Dive only on boats where the DMs are treated fairly and paid a living wage

[Magnus Lundstedt]

I have only little experience, but my experience is good.

I did a SSI DM course at Koh Tao this summer (2018) and worked at the same divecenter for about a month.

In the places I visited in Thailand and the Phillipines you cannot rent tanks and go diving by your own, all diving is with included DM/guide, usualy from a boat.

As a active SSI DM one have to have own insurence, and in my cource it was included for this year.

During my cource I assisted instructors and followed as a extra guide in fundives.
When I was finished with the diveguide part of the cource I guided customers on my own.
When I completed the cource I did both guiding own customers and assisting on cources and trydives.

The deal in the shop was that the DM got paid per customer tank for guiding, and a fixed sum per group for assisting.
When I finished my cource the owner deducted from the price of the cource full pay for the dives I did during my cource.
I did not get fat on the payment, but i feel that it is decent and the fact that I got payed for the dives I did during my cource I feel is more than equitable, and was not anything I expected. When we had few customers somedays we went a group from the staff and did fundives on our own.

I speaked to other DM's working at other divecenters on the island, some got no pay, others got same amount per customer tank as I did. Usualy the ones working for one of the big centers did not get any pay.

My experience was a great one, and I hope to go back and work for the same divecenter on my next trip and also try some new places, but time is limited to about 2-3 months every year for now.

 

[scubadada]

I would like to hear from more people in countries with employment laws and customs unlike those I am familiar with in the US. I wouldn't be surprised if in, say, Europe, dive staff are compensated with decent wages, paid holidays, and whatever else an employee in any roughly analogous service sector would receive...

After living in Switzerland for 2 years, I'd be very interested in knowing what DMs and Instructors are paid. Nearly everyone is employed and most, if not all, are paid a living wage (see Living Wage Calculator for the US). Of course, you paid for it. It could easily cost 2 people $100 for a dinner out consisting of pizza and beer or wine.

 

[TMHeimer]

Almost half the boat DM's I know are school teachers or school related work. They have the perfect schedule of free time during holidays and summers which coincides perfectly with peak times on the boats. They are used to teaching people what to expect on the dive, drawing on whiteboard and taking attendance at the end of the dive as well as yelling at divers that are "tardy" because of deco. {tongue-in-cheek} >>they are used to crappy pay too.

Teachers' salaries aren't what they were in the '60s/'70s. I made a very decent living starting 1977. Certainly not comparable to the average DM salary per hour.

 

[JackD342]

I don't think there is any one right answer regarding compensation for Divemasters and other staff. There are many different business models, and many different regulatory environments. I will suggest that as long as the arrangement is legal, and both parties are content with the arrangement and stick to their side of the bargain, then "no harm no foul."

Having said that, I also think that in many places the marketplace has driven the compensation down to the point that an operation that compensates staff appropriately may very well be at a significant competitive disadvantage. Probably more so for a smaller "boutique" operation competing for the same customer as the assembly line operations.

Now, once that internship arrangement is agreed upon, the rub may very well come from the execution of that agreement. Once an intern (let's say an 18-20 year old for now) has spent the airfare, made the temporary move, and started the coursework, what options will they feel are open to them if they find that the employer is not holding up their end of the bargain? It would be a situation that is difficult for anyone to deal with, much less a young adult just beginning to really engage with the real world. Whether compensated or not, this is an employer/employee relationship; and not all employers are equal in their commitment to nurture and develop their employees, and to treat them in a fair and equitable manner. It would be very easy for an intern/employee to find themselves feeling trapped if the employer is not invested in their well-being.

A couple of other notes:

• I think many/most of these internships are for creating Instructors. The intern may or may not have already started as a DM. Until they are a DM, they should NOT be leading dives or acting as a certified safety assistant.
• There was a comment about a lot of overqualified instructors acting as DMs. I think that is the reality of the employment situation. The jobs will go to the pro that can wear 4 or 5 hats in the operation, and not to someone that can only wear 1 or 2.
• And finally, is it your responsibility to care about how an operator treats their employees? That is an individual choice, but one that many folk like to make as an informed choice. If you find out the factory that makes your jeans uses 8 year olds working 14 hour days, is it your job to care and to make your voice heard with your wallet, or not? Just asking....

 

[Satrekker]

A job is a VOLUNTARY association on both ends - employee and employer. If either is dissatisfied with the association, then he is free to end it. Nobody owes anybody anything.

 

[Lorenzoid]

A job is a VOLUNTARY association on both ends - employee and employer. If either is dissatisfied with the association, then he is free to end it. Nobody owes anybody anything.

Is that an answer to the OP’s question?

 

[Satrekker]

Is that an answer to the OP’s question?

There was no direct op question. The thread began with the op referring to another thread in which a dm was unhappy with his pay as well as work conditions. He then offered several questions for discussion. These questions were presented as neither exhaustive nor exclusive, and the first immediate reply to the op's post was an additional question and a comment to expand discussion further.

If it makes you feel better, I will rephrase my comment, so it appears to be a better fit...

Is it not true that a job is a VOLUNTARY association on both ends - employee and employer. If either is dissatisfied with the association, then isn't it true that either party is free to end it?

Better? ;-)

 

[Lorenzoid]

There was no direct op question. The thread began with the op referring to another thread in which a dm was unhappy with his pay as well as work conditions. He then offered several questions for discussion. These questions were presented as neither exhaustive nor exclusive, and the first immediate reply to the op's post was an additional question and a comment to expand discussion further.

If it makes you feel better, I will rephrase my comment, so it appears to be a better fit...

Is it not true that a job is a VOLUNTARY association on both ends - employee and employer. If either is dissatisfied with the association, then isn't it true that either party is free to end it?

Better? ;-)

I can't argue with that. What struck me about your kinda terse comment was that it mentioned nothing about divemasters or dive ops, and we're left to infer from the context of the thread that's who you meant by "employee" and "employer." Otherwise, it's a general--and correct--statement of what in US labor law is called "at-will employment."

 

[TMHeimer]

Perhaps a poor analogy, but-- Canada Postal workers are doing rotating strikes. Decades ago, I did a summer job (in college) delivering mail for the then USPOD (now USPS, as they went private sometime after Canada Post did). My heart is with the workers and I wish them well as a former teacher, but I will be mailing stuff out tomorrow to promote my book. No one's doing anything to help ME financially. Thus, I'm not at all looking at a DM's situation when booking a boat. It's every man (or woman) for himself.

 

[Marie13]

My local DMs all have nice full time jobs and just DM the boat on the weekend. We’re mostly weekend warriors here.