Oman law

Bobby1983 wrote:

Good morning
I am currently in a situation with my company where they are not paying me holiday pay, they cut my salary every month . My salary is always delayed never paid on time. I have to ask for my salary, in other words they are controlling my financial life.

Is there anything I can do regarding this situation as I have never signed a contract with the company.
(2) I have recently been offered a job in the UAE and they will give me a UAE visa but in the future they will need me to come to Oman to work on a temporary working visa do I need a NOC still from my company

Your help is appreciated
Bobby

Bobby,
Your first mistake is that you have not signed your contract and hence you can't approach a legal adviser to lodge a complaint against your current employer. Please note that the contract letter is the base document of any legal action against an employee / employer. If that document is ambiguous, nothing can proceed.

Hence, either you prepare the contract letter as authentic between yourself and the employer and then, as per the terms, stated in the contract, your employer holds the liability and failure to which, will lead your employer to a problem. But again, in your case, there is not signing of the contract document which leaves it baseless.

2-  If you obtain a UAE work visa, you may travel to Oman on a visit, However, i'm not too sure about this situation. You must check with your next employer or an authentic person who's from Ministry of Manpower Oman.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your quick reply
The reason no contract was sign is because I worked for a company that was in a joint venture and I had a contract with that company. The company now left and I continued working for the other company.

Hi Bobby1983,

If you feel you have been shortchanged, you must first go to your embassy and report the facts of your case.

The embassy officials are trained to advise you correctly on the course of action to pursue.

Secondly, if you have a strong case and can produce written / documented evidence of all your claims, you could also report your employer as a defaulter to the Ministry of Manpower. But for this you would need Arabic support (in case you do not know to speak, read or write in Arabic). You wold need somebody who can represent you and to translate all related documents into Arabic / interpret what the MoM officials are saying back to English for your understating.

Good luck.

How is it that this guy can even be working in Oman? In most countries, especially in the Middle East you must have a signed contract to even get a visa and work permit. Sounds all pretty strange to me... is it that lax in Oman that anybody can come into the country and start working without documentation and without a contract?

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi James

It's not as if I have just come to Oman. I have been in Oman for 8 years and never had a problem with my previous employer, but now I am getting this hassle from my new employer!

Sounds like you took a job without investigating it as fully as you should have done. It's something called "due diligence". Taking a job in a foreign country without a contract is just inviting disaster.

Exactly what is it that you think the members of this forum can do for you now, other than feel sympathetic to your situation?

If you've already lodged a formal complaint that's really all you can do. If you haven't done so then that is what you need to do. If you have a labor problem or dispute there are official channels that you must go through.

If you can't get a NOC from your employer or if he is in possession of your passport (which by the way is illegal) you should go to your country's Embassy and inform them of your situation.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team