Despite “Omanisation” regulations that aim to substitute foreign labour with Omani citizens, Oman’s foreign workforce is dominated by female domestic workers (of which there are estimated to be around 154,000). These migrant domestic workers are primarily from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. The Omani Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Division and the General Dictorate of Labour Care (GDLC) are responsible for matters of labour and employment in the country. The GDLC has six departments, of which the Department of Labour Inspection and its Foreign Workers Recruitment Agencies Section audit migrants’ work permit applications as well as applications from recruitment agencies. The Department of Labour Services supervises worker welfare, while the Office of Joint Inspection monitors the work permits of foreign workers. The Omani government, moreover, implemented an electronic salary transfer system (Wage Payment System, WPS) in 2014; though implementation challenges initially emerged, the WPS aims to prevent non-payment of wages.
Like in many other Gulf states, migrant workers in Oman are tied to their employer by means of the kafala sponsorship system. Because this system requires that employees have their employers’ consent to change jobs or leave the country, numerous challenges result for migrant workers. Under the kafala system, migrant workers cannot be employed by another Omani employer (for a period of two years) without the consent of their current employer, despite contract completion and potential abuse. Leaving without consent can result in high fines, deportation, and being unable to re-enter the country. Though employers are, by law, required to provide free local medical treatments for workers during their contract period, this is often not the case. Without their sponsor’s consent, it is difficult for migrant workers to access basic (e.g. health) services. Other reported abuses include discrimination, excessive overtime work, death threats from employers, restrictions on communication, limited access to food, as well as physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. Some domestic workers in Oman have also reported to be trafficked into the country by their employers or a recruiting agency. Moreover, there have been reports of employers withholding workers’ passports, arbitrarily cancelling workers’ visas and work contracts (especially in the context of illness), and denying workers from obtaining an exit visa.
In this context, more than 4,000 labour complaints were submitted to the Omani government by migrant workers in 2013. Migrant workers may be forced to go take their concerns to their local court in such cases, though rights are generally not uniformly enforced for migrant workers. There are also very few shelters that are accessible for women subjected to trafficking and/or forced labour. Despite the efforts of Oman’s labour-related institutions, the social security system does not provide coverage to foreign workers nor are there regulations for minimum wage or mandatory rest days for foreign workers (unlike is the case for Omani citizens). Even further, domestic workers are not protected by Omani labour laws concerning forced labour; regulations also allow female domestic workers to be paid less than male domestic workers.
Find out more about the degree of respect for worker’s rights in this country based on ITUC Global Rights Index here.