A cruise director has been awarded approximately €130,000 after a court determined that the company unlawfully kept him on temporary contracts for 18 years, despite treating him as a long-term employee. The Bari Labour Court ruled that the former Costa Cruises director, hailing from Taranto, should have been recognised as a permanent employee after working on Costa Cruises ships from 2003 to 2021. During this period, he was employed under 51 separate contracts. According to the Italian newspaper ANSA, the court found that the company had relied on his work for years while continuing to use fixed-term contracts instead of acknowledging him as a permanent staff member. Judge Agnese Angiuli partially accepted the worker’s appeal, supported by lawyers Fabrizio Del Vecchio and Antonello Schinaia. The court ordered his rehiring and awarded him around €130,000, plus interest, calculated based on his final salary and years of service.
Why The Ruling Matters To Cruise Crew
Short-term contracts are common in the cruise industry. Crew members are typically hired for a set period at sea, followed by leave, and then return under a new contract. For many hotel, catering, and housekeeping staff, contracts last between four and ten months, often followed by several weeks off before the next assignment. Senior positions like captains, hotel directors, and cruise directors usually work shorter rotations, often around three to four months. This rotating system is a standard part of cruise ship operations. Unlike land-based jobs, ships require crew to rotate regularly throughout the year, making fixed-term contracts prevalent in the industry. The issue in this case was not the use of temporary contracts per se. The court found that the cruise director’s employment had effectively become continuous after 51 contracts over 18 years. In practice, the role no longer appeared temporary, despite being structured through repeated short-term agreements.
Are Cruise Directors Usually Permanent?
Cruise directors are not typically “permanent” employees like office workers on land. Even experienced cruise directors who remain with the same company for years usually work in scheduled rotations, with each period on board covered by a separate contract or assignment. Permanent-style jobs within the cruise industry are more common ashore in areas such as management, sales, marketing, finance, and port operations. At sea, even senior officers and entertainment staff often work under rotational systems. Some may have long-term employment relationships with a cruise line but still alternate between periods on board and leave at home. This distinction is crucial because maritime employment operates differently from most land-based industries. Courts may accept that rotating contracts are necessary for ship operations, but they can also examine whether the nature of employment has effectively become permanent.
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