Sign ministry-approved training contracts only, Omani job seekers told

Muscat: Job seekers have been advised to avoid signing any training contract followed by employment, unless the contract has been approved by the Ministry of Manpower (MoM), a senior official at the ministry said.
Many cases where trainees have been left in the lurch are been handled by the trade union at present. Nationals find it very hard to get jobs, especially in sectors, such as oil and gas. Therefore, they accept any job, even if it is only a promise.
“Once the Ministry of Manpower approves the training, followed by the employment contract, then the job seekers’ rights are protected by the ministry and those left without jobs after completing their training can report their issues to MoM. The ministry in turn will interfere and legally question the companies,” said Said Al Saadi, adviser at MoM.
He added that the job seeker should clearly read the contract and insist on getting the ministry’s approval stamp on the contract. Once a job seeker signs such a contract, he is definitely getting the job, unless he fails to meet the requirements of the training programme.
Zaher Al Saifi, who signed up for a training session, followed by an employment contract by an oil company in Oman for 18 months in the technical section, is now spending his days as a driver just to survive.
“I underwent an 18-month long training. A job was assured by the company after the completion of training, with OMR650 per month fixed as salary. However, in February this year, they just said no to us citing economic conditions. During the training period, they paid us OMR350 per month. They assured that they will continue the same until the situation becomes better. But it was stopped. Now, I am literally stranded,” Al Saifi said, adding that there are many Omanis struggling under the same circumstances.
Saud Salmi, chairman of the Oil and Gas Sector Workers’ Union in Oman, said companies are not hiring trained job aspirants and even if they hire, they are made to sit idle as there is no work.
According to Article 47 of the Oman Labour Law, the contract for employment will continue to exist and the successors will be jointly responsible with the former employers for discharging all obligations prescribed by the law, provided that priority is given to the employee’s rights.
Article 48 states that employers shall be jointly liable among themselves for any violation of this law and the transfer of all or part of the business shall also be jointly liable, with the original employer discharging the entire obligation imposed by the rules.