No Objection Certificates (NOCs) in Oman “will be removed,” a senior official from the Ministry of Manpower has said.
“We will remove the NOC option. It will be removed. The plan is being considered seriously,” Said bin Nasser Al Saadi, the advisor to the Minister for Manpower, told in an exclusive interview.
Recent moves by the neighbouring countries to remove red tape and allow expatriate workers to freely enter and leave for work have prompted the plan to scrap the certificate.
Currently, expatriate workers must possess an NOC to change jobs in Oman.
Expatriate employees who wish to quit a job in Oman and return to join a new company have to procure a No Objection Certificate from their employer.
Without an NOC, the law prevents the expatriate from returning to Oman for two years.
Said bin Nasser Al Saadi added: “We are updating and modifying our rules. Our new labour law will be more flexible and easier for
the labour market help attract investment. We are in the final stages of the new labour law. It will be very soon.”
A recent report from the World Economic Forum has also cited restrictive labour policies as one of the ‘problematic factors’ for doing business in Oman.
The Global Competitive Report 2016-17 said that restrictive labour regulations, inefficient government bureaucracy, inadequately educated workforce, and poor work ethics in the workforce are issues that could discourage investors from putting their money in Oman.
Since the NOC option was made mandatory in mid-2014, it has been labelled an ‘exploitative’ tool for the employers to hold back their expatriate employees.
Several employees who wished to quit Oman and return to join a new company after completing their job contract were forced to give up their end of service benefits worth thousands of rials in return for the NOC.
Oman dropped four points to 66 in the Global Competitiveness Index 2016-17 rankings.
“Removing the NOC option will attract investment,” the advisor added. Anchan CK, an investment advisor in Oman, said that modifying the labour laws will certainly help Oman.
“Modifying labour laws will certainly impact onerous cost and legal hurdles that inhibit free market competition and allow Oman to get repositioned as a regional destination for business owners,” the investment advisor added.
Recently, United Arab Emirates relaxed its labour laws and Qatar is coming out with a labour law scrapping its NOC in December, easing entry and exit norms for expatriate workers.
Ahmed Al Hooti, an Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry member, said protection should be put in place for Omani businesses, in the event of scrapping the NOC.
“Our situation is different than that of UAE or Qatar. The private sector comprises 80 to 85 per cent of labourers and the majority is unskilled labor.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Omanis working in the private sector and some of them run their own businesses. If the rule is waived without taking them into consideration, they will have a lot of competition from expatriate workers, so we must protect them,” he added.
Source: TimesOfOman