Oman's New Domestic Worker Rules (MD 574/2025): Contract, Hours, Leave, End of Service

Oman's domestic workers have their own regulation: Ministerial Decision (MD) 574/2025. It was published in the Official Gazette on 12 October 2025 and took effect the next day, 13 October 2025. Every family hiring a housemaid, nanny, carer or driver in Oman should know it.

This guide explains each part in plain English, with article numbers so you can check the text. Where the wording allows more than one reading, we say so rather than guess. The Arabic text in the Official Gazette is the one that counts.

The rules at a glance

Who the rules cover

The regulation applies to employers and to workers in twelve occupations (Art. 2):

1. housemaid (عامل منزل)
2. nanny (مربية أطفال)
3. private driver
4. gardener
5. farm worker
6. residential building guard
7. home health assistant
8. private nurse
9. home cook
10. camel handler
11. livestock handler
12. horse groom

The rights are a minimum. Any term or agreement that goes against the regulation, or that reduces or waives a worker's rights, is void. A contract can always give the worker better terms (Art. 3).

Before work starts

• Licences. An employer may not bring in a worker without an MoL licence (Art. 8). A worker may not start any job in Oman before holding a work licence. The worker must also have entered Oman lawfully and be medically fit (Art. 11). The steps and fees are in our hiring guide.
• Age. Employing anyone under 21 is prohibited (Art. 6).
• No money from the worker. An employer may not take any money from the worker for recruiting them, employing them or transferring their services to someone else (Art. 7).
• Passport and documents. The employer may not keep the worker's passport or personal documents without the worker's written consent (Art. 5).
• No forced labour, violence or harassment of any kind (Art. 4).
• One employer, one occupation. An employer may not let its worker work on their own account or for others (Art. 9(1)). It may not employ a worker who isn't licensed to it, or who lives in Oman unlawfully (Art. 9(2)). It may not employ the worker in a different occupation from the one licensed (Art. 9(3)). In plain terms, hiring someone else's worker by the hour, or letting your worker do part-time work for other households, breaks Art. 9. There's no exception for "a few hours". Our live-in or live-out guide explains the difference between that and a live-out arrangement with your own worker.
• Advertising. An employer may not advertise or promote a worker on the basis of creed or colour, or in a way that degrades human dignity, in order to transfer them to another employer (Art. 10).
• Inspections. MoL inspectors may interview the worker, ask for documents and, with Public Prosecution permission, visit the worker's place of work or accommodation (Art. 12).

The contract and probation

A written contract is required (Art. 19). It is written in Arabic, in two copies, one for each side. A contract in another language needs an attached Arabic copy that both sides approve. It must state at least:

• both parties' names and details;
• the start date and the probation period;
• the type of work;
• the place of work;
• working and rest hours;
• the monthly wage and the day it's paid.

The employer must register the contract electronically with MoL, and update it if any term changes. MoL's contract service (305) charges OMR 1, and the worker approves the contract in the system. If there's no written contract, the worker may prove their rights by any means.

Probation can be set for up to 15 days from the first day of work, to assess the worker's skills and conduct and for the worker to assess the job (Art. 20). A worker can be put on probation only once with the same employer. Either side can end the contract during probation by giving the other at least seven days' notice. The probation period counts as service.

Renewal. If both sides carry on after the contract's end date, the contract continues on the same terms, including its duration. A side that doesn't want to renew must tell the other at least two months before the contract ends (Art. 21).

Hours, rest days and leave

Working hours are whatever the contract says (Art. 22). MD 574/2025 caps the working day at 12 hours with at least 8 hours' rest; how breaks count is a question for legal counsel.

Overtime of up to two extra hours a day is allowed, but only if agreed in writing. It is paid on top of the normal wage, at a rate the text links to the worker's daily wage, calculated by the overtime hours worked.

Weekly rest day. Every worker gets at least one paid rest day a week (Art. 23). The worker can work on that day only by written agreement. They then receive an extra day's wage on top of the pay for that day, or a substitute rest day.

Sick leave. A worker whose illness is certified by an approved medical body gets up to 30 days' paid sick leave a year, in one block or several. The employer may not make them work during sick leave (Art. 24).

Annual leave is at least 21 days a year at the agreed monthly wage (Art. 25). Both sides can agree to split it and choose when and where it's taken. Leave can be paid out instead of taken, but only by written agreement. Any unused leave is paid when the job ends. All leave counts as service (Art. 26).

Pay, accommodation and health insurance

Wages are paid in Omani rials, unless both sides agree another currency legally used in Oman. They must be paid within seven days of the due date in the contract (Art. 27). The regulation requires the monthly wage to be written into the contract but doesn't set an amount; see our salary guide.

Proof of payment. The wage only counts as paid if the worker signs the wage register, or it goes into the worker's account at a local bank or licensed financial institution (Art. 28). MoL may set a payment system. For now, MoL's FAQ says household employers aren't required to use the Wage Protection System, though it plans to include them.

Deductions are allowed only for (Art. 29):

• tools, equipment or property in the worker's care that they lost or damaged deliberately or through negligence;
• debts or fines under a court judgment or administrative decision;
• a loan from the employer, agreed in writing, with no interest.

