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Oman - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Muscat

 

CLIMATE

Dry desert climate; hot and humid along the coast; hot, dry interior with a strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in the far south.

 

LANGUAGES

Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, and Indian dialects.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Oman’s legal system is based on English common law and Islamic law with ultimate appeal to the monarch. Oman has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Omani Rial (1 USD = 0.38721 OMR as of May 15, 2002).

 

OMAN - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

OMAN - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Muscat

Jameat A'Duwal Al Arabiya Street

Al Khuwair

Muscat, Oman

P.O. Box 202, Code 115

Madinat Al-Sultan Qaboos

Sultanate of Oman

Muscat, Oman

Telephone: [968] 698-989

Fax: [968] 699-779

http://www.usa.gov.om/

 

Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman at Washington D.C.

2535 Belmont Road NW

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 387-1980

Fax: (202) 745-4933

 

OMAN - HOLIDAYS

 

OMAN – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Every worker has the right to 15 days of annual leave during the first 3 years of employment and 30 days per year thereafter.

 

OMAN - MINIMUM AGE

The law prohibits children under the age of 13 from working. Children between 13 and 16 years of age may be employed, but must obtain the Ministry's permission to work overtime, at night, on weekends or holidays, or to perform strenuous labor.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Oman – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

OMAN - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

In July 1998, the Government raised the minimum wage for most citizens to 100 rials per month (about $260), plus 20 rials ($52) for transportation and housing. Minimum wage guidelines do not apply to a variety of occupational categories, including small businesses that employ fewer than five persons, the self-employed, domestic servants, dependent family members working for a family firm, and some categories of manual labor.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Oman – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

OMAN - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

OMAN - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Workers do not have the right to form or to join unions.

 

The law stipulates that "it is absolutely forbidden to provoke a strike for any reason." Labor unrest is rare. There has been only one job action within the last 7 years.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law does not provide for the right to collective bargaining; however, it requires that employers of more than 50 workers form a joint labor-management committee as a communication forum between the two groups. The implementation of this provision is uneven, and the effectiveness of the committees is questionable. In general the committees discuss such matters as the living conditions at company-provided housing. They are not authorized to discuss wages, hours, or conditions of employment. Such issues are specified in the work contracts signed individually by workers and employers and must be consistent with the guidelines of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

 

The law defines conditions of employment for some citizens and foreign workers. It covers domestic servants and construction workers but not temporary workers or those with work contracts that expire within 3 months.

 

Work rules must be approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and posted conspicuously in the workplace by employers of 10 or more workers. Similarly any employer with 50 or more workers must establish a grievance procedure. Regardless of the size of the company, any employee, including foreign workers, may file a grievance with the Labor Welfare Board. In some cases, worker representatives file collective grievances, but most grievances are filed by individual workers. Lower-paid workers use the procedure regularly. Legal counsel may represent plaintiffs and defendants in such cases.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or bonded labor. Although the enabling laws have not yet been implemented, the 1996 Basic Charter prohibits forced or bonded labor for any person; however, the Government does not investigate or enforce the law effectively. Foreign workers at times are placed in situations amounting to forced labor. Employers have withheld letters of release (documents that release workers from employment contracts), which allow workers to change employers. Without such a letter, a foreign worker must continue to work for his current employer or become technically unemployed, which are sufficient grounds for deportation. Many foreign workers are not aware of their right to take such disputes before the Labor Welfare Board. Others are reluctant to file complaints for fear of retribution from unscrupulous employers. In most cases brought before it, the Board releases the worker from service without deportation and awards compensation for time worked under compulsion; however, employers face no penalty other than to reimburse the worker's back wages.

 

The law prohibits forced or bonded labor by children, and instances of forced or bonded child labor are unknown.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The law prohibits children under the age of 13 from working. Children between 13 and 16 years of age may be employed, but must obtain the Ministry's permission to work overtime, at night, on weekends or holidays, or to perform strenuous labor. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor generally enforces the law; however, in practice enforcement often does not extend to some small family businesses that employ underage children, particularly in the agricultural and fisheries sectors. Child labor does not exist in any industry.

 

The law specifically prohibits forced or bonded labor by children, and it is not known to occur (see Section 6.c.). The Government has not ratified International Labor Organization Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor issues minimum wage guidelines for various categories of workers. In July 1998, the Government raised the minimum wage for most citizens to about $260 (100 rials) per month, plus $52 (20 rials) for transportation and housing. Minimum wage guidelines do not apply to a variety of occupational categories, including small businesses that employ fewer than five persons, the self-employed, domestic servants, dependent family members working for a family firm, and some categories of manual labor. Many foreigners work in occupations that are exempt from the minimum wage law, and the Government is lax in enforcing minimum wage guidelines, where applicable, for foreign workers employed in menial jobs. However, highly skilled foreign workers are well-paid.

 

The minimum wage is sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The compensation for foreign manual laborers and clerks is sufficient to cover living expenses and to permit savings to be sent home.

 

The private sector workweek is 40 to 45 hours and includes a rest period from Thursday afternoon through Friday. Government workers have a 35-hour workweek. While the law does not designate the number of days in a workweek, it requires at least one 24-hour rest period per week and mandates overtime pay for hours in excess of 48 per week. Government regulations regarding hours of employment are not always enforced. Employees who have worked extra hours without compensation may file a complaint before the Labor Welfare Board, but the Board's rulings are not binding.

 

Every worker has the right to 15 days of annual leave during the first 3 years of employment and 30 days per year thereafter. Employers provide many foreign nationals, including domestic servants, with annual or biannual round-trip tickets to their countries of origin.

 

All employers are required by law to provide first aid facilities. Work sites with over 100 employees must have a nurse. Employees covered under the Labor Law may recover compensation for injury or illness sustained on the job through employer-provided medical insurance. The health and safety standard codes are enforced by inspectors from the Department of Health and Safety of the Directorate of Labor. As required by law, they make regular onsite inspections.

 

The law states that employers must not place their employees in situations involving dangerous work; however, the law does not specifically grant a worker the right to remove himself from dangerous work without jeopardy to his continued employment.

 

Foreign workers constitute at least 50 percent of the work force and as much as 80 percent of the private sector work force. In the past, there have been reports that employers or male coworkers have sexually harassed and abused foreign females employed in such positions as domestic servants and hospital nurses. Foreign women employed as domestic servants and garment workers have claimed that their employers have withheld their salaries and that government officials have been unresponsive to their grievances, due to investigative procedures that disadvantage the victim. There were reports of employers physically and sexually abusing foreign domestic servants, and employers are not always held accountable for such actions. Foreign women at times have had to ask their Governments' embassies for shelter to escape abuse (see Section 5).

 

Foreign workers at times find themselves in situations amounting to forced labor (see Section 6.c.).

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

 

OMAN - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

OMAN - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The private sector workweek is 40 to 45 hours and includes a rest period from Thursday afternoon through Friday. Government workers have a 35-hour workweek. While the law does not designate the number of days in a workweek, it requires at least one 24-hour rest period per week and mandates overtime pay for hours in excess of 48 per week.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Oman – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)