Muscat – Ministry of Labour (MoL) has issued a clarification for changes to expatriate employees’ end-of-service benefits brought about by the Labour Law issued via Royal Decree 53/2023 on July 24, 2023.

Under the earlier law, expatriate employees were entitled to 15 days’ basic salary for each of the first three years of service, followed by 30 days’ basic salary for each subsequent year. The revised legislation now entitles expat employees to a full month’s basic salary from the first year of service.

MoL has stated that Article 61 of the new Labour Law outlines the key changes regarding end-of-service benefits. The article stipulates that employers must pay workers not covered by the Social Protection Law a gratuity for each year of service, based on their last drawn basic wage. This applies to both full years and fractions of years served.

For workers who began their service under the previous law and continue to work under the new regulations, the end-of-service gratuity will be calculated in two parts. For the period before the new law’s enactment, the gratuity will follow the old formula of 15 days’ basic salary for each of the first three years and one month’s basic salary for each subsequent year. For the period after the new law came into effect, the calculation will be based on one full month’s basic salary for each year of service.

An expat who started employment on August 1, 2021 with a basic salary of RO500, and whose employment continued beyond the new law’s effective date of July 31, 2023, would see his gratuity calculated as follows: for the period from August 2021 to July 2023, the worker would receive half a month’s salary (RO250) for each year, as per the old law. For the period after the new law’s enactment, the worker would be entitled to one full month’s basic salary (RO500) for each year.