Oman

Freedom of association / Right to organise

Freedom of association

Anti-Union discrimination

Barriers to the establishment of organisations

Power to refuse official registration on arbitrary, unjustified or ambiguous grounds

Under article 6 of Ministerial Decision No. 570/2012, the Ministry of Manpower may request within 30 days as of the date of receipt of the registration any additional information it deems necessary for the deposition of the request and its attachment and for the completion of the registration. Furthermore, under article 7, upon publishing the announcement of registration of the trade union in the Official Gazette, concerned parties may raise an objection against the registration request within 30 days as of the date of publication. The claim is addressed by an independent committee whose formation, powers and work procedures are regulated by virtue of a decision issued by the Minister. In the event of inexistence of any objection to the registration request, the Ministry shall issue the Registration Certificate within 60 days following the date of publication.

Excessive representativity or minimum number of members required for the establishment of a union

There must be at least 25 employees for a union to be formed, regardless of the size of the company (Art. 2 (D) Ministerial Decision 311/2006).

Restrictions on trade unions’ right to establish branches, federation and confederation or to affiliate with national and international organisations

Art.14 (6) Ministerial Decision 311/2006: Joining international organizations has to be approved by the federation.

Restrictions on workers’ right to form and join organisations of their own choosing

Single trade union system imposed by law and/or a system banning or limiting organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. at a certain level (enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and/or territorial, national)

Chapter 4 Ministerial Decision 311/2006 establishes the General Federation of the Sultanate of Oman’s labourers. This implies a monopoly with a single trade union federation. More than one union can operate per company.

Restrictions on workers’ right to join the trade union of their choosing imposed by law (i.e. obligation to join a trade union of a certain level e.g. enterprise, industry and/or sector, regional and /or territorial national)

A member of a labor trade union must meet the following conditions: He must be a worker at the establishment; He must not be less than eighteen years of age on the date of submittal of the request of affiliation and he must enjoy full capacity. He must not be convicted in any misdemeanor or crime restricting freedom against honesty or trust unless he is forgiven; He must not be on loan, delegated or member in another trade union or an employer at the establishment. It should not be proven that he committed acts prejudicing the security of the country, national unity or the Sultanate’s interests (Art. 4 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012). An establishment shall not have more than one trade union and a trade union may not be member in more than one federation (Art.49 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012). .

Restrictions on trade unions’ right to organise their administration

Restrictions on the right to freely draw up their constitutions and rules

The Ministry of Manpower Ministerial Decision No. 570/2012 imposes constraining rules in the drafting of unions constitutions, including that: the trade union General Meeting shall be formed of all of the members; The trade union Administrative Body shall be elected from among the members of its General Meeting within 30 days as of the date of registration with the Ministry; mandates of the Administrative Body are limited to four years; and members of the Advisory Body automatically lose their membership, if they fail to attend four consecutive meetings (Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012, articles 12, 18, 27, 30, 40, 42 and 45).

Restrictions on the right to elect representatives and self-administer in full freedom

The candidate for membership of the Administrative Body of the trade union must meet the following conditions: He must be a member of the trade union’s General Meeting; He must be an Omani national; His responsibilities and missions at the establishment must not contradict with his trade union responsibilities and missions (Art.11 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012). The number of members of the trade union’s Administrative Body shall be set as follows: Five members in the trade union with not more than (500) five hundred member; Seven members in the trade union with more than (500) five hundred member and less than (1500) one thousand five hundred member; Nine members in the trade union with more than (1500) one thousand five hundred members (Art.13 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012). The trade union Administrative body shall be prohibited from: Investing the trade union’s funds in financial speculations, in unsafe investments, or in investments contradicting its objectives or purposes; Exercising political activities or any activity not specified in its Statute; Accepting gifts and donations, unless with the Ministry’s approval, in which case such gifts and donations must be unconditional and not contradictory to the objectives and purposes of the trade union activity and to the laws in force in the Sultanate; Assigning its assets whether in rem or in cash (Art.17 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012).

Restrictions on the right to freely organise activities and formulate programmes

Trade unions, federations and the General Federation shall abide in their activities, works, regulations, decisions, statutes and others by the provisions of all of the laws, regulations, and decisions applicable in the Sultanate as well as by the public order and morality (Art. 48 Ministerial Decision, No. 570/2012).

Administrative authorities’ power to unilaterally dissolve, suspend or de-register trade union organisations

Art. 50, The Ministry of Manpower Ministerial Decision No. 570/2012: “The trade union or federation shall be dissolved by virtue of the Minister’s decision in any of the following cases: 1- If the number of the members of the General Meeting is less than the minimum set by the law, unless said number is reached within three months; 2- If a General Meeting was not held for two consecutive years; 3- In the events specified by the trade union or federation’s Statute, provided the one third of members of the General Meeting approve this dissolution. The Ministerial decision ordering the dissolution must be published in the Official Gazette within (15) fifteen days as of the date of issuance of the decision or as of the date on which the decision becomes final.”

Categories of workers prohibited or limited from forming or joining a union, or from holding a union office

Others categories

Workers are only covered by the labour law if they work under an employment contract with an employer. This means that informal workers are excluded (Art.1 Labour Code). Members of the employer’s family who are dependent upon him are excluded from the Labour Code (Art.2).

Other civil servants and public employees

Employees of the state administrative apparatus and other government units are excluded from the Labour Code (Art.2).

Domestic workers

Art.2 Labour Code excludes "domestic servants working inside houses or outside houses such as a driver, maid and a cook and those with similar jobs."

Right to collective bargaining

Right to collective bargaining

Barriers to the recognition of collective bargaining agents

Possibility to by-pass representative trade unions and bargain directly with workers’ representatives

Where there is no trade union, collective bargaining takes place between the employer and five representatives selected by the workers of the enterprise. The employer is not allowed to object to any of the representatives selected. While negotiations are underway, the employer is prohibited from taking any decision on issues that are on the bargaining table.

Limitations or ban on collective bargaining in certain sectors

Other civil servants and public employees

Employees of the state administrative apparatus and other government units are excluded from the scope of application of the Labour Law (article 2).

Other categories

Domestic workers and workers without an employment contract are excluded from the scope of application of the Labour Law (article 2).

Right to strike

Right to strike

Barriers to lawful strike actions

Obligation to observe an excessive quorum or to obtain an excessive majority in a ballot to call a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike

Strikes must be supported by an absolute majority of the workforce (Ministerial decree 17/2007).

Excessively long prior notice / cooling-off period

Notice of the strike must be received by the employer in writing at least three weeks beforehand (Art. 19 Ministerial decree 17/2007).

Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions

Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons)

Strikes objectives are limited to "improving work conditions and circumstances" in the establishment (article 18 Ministerial decision 294/2006).

Undue interference by authorities or employers during the course of a strike

Authorities’ or employers’ power to prevent or end a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by referring the dispute to arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation

A strike should come to an end if the parties agree to commence the procedures for settling the dispute. To this end, the Ministry will form a committee in consultation with workers and the employer. If such committee fails to solve the dispute within four weeks, the dispute will be referred to the courts (Art.23 Ministerial decree 17/2007).

Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors

Undue restrictions for “public servants”

Art. 20 Ministerial decision 294/2006: Strikes are banned in establishments which render basic services to the public.

Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
” in which the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is prohibited or severely restricted

Art.1 Ministerial decree 17/2007: General basic services include education, jails and civil aviation.