Muscat – Following Royal Decree No 82 issued in 2020 to create a job security fund that was implemented on November 1, 2020, the fund has taken on a role to protect Omani employees whose services have been terminated.
According to the Pubic Authority for Social Insurance (PASI), the total number of beneficiaries of the job security benefit is 10,133. “There are more males than females – 73 per cent males and 27 per cent females are supported under the scheme,” an official of PASI told Muscat Daily.
The fund effectively applies a levy on all employers in the sultanate to cover Omani employees in the private sector and PASI has the overall role of administering the fund.
Starting January 2021, employers must deduct contributions of one per cent of the basic monthly salary of its insured employees and make an equivalent one per cent contribution from their side. Employers should deposit the contributions in a bank account, as instructed by PASI. In the future, job seekers will also be eligible to benefit from the fund. By Royal Directive, RO10mn was donated to the fund.
According to PASI, the insured employee’s benefit eligibility will be limited to monthly payments for a maximum of six months.
The benefit will be 60% of the average contributions made during the 24 months before termination or, if the period is less than two years, the average contributions of that lesser period. In any event, the benefit will not be less than the minimum wage for citizens, currently set at RO225 basic salary and RO100 in allowances. “The scheme does not cover Omanis whose salaries were reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It covers only those who lost their jobs,” the official said.
Most beneficiaries of the fund are from North Batinah (27%), followed by Muscat (17%) and Dakhliyah (7.2%).
Text by Syed Fasiuddin
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