OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Al Khalili, Jenna Al Bakry, Joud Lashko and Abdullah Al Raiisi, Al Khalili, Al Ghailani & Co LLP
claims. The CCPL governs collective redress in the following three noted ways: • joining claims ‒ the combination of multiple associ- ated claims; • intervention ‒ where interested parties may request to be joined in judgment in relation to a related claim; and • ancillary claims ‒ allowing parties to expand the scope of the claim to cover matters supplementary and indivisibly connected to the original claim. Accordingly, the CCPL provides claimants with an avenue through which to formalise their collective complaints within the standard litigation procedure. Omani law itself does recognise other areas and meth- ods of dispute resolution, particularly in relation to col- lective disputes. Although the CCPL does not contain detailed governance on the practice and standards of such, practitioners are able to interpret these provi- sions in a supplementary manner. Employment and Labour One of the most notable and impactful shifts in the Omani legislative framework came with the promul- gation of the Labour Law, whereby collective labour disputes procedures were formally integrated into the legal framework. Collective redress is governed by committees established by the Ministry of Labour (MoL) ‒ most notably, the Committee for the Settle- ment of Collective Labour Disputes (the “Disputes Committee”) and the Committee for Arbitration of Collective Labour Disputes (the “Collective Arbitra- tion Committee”). Establishing employee interests As a starting point, employees are able to protect col- lective interests in their relationship with their employer through contractual safeguards in the form of a “col- lective labour agreement”, which assists in govern- ing the conditions, circumstances and terms of work. The collective labour agreement may be negotiated at any stage and provides for a three-month period of “collective bargaining” prior to the end of its term. Disputes arising from the collective labour agreement are handled directly by the Disputes Committee as and when needed.
In the absence of such an agreement, the Labour Law establishes its protection of employees’ rights by allowing for the joint submission of a request to the Disputes Committee to settle disputes. Settlement procedures under the Labour Law The Labour Law provides formal procedures for employees to follow in order to seek redress in the event of collective disputes. Such procedures were not formally included in previous versions of the labour and employment legislation. As a first course of action, the law encourages the pur- suit of a settlement and amicable resolution between employees and the employer themselves. Employees can raise collective complaints and submit a written request for the employer to settle their dispute. The Labour Law provides various safeguards for employ- eesagainst amicable settlement being unreasonably prolonged or averted. Accordingly, employers must ensure their response ‒ in writing ‒ within a maximum of seven calendar days. In the event that the employer fails to adhere to the conditions of the response period or that the dispute cannot be settled independently for any reason, the Disputes Committee will step in, guiding the parties to an amicable settlement where required. Management of collective labour disputes Another major development in the Omani legal frame- work came into effect with Royal Decree 26/2018 establishing the Oman Commercial Arbitration Cen- tre. Accordingly, Oman has placed notable emphasis on promoting mechanisms for ADR in subsequent amendments to its legislation, including in areas cov- ering collective disputes. Where amicable settlement is not attainable between the parties, employees are provided with the option to pursue arbitral proceedings through the Disputes Committee. Similar to the procedures available under settlement, stringent timeframes are put in place to ensure claims are not unreasonably delayed. Where a dispute is submitted to the Disputes Committee, a hearing must be specified for the consideration of the dispute within a maximum of 15 days. Following this, the Disputes Committee is provided a consideration period of 30 days ‒ following which, the parties must
223 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook