Oman: 12,986 workers were laid off in 2019.

The chairman of the board of directors of the General Federation of Omani Workers, Nabhan Ben Ahmed Al-Batachi, has revealed that 12,986 workers in different sectors were made redundant in 2019.

Al-Batachi emphasised that redundancies are becoming a problem and that they require permanent solutions that can guarantee Omani workers in the private sector a balanced and dignified life. The trade union leader said these solutions must necessarily involve developing the laws and legislation in force and activating control over private companies in order to combat unfair dismissals.

In an article published in the 18th edition of the General Federation magazine, Al-Batachi explained that the Covid-19 pandemic had put the Omani private sector and its ability to cope with crises to the test, revealing the major challenges facing the sector and the importance of joint work among all national parties concerned to enhance the attraction of skills to the country's private enterprises.

The Chairman of the Central Trade Union Confederation's Governing Body also said that some private enterprises had exploited the exceptional conditions and crises to lay off workers, which proves that it has become urgent today to reform specialised national legislation to prevent such abuses and force companies to improve their domestic systems. The author has called for the creation of a specialised national entity to take care of dismissed workers through bonuses and benefits equivalent to those they received before they were dismissed.

For Al-Batachi, these measures are aimed at reducing the impact of dismissal on the lives of workers who must continue to receive social security coverage while they return to work.