What are the HR policies for merchant navy sailors?

Question

i'm doing a research on this topic and hence would like the general HR policies that is applicable to these sailors.

Answer 1

I'm assuming (based on your usage of "merchant navy" as opposed to "merchant marine") that you're in the UK or Commonwealth, so the applicable laws are going to be different (but analogous) to the US ones I'm familiar with. But generally, you have several tiers of regulatory policies for  HR in the merchant fleet. First off, it is important to understand that "the Merchant Marine" (or "the Merchant Navy") is not one organization, but an umbrella term for every commercial maritime interest within a given country, from container-ships to supertankers to tugboats to ferries to charter boats. Each individual company will have its own HR policies. In addition to this, each governmental agency which oversees merchant shipping will have its own set of regulations, many of which pertain specifically to HR and licensing of ship's crews. Some of these seem pretty bizarre these days, but at the time they were written many of the shipping companies were essentially running slave ships.  Also, most of the larger commercial shipping is staffed by the various maritime unions, so you have all of those considerations as well.  

So, no, there isn't a short answer here, and yes, your research paper is going to require a bit of research. My recommendation would be to focus on a major shipping company flagged by your country, in order to narrow down your search a bit.

Answer 2

The individual company you work for will have it's own HR policies. You don't work for "the merchant navy", it's not a company or actual navy. You might work for a freight company or an oil tanker company.  The term "merchant marine" is an occupation title like sales clerk, doctor, truck driver, etc. You must have certain training, pass aphysical, drug testing, etc just like most other jobs.