Labour Law: Working hours

Muscat: The Labour Law Decree issued today by His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik is formulated in line with the fundamentals of Oman Vision 2040 and specifically addresses the labor market.

Chapter One

Working Hours

Article (70)

The worker may not work for more than 8 actual working hours per day, with a maximum of 40 actual working hours per week provided that they are interspersed, not including an hour for rest per day and eating, and the period of continuous work may not exceed (6) six hours, and the maximum working hours in the month of Ramadan are (6) six hours per day, or (30) thirty working hours per week, for Muslim workers.

The employer shall place in a conspicuous place in his establishment a schedule of working hours and daily and weekly rest times.

A decision of the Minister shall specify the cases and works in which, for technical reasons and operating conditions, work must continue without a rest period

Article (71)

The worker may work additional hours more than the working hours stipulated in Article (70) of this law if the interest of the work so requires, provided that the total of the original and additional working hours does not exceed twelve (12) hours per day for the workers, and the employer must give the worker an additional wage equivalent to his basic wage calculated according to the additional working hours, plus (25%) twenty-five percent at least for daytime working hours, and at least (50%) fifty percent for night working hours.

And if the overtime work is on weekly rest days, or any official holiday, then the employer must pay the worker a cash amount equivalent to (100%) one hundred percent of the worker’s daily basic wage, in addition to the wage for the same day, or grant the worker compensatory leave instead of the days during which he worked so that he is granted one day for each working day if the work is during the weekly rest days and official holidays.

Article (72)

As an exception to the provisions of Article (71) of this law, the employer may assign the worker additional work without obtaining his consent in any of the following cases:

1- Annual inventory work, budget preparation, liquidation, account closing, and preparation for selling at reduced prices, provided that the number of days the worker works for more than the prescribed period for daily work does not exceed (15) fifteen days a year unless the competent authority permits longer periods.

2- If the work is to prevent the occurrence of an accident or repair what resulted from it, or to avoid an imminent loss of perishable materials, or if the operation is intended to face unusual pressure, provided that the employer informs the competent authority within (24) twenty-four hours of a statement of the emergency situation, or additional operation, and the period required to complete the work.

In all cases, the worker, when employed, shall receive an additional wage equal to his basic wage calculated according to the additional working hours, in addition to at least (50%) fifty percent for the daytime working hours, and (75%) seventy-five percent for the night working hours.