Overtime Regulations’ Flaws under the Omani Labour Law

Abstract

Bariş was employed by the Oman Aluminium Factory LLC. The agreed working hours in the employment contract were 40 hours per week; whereas the statutory maximum working hours under the Omani Labour Law is 45 hours per week. Bariş performed extra 10 hours as overtime work. The employer calculated the overtime hours based on the statutory maximum working hours and therefore deducting 5 hours from the extra hours Bariş has performed. Is the employer entitled to do so?Moreover, Bariş worked 50 hours a week during a period of 48 weeks. He claimed payment for overtime premium for the entire 48 weeks. However, the employer offered him payment for a period of 20 weeks only. The employer claimed that Bariş has obtained a written approval for the extra hours for a period of 20 weeks not 48 weeks, notwithstanding of the fact that Bariş has worked the extra hours during the whole 48 weeks. This issue raises the question of under what conditions the overtime work is allowed according to the Omani Labour Law and whether a prior approval by the employer constitutes a condition for compensating overtime work.The final issue will be discussed in this paper, is to what extent can the employer force the employee to perform overtime, in particular when the contractual working hours are less than the maximum statutory working hours. On the other hand, is it possible to require the employee to perform overtime work during the whole period of the employment contract? Does the Omani Labour Law permit this practice and if so, to what extent does this practice affect the health and safety of the employee?

Keywords: Overtime (definition, conditions, premium), compulsory work, health and safety.