Muscat: Oman will introduce a compulsory savings scheme for expatriate employees starting in 2027, part of a wider set of reforms designed to improve financial security for the country’s foreign workforce.
The Social Protection Fund announced that employers will be required to set aside nine per cent of an expat worker’s basic salary into a regulated savings programme. The funds accumulated under the scheme will be released to employees once their service in the Sultanate ends.
The programme aims to help expats build a financial reserve during their period of employment in Oman, ensuring workers have access to savings when they complete their contracts or return to their home countries.
Shabeb Al Busaidi, Deputy Executive President for Social Protection Affairs at the Social Protection Fund, said the savings plan forms part of a broader roadmap of labour and social protection reforms scheduled to roll out gradually between 2026 and 2028.
As part of the reform agenda, authorities plan to introduce a sick leave insurance scheme in 2026. The programme will require contributions equivalent to one per cent of an employee’s salary and is intended to provide income support during periods when workers are unable to work due to illness.
A work injury insurance scheme is also planned for 2028. Under this system, a one per cent salary contribution will be required, and workers injured on the job will be eligible for compensation of up to RO3,000.
According to the Social Protection Fund, the measures are aimed at strengthening Oman’s social protection system while improving worker welfare and enhancing the long-term stability of the labour market.
