Temporary workers system not open to existing freelancers in Oman

Muscat: Existing expatriate freelancers (free visa workers) cannot be hired under Tanfeedh’s proposed temporary workers system, the leader of Tanfeedh’s Labour Market lab has said.
“The proposal from Tanfeedh is to bring in expatriate workers for specific jobs under specific visas for a specific period. The existing freelancers cannot be hired in the proposed system,” Shaswar Al Balushi, the leader of the lab, told Times of Oman.
Under the labour market theme, Tanfeedh has proposed an option in which employers could bring into the country expatriate workers on a temporary basis through the Ministry of Manpower’s automated system.
According to Shaswar, small and medium enterprises will be set up to cater to temporary workers.
“We want to eliminate hidden trade and illegal practices. We will set up SMEs to supply temporary workers,” Shaswar added.
In Oman, there are thousands of free visa workers who are employed in temporary jobs, which is illegal, according to Oman Labour Law. Oman Labour Law Article 114 stipulates that whoever employs non-Omanis without having a licence will be punished with a fine of not less than OMR10 and not more than OMR100.
The amount of the fine shall be multiplied proportionately with the number of such employees who are violating the law.
Further, such an employer shall, at his own expense, pay for his or her own repatriation.
Further, the employer will not be allowed to bring into Oman any non-Omani employee for a period of not more than one year.
Also, a non-Omani employee who works in the Sultanate without a licence from the government department, or works with any employer other than his or her sponsor, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month, and punished with a fine not exceeding OMR100, or by either of them.
Free visa workers pay a nominal amount to their sponsors monthly, as a fee to allow them to work in different locations.
In Muscat, these workers are mainly concentrated in the Ruwi and Ghubra areas. The majority of them do not have proper documents, food or accommodations.
According to Shahswar, the existence of such a system encourages employers to hire cheap labourers.
“People are misusing the current system. The existence of such a system persuades employers to hire cheap labourers. Through new proposals, we want to streamline that,” he added.