New Labor Law Introduces Significant New Entitlements

• Published date: 21 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Contract of Employment, Unfair/ Wrongful Dismissal, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations
• Law Firm: WTW
• Author: Steve Clements

Employers in Oman must comply with sweeping new employer-paid leave requirements, including new paternity leave and extended sick and maternity leaves, by early 2024.

Employer Action Code: Act

In tandem with the enactment of a new Social Protection Law (see this Global News Brief Oman: Major social security reform extends benefits to expats), Oman has issued a new Labor Law (Decree No. 53 of 2023), the primary legislation establishing terms and conditions for employment in the private sector. Among other things, the law increases employer-paid sick leave and maternity leave and introduces new employer-paid paternity leave.

Key details

Among its many significant changes, the new law

• Introduces a paid paternity leave entitlement of seven days and increases employer-paid sick and maternity leave as follows:
• • Sick leave is increased from 10 weeks to 182 calendar days paid at 100% of pay for days one to 21, 75% for days 22 to 35, 50% for days 36 to 70 and 35% for days 71 to 182.
  • Maternity leave is increased from 50 to 98 calendar days with no limit on the number of times maternity leave may be taken (previously limited to three times with a single employer).
• Increases employer-paid bereavement leave from three to 10 days for the death of a child or wife and introduces a new entitlement of 14 days for the death of a husband for non-Muslim widows
• Shifts responsibility for payment of these and other paid leaves from the employer to the Social Protection Fund (to be created by the Social Protection Law) once it is established (excluding the first seven days of paid sick leave)
• Entitles new mothers to one hour of daily paid time off to care for their child and up to one year of unpaid childcare leave
• States that dismissals based on discriminatory reasons (i.e...