Ministry of Labour (MoL), Oman has drawn up a list of new rules pertaining to the handling of complaints and grievances in private-sector organisations.
Establishments or organisations with 25 workers or more have been asked to officially list out the penalties and the situations where they are to be imposed.
Employers can also add other violations and penalties that they deem fit, provided MoL also approves of these.
As per the new regulations, minor violations will attract warnings in writing, while repeated violations will lead to five-day wages being deducted. Employees will be suspended temporarily or may even be fired without pay in case of serious misconduct.
A formal system for complaint management and redressal of grievances has been made mandatory for organisations with 50 or more employees. The procedure for the system has also been laid out by MoL.
Employees who turn up for work up to 15 minutes late without a good reason are to be issued a written warning. If they are repeatedly late, they are to be penalised with 5 per cent wage cut for the second instance of late arrival, 10 per cent for the third and 20 per cent for the fourth.
Employees late by between half an hour and an hour without approval or without giving a valid reason, will have to suffer a 50 per cent wage cut in the first instance and 75 per cent for the second instance. If they are late for 30 to 60 minutes a fourth time, they will have to forego an entire day’s wage.
Penalties will also be imposed for minor assaults on co-workers, taking bribes and even sleeping at work or on duty. The pay cut for such misconduct can be anything between one to five days’ wages. Repeated violations may also lead to termination depending on the nature of offence/misconduct.
Workers found to be consuming drugs or alcohol at work may be terminated without any benefits. Even those caught smoking in non-smoking areas may be fined or even terminated for repeated offence.
Employers have been mandated to define wage cuts clearly and issue a written notice to the offenders before imposing any fine or penalty. Employees are to be given a chance to defend themselves before any action is taken against them. Pay cuts give employees an opportunity to present their defence. Additionally, wage deductions must be clearly defined.
When a penalty is imposed, the concerned workers have the right to file grievances within a week. Penalty cannot be imposed if six months pass after the misconduct or violation, except in cases where the violation has been repeated.
