Salary, currency, and the exact date it's paid each month. • Leave — how much, how it accrues, and whether it's actually takeable in season. • Rotation, if you were promised one, in writing with the ratio stated. • Notice period, both directions. • Repatriation — who pays to get you home, and in what circumstances. • Medical cover and what happens if you're injured aboard. • Overtime or charter bonus, if applicable, with how it's calculated. MLC The Maritime Labour Convention sets minimum standards on commercially registered vessels — written agreement, repatriation, medical care, hours of rest, and a complaints procedure. Whether and how it applies depends on flag and registration. Know your boat's flag and know the basics of what it obliges. HOURS OF REST There are minimum rest requirements. On a busy charter boat they're often the first thing to slip. Keep your own record of hours actually worked, separate from whatever gets signed. WHEN THE MONEY DOESN'T COME Ask once, politely, in writing. Keep every message. Late wages are one of the clearest early warnings that a boat is in trouble — where there's one month there are often two. Don't accept "next week" three times. RED FLAGS AT OFFER STAGE No written agreement at all. A fee to be placed. Pressure to fly out before anything is signed. A boat that won't tell you why the last person left. What clause do you now always check before signing?