Know Oman: Can you be laid off during COVID-19? – Times of Oman

Know Oman: Can you be laid off during COVID-19? – Times of Oman

Yasin Chowdhury, Partner and Head of Corporate Advisory at Al Faqih & Co.

Muscat: Private sector employees in Oman cannot be dismissed from their jobs without a proper reason, unless his company is facing exceptional circumstances, a senior lawyer in the country has said.

Although companies are not allowed to fire their staff even if they're facing financial troubles, they have been allowed to do so during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Mohammed Yasin Chowdhury, Head of Corporate Advisory at Al Faqih and Co, a legal firm in the Sultanate.

"There are two positions of termination being discussed now: the first is the pre-COVID-19 era, and the second is the era during COVID-19,“ he said. "Before, during normal times, there were some checks and balances for employers to follow, and the very decision for termination would have been affected, unless there has been a valid reason to do so by the employer."

"However, the de facto position of termination by the employer has greatly compromised this, as the Supreme Committee to deal with COVID-19, on April 15, 2020, announced that given the situation due to COVID-19, the employer may actually terminate the employees - both Omanis and expats - after they fulfill certain