What your employer is talking about is called maintenance. Maintenance is an amount of money sufficient to pay the reasonable cost of food and lodging while a seaman recovers from his illness or injuries. The courts have held that a seaman is entitled to his actual cost of living expenses not a arbitrary amount determined by your employer. However, if there is in place a collectively bargained-for rate of maintenance, as negotiated by the employer and the seafarer's labor union, the CBA rate will be enforced.