‘No NOC without completing two-year job contract’

Al Balushi added that a worker who did not complete the two-year contract should not be allowed to obtain an NOC. “The employer has to pay lots of money to bring workers, including work permits and other expenses.”

Looking at the overall impact the NOC law has had on the labour market, Al Balushi said, “The worker obtains experience in the local market, and then he leaves to work in another country. I don’t think this is good for the Omani economy.”

Omani authorities implemented a two-year ban for expats if they failed to acquire an NOC from their current employer to switch jobs in Oman. Without the NOC, expats have to leave the country and cannot work in the Sultanate for a period of two years. According to government officials, the rule was implemented to stop expatriates from switching jobs and joining competing firms. The law has continued to have a mixed response among expats and citizens in Oman.

In July 2017, the IFSU launched a Twitter poll asking whether respondents felt the NOC needed to be scrapped. Almost 60 per cent of the poll participants felt it needed to stay.

One expat employee in Oman said at the time, “I had a job interview and a confirmed offer for a better role from another company, but our HR was quite clear about NOC polices: no means no, because they don’t give NOCs to anyone in our company and I had to let go of the new offer that was coming my way.”

Omani national Khalid said, “This regulation has a positive and negative side. Some employers have misused it against expat employees.” Another Omani explained why restrictions should be eased, “We ask that the employee be allowed to move, in order to allow small and medium enterprises to attract experienced staff from the local market.”