By Oman’s Labour Law, issued under Royal Decree No. 53/2023, sets a maximum working day of eight hours and establishes new workplace dispute resolution procedures, according to Dialogue Pakistan and ARY News. The provisions were reported from Muscat in October 2026.
Article 70 of the law caps working time at eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, with a one-hour break for rest and meals. Employees must not work more than six consecutive hours without a break. During Ramadan, Muslim employees’ working hours are limited to six hours per day or 30 hours per week. Employers must display working hours and weekly rest days in a clearly visible place at the workplace to improve transparency and help authorities monitor compliance.
What the law actually changed
Royal Decree 53/2023 was issued by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik on 25 July 2023 and published in Official Gazette 1504 on 30 July 2023. It came into force the following day, 31 July 2023, and repealed the previous Labour Law issued under Royal Decree 35/2003. Employers and workers were given six months to rectify their status, making the compliance deadline 31 January 2024.
The law defines overtime as work performed outside the prescribed working hours. It also introduces definitions for remote work, juvenile workers, Omanisation, work permits and labour authorisations. The Ministry of Labour is responsible for issuing implementing regulations, and existing regulations continued to operate where they did not conflict with the new law.
How the eight-hour rule works in practice
The one-hour break is part of the working day structure, not additional to it. The law states a maximum of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, with a one-hour break for rest and meals. This means the total time an employee spends at the workplace, including the break, should not exceed eight hours for a standard day.
The six-hour rule is separate: an employee cannot be required to work more than six consecutive hours without a break. This matters for shift patterns and extended operations. An employer scheduling a seven-hour continuous shift would breach the law even if the total daily hours stayed within eight.
Ramadan hours apply to Muslim employees only. The reduction to six hours per day or 30 hours per week is a legal maximum, not a target. Non-Muslim employees do not automatically receive reduced hours during Ramadan under this provision, though employers may choose to extend the reduction.
The display requirement is a compliance measure. Employers must post working hours and weekly rest days where they are clearly visible. This gives Ministry of Labour inspectors a straightforward check during visits and gives employees a reference point for disputes.
Dispute resolution before court
Article 8 requires establishments with 50 or more workers to maintain an approved internal complaints system. Employees may raise grievances directly or through a representative before taking further legal action. Smaller employers are not covered by this specific requirement, but the general dispute pathway still applies.
Article 9 sets out the escalation route. If a dispute cannot be resolved internally, it must be referred to the relevant department of the Ministry of Labour for an amicable settlement before court proceedings can begin. The concerned authority must attempt reconciliation within a maximum of 30 days.
This creates a mandatory conciliation step. An employee cannot simply file a court case over a working hours dispute without first going through the ministry process, where an internal system exists. For HR teams, this means documenting internal grievance handling is now more important: the ministry will look at whether the employer followed its own approved system.
What HR and payroll teams should check
The six-month rectification period ended on 31 January 2024, but ongoing compliance requires regular review. Payroll teams should confirm that overtime calculations treat the eight-hour day and 40-hour week as the baseline. The law defines overtime as work outside the prescribed hours, so any hour beyond eight in a day or 40 in a week triggers overtime treatment, whichever is more favourable to the worker.
HR teams should audit employment contracts against the new definitions. The law defines an employment contract as one where the worker works under the employer’s management and supervision in return for a wage. Remote work is defined as a system where the worker performs duties using technology or other means, though the full text of that definition was cut off in the available source. Employers with remote workers should confirm how working hours are tracked and recorded for those arrangements.
The interaction with the Social Protection Law issued under Royal Decree 52/2023, published the same month, is worth reviewing. Both laws affect employment terms, and employers should ensure their policies align with both.
Common compliance gaps
One gap is treating the one-hour break as additional to the eight-hour day. The law sets eight hours as the maximum working day, with a one-hour break included in that structure. A nine-hour attendance day with a one-hour break would exceed the daily limit.
Another gap is ignoring the six-hour consecutive work rule for employees who work compressed schedules. Even if weekly hours stay within 40, a single stretch of more than six hours without a break breaches Article 70.
A third gap is failing to update displayed working hours after shift changes. The display requirement is ongoing, not a one-time action at the law’s introduction. Any change to working hours or rest days should be reflected in the posted information immediately.
Employers should also note that the law applies to all workers regardless of nationality unless a specific provision states otherwise. The definitions of worker and employer do not distinguish between Omani and non-Omani workers for working hours purposes.
Sources: dialoguepakistan, ARY News
Photo: Oman 2014 (16221139401) by Luca Nebuloni, CC BY 2.0
