GFOW says 393 labour complaints received in 2023

Muscat: Termination of employment contracts and non-payment of salaries were among the most common complaints received by the General Federation of Oman Workers (GFOW) in 2023.

Last year, requests for legal consultations and labour complaints reached 393. These complaints  were submitted by trade unions, sectoral general unions, and a group of workers in the private sector due to the employment contract  disputes between the employees and employers.

In 20 cases, legal support was provided to the members of trade unions and workers instantly before going into the exceptional levels of litigation.

With a success rate of 90 percent, judgments were delivered in 11 cases by keeping into account the interests of workers.

As many as 3,997 workers were notified about the termination of their contracts or laid off en masse from 51 establishments.

As per the Ministerial Resolution (492/2025) for the year 2023, the results of the meetings of the committee to consider requests submitted by the private sector establishments for reducing the workforce led to following results:

A total of  259 workers were included in the requests for termination of their services from 14 companies.

The committee took appropriate decisions after studying the cases submitted by the companies and most of the applications did not meet the requirements due to lack of financial wherewithal, and were rejected.

The most prominent outcomes that emerged from the settlement minutes and collective labour agreements are:

1-Not terminating the job contracts of the Omani workforce and allowing them to work in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

2- Priority in giving jobs to the Omani workforce in companies and directing departments to train and employ them, raise their professional level and replace them with the expat workforce.

3- Referring the Omani workforce to the Job Security Fund so that they get financial benefit until they got new job in case their services have been terminated due to the liquidation or permanent closure of establishments.

4- Private sector establishments urged  to comply with the provisions of the regulations for occupational health and safety measures.

5- Improving the working terms and conditions at the establishments.