Oman to mandate Wage Protection System by September 2025

Employers in Oman must pay at least 75% of employee salaries through the Wage Protection System (WPS), beginning with wages paid for September 2025, as reported by MSN. 

The WPS is a government-backed electronic system that transfers salaries directly to employees’ bank accounts regulated by the Central Bank of Oman. It is designed to guarantee timely wage payments, prevent salary fraud or withholding, and create a digital record in line with Oman’s updated Labour Law. 

This requirement will tighten further, with the minimum share of salaries paid via WPS rising to 90% for November 2025 wages, payable in December, as part of a government regulation.

The WPS is already widely used in other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and is considered an important part of modern labour protection.

All salary payments must be made through banks or financial institutions approved and regulated by the Central Bank of Oman.

The updated rules also require faster wage disbursement and introduce stricter monitoring. Compliance will be overseen by the Ministry of Labour, and companies that fail to meet the requirements will face financial penalties.

Oversight and Exemptions under Oman’s Wage Protection System

The WPS is intended to strengthen labour regulations by ensuring that employees receive their wages in a timely and transparent manner. 

By doing so, it directly supports job security, which remains a central concern for Omani workers. The scale of the system’s impact is significant, with 864,600 Omani employees recorded across all sectors as of June 2025, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information. 

To protect these workers, the WPS gives the Ministry of Labour sophisticated tools to monitor employer compliance, enforce wage protections, and penalize violations where necessary.

Certain exemptions also apply to employers under the new WPS, which include cases of prolonged labour disputes, work stoppages outside the employer’s control lasting more than 30 days, officially recognized worker absconding cases exceeding 30 days, newly hired employees with less than 30 days of service, or employees on unpaid leave.

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