I'm honestly considering to have my character assume that there is practically no crew on EvE ships, NPC and player ships. There is no verifiable evidence that there is crew, and a lot of evidence that there isn't any crew.
The Chrons "Hands of a Killer" and "All These Lives are Fit to Ruin" explicitly state capsuleer ships are crewed, or the short story thing that explains how the capule eliminates the need for bridge/command crew on a ship which strongly implies non-capsuleer ships are fully crewed.
Let us just say that I consider Chrons, PF and other source just as much an opinion as yours or mine. If my character doesn't notice any crew, they might just as well be not there. In the past our own PF stated that the world was flat, and that the sun revolved around the earth. And woe to those challenging RL PF!
In short, if I don't see evidence for crew, and see evidence for a lack of crew, I might consider playing it like I don't have crew, and in a makebelieve world like EVE, if enough players get convinced there is no crew, there won't be, since large parts of the world do reside just in our imaginations. The only NPC that regularly speaks to me is Scotty the docking manager.
Some things we need to handwave, but I'm just wondering if its not easier to assume few or no crew which should reduce the need for handwaving. I wouldn't want to answer a question like: 'how much do you pay your crew', or 'can you give me a manifest of your officers'
Additionally, the fact that I can build a ship without spending a single isk (except for the blueprint) sort of suggest to me that the crew salaries are definitely not included anywhere.
Of course, I wouldn't want to force my views on anyone and deny their crew as well, so I would probably explain them that I have had my battleships especially slave-rigged to require only a minimal crew.