Embassies in Oman plan services to help expat workers file online complaints

Muscat: Asian embassies in Oman are planning to make available extra services to assist workers in filing labour complaints online in Arabic on the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) website.
Last week, the Ministry of Manpower opened a special section on its website for workers to submit labour complaints online.
Even though a senior official at the Ministry of Manpower said that the service will be made available in English in the future, social workers from Asian countries had raised their concerns that the Arabic-only website service would be a challenge for non-Omani workers.
“Definitely, there is a plan to set up special services for workers to assist them in lodging their grievances online on the Ministry of Manpower website. We are working on the logistics. Soon, we will make it happen,” Indra Mani Pandey, the Indian ambassador to Oman, told Times of Oman.
A senior official from the Sri Lankan embassy in Muscat also said that they will look into options to help workers who need assistance in submitting complaints in Arabic.
“We will look into various options. Our aim is always to assist workers,” the official said.
According to a senior official at the Ministry of Manpower, the website will also be made available soon and workers in Sohar and Salalah will be able to submit their claims during the next phase of the expansion.
Meanwhile, Sulaiman Khalili, assistant director at the Information Department at the Ministry of Manpower, told the Times of Oman that the service is currently in its trial phase and, in the future, it will be expanded across Oman.
The online complaint platform states that a complainant should not delay in lodging a claim, as per Article 7 of the Labour Law.
Article 7 states that an employee’s right to make any claim based upon this law shall expire after the lapse of one year from the date on which such a claim arises.
Regarding cases instituted before the implementation of this law, the one-year deadline will commence from the date on which the law comes into force.
The online platform also clearly points out that an employer cannot act against a complainant for approaching the ministry to lodge a complaint.
The current practice is that the complainant approaches the Labour Dispute Department and fills in the form available there with all details about the complainant, employer and labour claims.