MUSCAT: A business owner has been fined nearly OMR140,000 and sentenced to three years in prison for violating Omani labour laws, the Ministry of Manpower has tweeted.

Authorities said that the convicted businessman let his employees work for others illegally.

In a statement, the Ministry said: “The Court of First Instance in Salalah issued a judgment sentencing a citizen to three years in prison and a fine of OMR139,000 as a result of violating provisions concerning the organisation of labour force in the private sector.”

The ministry added that the individual was among five citizens previously referred to the Public Prosecution’s office by the Ministry of Manpower, represented by the Directorate General in Salalah, after it was proven to the ministry that each of them had more than 100 commercial records with a total of 3,816 expatriate workers. This included 1,560 expat workers with expired labour cards.

Hiring expat workers illegally is punishable by Omani law.

According to the Omani Labour Law, the non-Oman employee working in Oman without permission from the specialized authority or working for a non-authorized employer shall be punished by being imprisoned for a period of not more than one month and paying a fine of not less than four hundred Oman Rials (R.O. 400/-) and not more than eight hundred Omani Rials (R.O. 800/-) or shall be subject to one of these two penalties.

In addition, the work permit, if any, shall be cancelled and the  employee  shall be repatriated on the expense of the employer and shall be repatriated on the expense of the employer and shall be banned from entering the Sultanate.

Every employer infringing the provisions of the Article (29) shall be punished by paying a fine of not less than fifty Omani Rials (R.O. 50/-) and not more than two hundred Omani Rials (R.O 200/-).