Domestic workers are excluded from the scope of the Labour Law as they are considered to be one of the categories that are governed by special laws or systems. The new regulation has expanded the scope of those excluded categories from just domestic workers to 12 distinct categories including nannies, drivers, and others as listed in article 12 of the regulation. The new regulation introduces rules that are at times more restrictive and at other times less restrictive than the Labour Law. For example, the regulation requires the worker to be at least 21 years of age, whereas the Labour Law requires the worker to be at least 18 years of age and has provisions that allows hiring juvenile workers who are at least 15 years of age. The regulation also has some rules that are less restrictive than the Labour Law. For example, the working hours for domestic workers and their equivalent can be up to 12 hours per day, while the Labour Law caps this to 8 hours per day.

A significant new provision is introduced under article 31, which establishes an end-of-service gratuity for domestic workers upon the end of their employment contracts. This benefit was absent in the previous decision and is no longer found in the Labour Law.

This decision also amends pre-existing requirements regarding healthcare coverage. The previous decision only required employers to provide free local medical treatment throughout the contract period, the new decision mandates health insurance coverage for domestic workers.

The new regulation has already entered into force and employer have three months to comply with the law. You can read the decision in English in full on the link below:

The amendment makes it clear that the Official Gazette is to be published electronically, and that the MJLA can, if it wishes, publish it in a paper format as well. The amendment also stipulates that the MJLA may published certain items from the Official Gazette before the full publication of the issue. These two practices are already adopted by the MJLA and these amendments merely add a legal basis for the practices of the ministry.

Another change that is not based on current practices is the removal of the mention of the Directorate General of the Official Gazette from the law and its replacement with a generic term for the “competent division”. This suggests that the MJLA might be in the process of a restructuring that would move the mandates relating to the Official Gazette into another administrative division within the ministry.

You can read the full text of the new amendments to the Law of the Official Gazette on the link below:

You can also read the consolidated version of the Law of the Official Gazette on this link:

Companies subject to this law are required to comply with this obligation within a year from the date of the commencement of the commercial activity of such company.

Existing companies have up to 6 months to comply with this obligation starting from the date of renewal of the commercial register, or the issuance or renewal of the work license, whichever occurs first.

It is worth-noting that even though this is a new obligation under the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law, the Ministry of Labour has previously issued instructions in the form of a circular requiring both foreign investor companies and local companies to employ at least a single Omani national.

The new amendment to the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law enters into force today. You can read it full in English on the link below:

You can also view the consolidated version of the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law on the link below:

This regulation supplements the Executive Regulation of the System of the Ownership of Real Estate in Integrated Tourism Complexes by adding new obligations to developers, buyers, and owners in Jebel Sifah Resort. Some of the new key obligation for developers under the new regulation include obligations to use an escrow account, appoint an independent audit office, and insure all units.

This new Jebel Sifah Resort Regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 adds new detailed definitions for human trafficking concepts that were not defined in the previous law, such as sexual exploitation and forced labour. The law also criminalises new trafficking activities such as deporting and detaining of humans in the context of human trafficking. The punishments under the law have also been increased so that the maximum prison sentence for general offences is increased from 7 to 10 years.

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The new decision sets employer and employee obligations in the remote work environment. Employer obligations including matters such as providing the equipment required for remote work and bearing the costs for their installation and maintenance as a default position unless agreed otherwise with the worker. The new decision also prohibits employers from violating the privacy of their workers when employers monitor the performance of remote workers. Workers also have obligations under this new decision such as an obligation to carry out the work assigned to them during the agreed working hours.

One of the most interesting aspects of this MOL decision is that it only recognises remote work conducted within the Sultanate of Oman and prohibits employers from hiring workers working remotely outside the Sultanate. This, of course, has no restrictions on the ability of an employer in the Sultanate of Oman to hire independent contractors working remotely outside the country, the law merely does not recognise this as employment under the Labour Law.

The Ministry of Labour Decision 523/2025 Regarding the Governance of Remote Work has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below along with our compliance toolkit:

Prior to this new decision, employees subject to the Labour Law were entitled to a 3% annual increment on their basic wage as long as the performance of the employee is not deemed “poor”.

Under the new decision, the percentage of the annual increment can range between 5% and 2% depending on the performance of the employee, and can be withheld completely if the performance of the employee is deemed “poor”.

This obligation is imposed in relation to Omani employees only. Employers found in violation of this decision are to be fined 50 Rial Omani for each employee against whom a violation is committed.

The decision also provides some grounds for suspending the implementation of the annual increment in general as we all rules for withholding the increment for individual employees.

This new decision enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

Under the original royal decree the branch of insurance against work injuries and occupational diseases for non-Omani workers was supposed to enter into force in July 2026, today’s royal decree pushed this date to July 2028. Similarly, the branch of insurance of sick leave and extraordinary sick leave was supposed to enter into force in July 2025, it has now been pushed to July 2026. Finally, the savings system was supposed to enter into force in July 2026, and now it will enter into force in July 2027.

You can read Royal Decree 60/2025 in English in full on the link below:

The amendment created a new requirement for authorised signatories to fall under specific categories of individuals who can take this role, such as partners in the company, members of the board of directors, and administrative and finance staff. Notably it appears that it is now not possible to appoint an employee of another company who does not fall under any of the categories specified as authorised signatory.

This amendment of the Commercial Companies Regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read the full text of this amendment in English on the link below:

The circular does not have a specific entry date, so it is assumed that it is immediately enforceable.

It is worth noting that in the year 2020, Oman issued a decision banning single-use plastic bags, but in 2024 another decision was issued limiting the ban only to single-use plastic bags that have a thickness of less than 50 micrometers. This new circular by MOCIIP appears to further erode the ban of single-use plastic bags by making it mandatory for retail outlets to provide consumers with single-use bags, plastic or otherwise, free of charge. This goes against the international trend towards sustainability and encouraging people to reuse and recycle their bags as part of global environmental efforts.

You can read MOCIIP new decision on single-use bags on the link below: