ONBOARD Magazine summer 2019

ADVERTORIAL
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Voyonic’s Neil Carrington looks at how Brexit and social
security will affect employment in the yachting industry?
Brexit is a matter of great uncertainty
and yet it is likely that it will have
a huge impact on all of our lives
in one way or another. Below we have
summarised the recent events of Brexit
and look specifically at how it will affect
the global employment industry including
superyacht crews.
Firstly, when will the UK actually leave the
EU? Following numerous meetings between
the UK government and EU representatives,
Britain’s withdrawal from the European
Union was moved from April 2019 to
October 2019.
We are still awaiting some indication of
what Brexit will mean in terms of social
security, particularly following the collapse
of Theresa May’s much-maligned Withdrawal
Agreement, which would effectively have
preserved the status quo for a couple of
years.
Currently, EU social security is co-ordinated
under EC 883/2004 and related legislation.
However, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal
from the common market, including the
free movement of labour, will mean this
may no longer apply.
In an announcement in April 2019, HMRC
stated baldly that if there was no deal, then
international workers and/or their employers
could have to pay contributions in two
states, depending on any agreements those
countries had outside the EC 883/2004
framework. HMRC went on to state that the
UK government was working on reciprocal
agreements with other EU states to ensure
cover until at least 31 December 2020.
Prevailing opinion is that existing reciprocal
agreements, such as those currently
covering the Channel Islands and/or Isle
of Man, will be relied upon. It is notable
however, that there are no agreements
of this kind with many of the EU states.
It is also notable that some of these
agreements apply only to nationals of the
agreement states, unlike the EU provisions
which were based on residence. A South
African national resident in France, for
example, would not be covered under the
pre-existing France-UK agreement.
With such a diverse workforce in the industry,
serving aboard UK and EU flagged vessels,
management of social security liabilities
is not going to get any easier.
EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS
Voyonic Crewing Limited based in
Guernsey have been providing global
employment solutions to the marine
industry for over 10 years. As part
of a global payroll alliance, with
associated businesses in the UK and
Malta, specialising in legal, tax and
social security, they genuinely believe
that they have the solution for most
employment situations.
To find out more about the services
Voyonic offer visit www.voyonic.com
You can contact a member of our
team on +44(0)1481 711828 or email
enquiries@voyonic.com
It also seems highly likely that European
and British authorities alike will take a
greater interest in mobile workers within
the marine industry as a whole.
We strongly recommend that anyone
concerned about their position contact a
professional advisor and ensure that their
payroll provider really can handle the modern
marine employment environment.
Voyonic have highly-qualified individuals on
the Board who are well-versed in the tax and
regulatory environment from a corporate
perspective as well as marine specialist
areas such as MLC compliance, Quality
Management, seafarer tax and social
security. This is a complicated area and
expert advice is needed.
ONBOARD | SUMMER 2019 | 79