Workers' Rights
Labour Law protections, Omanisation quotas, collective bargaining rights, Social Protection Fund (SPF) social insurance, and workplace safety under Oman's Royal Decree labour framework.
Covered in this guide:
Your job in Oman is governed by the Labour Law (Royal Decree 53/2023), which replaced the 2003 code. Oman is the only GCC country that allows union committees and collective bargaining, under Royal Decree 113/2011. Standard hours are 8 a day, with a midday outdoor work ban in summer. Social insurance for Omanis runs through the Social Protection Fund under Royal Decree 52/2023, which replaced PASI; expats get workplace-injury coverage only. Disputes go through the Ministry of Labour's Labour Care Department, then to the Primary Court (Labour Division).
Key Laws
Royal Decree 53/2023
Labour Law (current, effective July 2023)
Core employment protections — contracts, wages, hours, leave, termination. Replaced RD 35/2003 entirely.
Royal Decree 113/2011
Trade Union Law
Right to form union committees and engage in collective bargaining
Royal Decree 52/2023
Social Protection Law (effective January 1, 2024)
Social Protection Fund (SPF) — replaced PASI. Pension, disability, workplace injury, and death benefits for Omanis.
Job Security Fund (2020)
Ministerial Decision
Unemployment support for Omani nationals
Ministerial Decision (Omanisation)
Ministry of Labour
Sector-specific hiring quotas for Omani nationals
Minimum Wage & Wage Protection System (WPS)
Oman has no statutory minimum wage for expatriate workers — the OMR 325 basic plus OMR 100 allowance floor applies only to Omani nationals. What has changed dramatically for everyone else is the Wage...
Working Hours and Overtime
Oman's Labour Law (Royal Decree 53/2023) sets strict limits on working hours and requires premium pay for overtime:Normal hours: Maximum 9 hours per day or 45 hours per week, excluding breaks. Royal D...
Collective Bargaining and Union Rights
Oman is the only Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state that explicitly grants workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining. This is a fundamental distinction from the UAE, Saudi...
Social Protection Fund (SPF)
Oman's social insurance system is administered by the Social Protection Fund (SPF) under Royal Decree 52/2023 (Social Protection Law), which came into force on January 1, 2024 and replaced the former...
End-of-Service Gratuity & the 1 August 2023 Transitional Split
End-of-service gratuity in Oman applies to non-Omani expatriate workers not covered by the Social Protection Law (SPL). Omani nationals under SPL receive social insurance instead of gratuity. The 2023...
Workplace Safety and Midday Ban
Oman enforces a mandatory summer midday ban on outdoor work and requires employers to maintain safe working conditions year-round:Midday ban: Outdoor work is prohibited from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM from J...
Kafala & Employer Transfer
Oman retains a kafala-style sponsorship framework: each non-Omani worker's residency and work permit are tied to a specific employer. However, Oman is not a pure kafala regime — several important...
Domestic Worker Rights
Oman's Ministerial Decision No. 574/2025 — issued in October 2025 under the RD 53/2023 umbrella — establishes the most comprehensive domestic-worker framework in the Gulf to date. It replaced the...
Exit Permit & Travel Ban
Oman has no employer-controlled exit permit system as of April 2026. Unlike Kuwait — which introduced a mandatory exit permit in July 2025 — Oman does not require private-sector workers to obtain empl...
Omanisation and Employment Quotas
Omanisation is Oman's national workforce localisation programme. Unlike Saudi Arabia's colour-coded Nitaqat system, Oman uses direct sector-specific percentage quotas set by ministerial decision:Secto...
Maternity and Parental Leave
Oman provides maternity protections through both the Labour Law and the Social Protection Fund (SPF):Maternity leave: Female workers are entitled to 98 days (14 weeks) of paid maternity leave under th...
Domestic-Worker Baseline Rights under MD 574/2025
Oman Ministerial Decision 574/2025 is the most modern domestic-worker framework in the Gulf to date. Issued under Royal Decree 53/2023, it replaces the 2004 framework and gives Oman's domestic workers...