MUSCAT, SEPT 7
The Ministry of Labour has announced that awareness programmes run by its Labour Relations Department reached 8,943 beneficiaries by August 31, 2026, of whom 6,471 came through individual outreach and 2,472 through group sessions, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen awareness of rights and obligations and reinforce stability in the labour market.
Ali bin Salem al Sawa’i, Director of the Labour Relations Department at the Ministry of Labour, said the labour relations system operates across three main tracks: union organisation, awareness and education, and social dialogue committee affairs. He explained that the awareness track focuses on delivering legislative knowledge to workers and employers, while the union organisation track oversees the registration of unions and reviews their governing regulations, and the social dialogue track manages the joint committee’s work and follows up on the implementation of its recommendations.
Al Sawa’i noted that group awareness sessions rose to 57 in 2026, up from 49 in 2025, a growth of 16.3 per cent, with some programmes directed specifically at human resources managers and occupational health and safety officers, given their role as a key link in transferring legal knowledge into workplaces. The programmes also extended to working women, final-year university students and workers with hearing disabilities.
He confirmed the continuation of the “Sustainable Awareness” initiative for a second consecutive year, alongside the activation of an automated response service via WhatsApp, the introduction of an electronic system for workshop registration and certificate issuance, and the preparation of bilingual Arabic and English booklets outlining workers’ rights and obligations.
On union activity, he revealed that the total number of registered unions rose from 339 in 2025 to 351 in 2026, while the number of administrative bodies increased from 126 to 145. He pointed to field visits conducted in cooperation with the General Federation of Oman Trade Unions across a number of private sector establishments to strengthen legal awareness.
On social dialogue, Al Sawa’i described it as “an institutional mechanism that brings together government, employers and workers to discuss labour market issues and reach data-driven solutions and recommendations,” noting that five resolutions had been issued and their implementation followed up, alongside the formation of a dedicated team addressing banking facilities for workers whose employment in the private sector has ended.
He said the department is increasingly shifting towards preventing disputes through raising awareness and strengthening dialogue, rather than responding to issues after they arise, reinforcing a work environment built on rights, obligations and shared responsibility.
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