Would you like to know exactly what your colleagues earn? And would you be willing to reveal your own salary? As pay transparency gains momentum across industries, the conversation is provoking complex questions around fairness, trust and the realities of yachting life. Dockwalk speaks to captains, crew members and industry recruiters to understand what transparency really looks like in practice...
Salary transparency is hitting the headlines. Industries worldwide are recognising the need for greater clarity and fairness around pay, largely driven by regulatory changes in the European Union, the US, Canada and Australia, alongside growing expectations around good governance.
Pay transparency is a complex topic, made more so by different definitions across sectors, cultures and countries. But wherever you are, the fundamental principle is to ensure clear communication and understanding around pay practices and salary structures to establish fairer working environments and support employees to negotiate confidently for fair pay.
Transparency, then, is a positive step forward — but what do greater and full transparency mean? Could they be a reality for the yachting industry? And should they be?
Let's be clear about transparency
There's a significant distinction between pay transparency and full salary transparency. The former is generally acknowledged to mean that salary ranges are shared — often appearing as a salary band on job adverts. Progression opportunities and how pay decisions are made are also clarified.
To this extent, the yachting industry has essentially already achieved a level of transparency. Most professional yacht crew recruitment agencies publish wage guidelines, with salary discussions a standard part of a vetting process when matching superyacht crew to jobs.
Industry data has also become more available in the past decade. For example, the annual Dockwalk Salary Survey — now in its 28th year — is a valued benchmarking tool. Superyacht captains and crew are invited to share salary details in confidence and the publicly available results enable salary comparison across ranks, yacht sizes and rotational patterns.
But when it comes to greater — or full — transparency, things get more complex, with captains, crew and recruitment agencies weighing in with different thoughts. Full transparency — at its most extreme definition, meaning everyone knows exactly what everyone else earns — is rare even outside yachting. While a few organisations have embraced it, many employers and recruiters argue it can create unnecessary comparisons, particularly where salaries differ for legitimate reasons.
Transparency, not parity
Experts agree that while a level of salary transparency is essential, it shouldn't necessarily mean pay parity. They stress that two people with the same job title may genuinely deserve different salaries, and managers and recruiters need scope to recognise and reward higher levels of skills and experience. This is especially the case in yachting, which has so many variables.
Diane Leander, crewing manager of Fort Lauderdale-based The Crew Network, supports this line, saying that because yacht crew compensation depends on a complex mix of qualifications and individual experience, broad pay transparency among crew often lacks necessary context.
Valid reasons why the same role may command a different yacht crew salary include experience, longevity, leadership responsibilities, rotational positions, and the size and complexity of the yacht. Availability and urgency to fill a role can also dictate salary differences, as does the need to recognise additional proficiencies, such as language skills or nursing and dive qualifications.
Other considerations include gratuities, live-in accommodation, benefits such as training opportunities, flights and insurance, as well as tax residence and rotation.
Kayleigh Liddell, crew HR manager at Hill Robinson, believes the industry does have fair education around yacht crew salary expectations but believes the industry lacks conversation beyond basic pay into the total package for a crew member. She encourages crew to look beyond the number on their payslip. "A junior crew member looking to develop may gain more from a vessel that provides a training budget and access to online learning than a vessel with higher pay but little leave time to utilise that pay to progress their career," she says. "A senior crew member may benefit from a longevity bonus…" If there was more transparency about the wider packages, crew could make more informed decisions about their personal and professional journey, she adds.
The private nature of yachting
The potential for greater salary transparency is also challenging for an industry that's famous for being discreet. "Yachting has always been a very private industry," says Frankie Mason, director of UK-based Bespoke Crew. "Owners value discretion, captains run their yachts differently and every vessel has its own way of operating, so that culture of privacy has naturally extended to salaries."
Helen Warren of Palma-based Warren Maritime agrees: "It's not so much [salaries] being a big secret; it's just the art of discretion, which is what private households, ultra-high net worth individuals, VIPs and yachting are all about."
The experts also point out that a yacht is a very different entity from a company with a board of directors, an HR department and cost-of-living regulations. "It's about one owner footing the bill for everything," says Liddell. "Does that one person who has paid to privately enjoy their vessel and had their crew sign an NDA to protect the privacy of themselves and their guests want to be scrutinised for salaries in an under-regulated industry? Probably not."
There's also a more practical reason to keep yacht crew salaries private. "Living and working together 24 hours a day is very different from a typical office environment," says Mason. A level of discretion around salaries helps avoid tension and conflict on board.
A call for clarity
But whether it comes down to secrecy, tradition or discretion, a lack of clear knowledge about salaries can leave yacht crew confused, frustrated, struggling to negotiate and, at worst, unfairly paid.
Chief stewardess Danielle Hemming would welcome more clarity: "I think there's always been a lack of transparency. Even now, it's difficult to know whether you're being paid fairly compared to similar roles elsewhere." Louise Homewood, a purser, adds: "When I joined the industry, I had very little information to help me understand what was considered a competitive salary. Even now, I feel it's very hard to negotiate pay when you first join a position and especially when it comes to anniversaries, payment schemes and where we sit with inflation." It's a sentiment reflected by many.
Shaun Burford, a superyacht captain of seven years, says: “In my experience, pay discussions are still largely handled privately, which can make it difficult for crew to understand what’s fair or realistic across different roles, vessel sizes and programmes… As a captain, greater transparency would not only help me personally when making career decisions… it would also be useful when defining fair crew salaries, setting realistic budgets and explaining salary expectations more clearly to crew, owners and management.”
The need for salaries to reflect how the industry has changed over the past decade was also raised. Hemming and Homewood point to owners becoming wealthier, yachts bigger, guest expectations greater and roles more demanding. "We have significantly more administration, compliance and responsibility now," says Hemming. "Brexit has also increased compliance and crew are expected to complete additional training such as Crowd Crisis Management, lithium battery awareness, sexual harassment training… Salaries haven't really increased to reflect that."
Both they and Burford would be open to a system of full pay transparency. Burford believes most yacht crew members feel this way and that it could help reduce uncertainty, make pay expectations more realistic and give crew a stronger basis for understanding whether they're being fairly compensated. But he acknowledges it would need to be handled carefully to avoid creating unnecessary comparisons without proper context.
Bringing everyone on board
While it seems unlikely that yachting will ever embrace full salary transparency, more open conversations about pay and packages would certainly help create a more professional industry.
Mason supports this middle ground. "I don't think complete transparency means publishing salaries on the crew noticeboard. However, creating a culture where people understand salary ranges, feel comfortable asking questions and know how they can progress would benefit both crew and employers."
Have your say on pay transparency by taking part in the annual Dockwalk Salary Survey anonymously.