In every case a deduction may not exceed a quarter of the wage.

Food and accommodation. The employer must treat the worker well, provide food, suitable accommodation and what's needed for the job, and never assign dangerous or degrading work (Art. 13). The accommodation must be well ventilated, lit and air-conditioned, with sound doors, windows and ceilings, good bedding, a wardrobe and a clean toilet. The worker keeps it clean (Art. 14).

Live-out workers. If the worker lives outside the employer's home, the employer provides free transport to and from work (Art. 15).

Health insurance is the employer's responsibility (Art. 16).

Records. The employer keeps a file on each worker, including passport and resident card copies, leave records and deduction notices, for at least a year after the job ends (Art. 17).

The worker's duties (Art. 18) include respecting Oman's laws, customs and values, and treating the family well, especially children, people with disabilities and elderly members. The worker also does the agreed work, protects the family's property and privacy, and follows lawful instructions.

Ending the contract

A contract ends when it expires (unless both sides carry on), when the worker proves medically unfit, incapable of working or dies, when either side ends it under the regulation, or by agreement (Art. 30). If the employer dies, the family and worker can agree to continue for up to 90 days while the worker's status is sorted out.

When the employer can end it without gratuity (Art. 35):

• the worker assaults the employer or family, or endangers them;
• the worker violates the privacy of the home;
• the worker is absent without an acceptable excuse for more than 3 consecutive days, or more than 7 separate days in a year;
• the worker seriously breaches their obligations;
• the worker is convicted of a felony or of a crime involving honour or trust.

When the worker can leave early and keep all rights, including gratuity and any compensation (Art. 36). The worker must notify the employer, but need not work the notice period in the contract. The cases are:

• the employer hasn't paid the full wage for more than two consecutive months, or has breached their obligations;
• the employer committed fraud about the terms when hiring;
• the employer or a family member behaved indecently towards the worker;
• the employer or a family member assaulted the worker;
• there's a serious danger to the worker's safety or health that the employer knows about and hasn't removed.

Final pay. All dues are paid within five days of the last working day if a transfer to another employer is agreed. If the worker is going home, they are paid at least three days before departure (Art. 32).

The journey home. The employer returns the worker home, or to another agreed country, within 30 days of the contract ending, unless the worker's services are transferred to another employer (Art. 34). On request, the employer gives the worker a clearance letter (براءة ذمة). Who pays is set by Art. 33:

• The employer pays if the worker worked for others with the employer's knowledge, or if the employer or family breached Art. 4.
• The worker pays if they end the contract early without a lawful reason, or are dismissed under Art. 35.

To move a worker to a new family instead, see our change-of-employer guide.

End-of-service gratuity

When the job ends, the employer pays a gratuity of half a month's wage for each year of service, pro rata for part years (Art. 31). The employer may deduct any money the worker owes. Two rules matter most:

• Only service from 13 October 2025 counts towards the gratuity.
• No gratuity is due if service is under two years.

Examples (assuming the contract ends normally):

• A worker starts on 1 February 2026 and leaves on 1 August 2029, after 3½ years. Gratuity = 3.5 × ½ = 1.75 months' wage.
• A worker starts on 1 March 2026 and leaves on 1 November 2027, after 1 year and 8 months. That's under two years, so no gratuity.
• A worker has been with the family since 2022 and leaves on 13 April 2028. Only the 2½ years from 13 October 2025 count, so gratuity = 1.25 months' wage.

Disputes, complaints and fines

Disputes between a worker and an employer follow Article 9 of the Labour Law (MD 574/2025 Art. 37):

1. A claim first goes to MoL for settlement, which MoL tries to reach within 30 days.
2. If settlement fails, MoL refers the dispute to the court.

Workers pay no court fees or legal costs at any stage for claims under the regulation. Article 9 also says a claim lapses one year after the right became due.

Contacting MoL. The Ministry of Labour's call centre is 80077000. The recruitment office that brought a worker to Oman may also notify MoL on the worker's behalf if it learns the employer has breached the worker's rights (Art. 38).

Fines. Breaking the regulation carries an administrative fine of OMR 50 to OMR 500 for each violation, multiplied by the number of workers affected (Art. 39).

What changed, and what's still unclear

What changed

• MD 574/2025 replaced Oman's previous ministerial decision on domestic workers, from 2004, which is repealed (Decision Art. 3). Guides that rely on the old decision are out of date.
• Families and workers had three months from 13 October 2025, to about mid-January 2026, to bring existing arrangements into line (Decision Art. 2).
• Gratuity under the regulation counts service from 13 October 2025 only.
• Permit fees were reset separately by MD 602/2025, which took effect in late January 2026. See the hiring guide.

Still unclear (we'll update this guide when it's settled)

• How breaks count within Art. 22's 12-hour working day and 8 hours' daily rest, and the overtime rate.
• How far the general Labour Law's criminal penalties reach household employment.
• Which health insurance policy satisfies Art. 16 in practice.
• How the two-year gratuity minimum applies to workers hired before 13 October 2025.

Ready to hire under the new rules? Browse housemaid profiles from workers already living in Oman, or post a job. You contact workers directly, and workers never pay to use the site.