Omanis face court over expat 'free visa' labour law breaches

Energy Wednesday 08/May/2019 11:36 AM
By: Times News Service
Omanis face court over expat 'free visa' labour law breaches

Muscat: Two Omanis who broke Labour Law rules by allowing over 1300 expat workers to work for other companies have been referred to the country's Public Prosecutors, the Ministry of Manpower has revealed.

Ministry investigations found that the two citizens traded in 88 commercially registered companies with 1302 expat employees - but hadn't hired a single Omani.

“The Directorate General for Labour Care has moved the case of two Omanis, who traded in 88 commercial registers with 1302 expats and no Omani employees, to the Public Prosecution,” the Ministry reported in a statement.

A spokesman at the Ministry added: “Field investigation has shown that the two Omanis have allowed their expat employees to leave the company and go work for others, which is a misdemeanor for illegal employment.

“Another crime is to leave the expats without any work to benefit from, which can lead to the workers becoming targets for human trafficking or being taken advantage of.

“After it was proven that the two Omanis have committed these acts and broken labour law and ministerial decisions for the law, the ministry has stopped working with the companies of the two Omanis and moved their files to the Public Prosecution."

The source added that the actions of the two Omanis violate article 18 of the Labour Law, which states, “Employers are prohibited from allowing expat workers to work for someone else, employing expat workers who have been permitted to work for someone else or are illegally in the Sultanate, or employing any non-Omani in a completely Omanised profession.