Sick leave in Oman is up to 182 days a year under Article 82 of the Labour Law (Royal Decree 53/2023), paid on a falling share of your gross wage: full pay for days 1 to 21, 75% for days 22 to 35, 50% for days 36 to 70 and 35% for days 71 to 182. Since 19 July 2026 your employer pays the first seven days and the Social Protection Fund pays the rest, for Omani and expatriate workers alike. Article 84 adds ten special paid leaves on top, including 98 days of maternity leave and 7 days of paternity leave.
This guide covers every leave in the law except annual leave, which has its own guide to annual leave and encashment. The calculator below counts the annual leave you have built up, because that balance is what a long illness eats into once sick leave runs out.
Oman Annual Leave Entitlement Calculator
Annual leave calculator
Based on Oman Royal Decree No. 53 of 2023 (Labour Law), Article 78
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Sick leave in Oman: the four pay bands of Article 82
Article 82 gives a worker "whose illness is proven" sick leave "not exceeding 182 (one hundred and eighty-two) days per year based on the following percentages of the gross wage". The gross wage is your basic wage plus all other allowances and stipends (Article 1), so housing and transport allowances count.
The table prices each band on a gross wage of OMR 600. The law sets percentages, not a daily divisor; we use gross ÷ 30, the same convention Mukafi's Oman leave calculators use, which gives OMR 20 a day.
| Sick-leave days | Share of gross wage | Pay per day on OMR 600 | Days in the band | Pay for the band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 21 | 100% | OMR 20.00 | 21 | OMR 420 |
| 22 to 35 | 75% | OMR 15.00 | 14 | OMR 210 |
| 36 to 70 | 50% | OMR 10.00 | 35 | OMR 350 |
| 71 to 182 | 35% | OMR 7.00 | 112 | OMR 784 |
| All 182 days | 182 | OMR 1,764 |
The full 182 days pay OMR 1,764, a little under half of the OMR 3,640 the same days would earn at work. A shorter illness stays near full pay: 30 days of sick leave in a year pays OMR 420 for the first 21 days and OMR 135 for the next nine, OMR 555 in all.
The law counts the days per year. Read naturally, the bands run across the year rather than restarting with each new illness, so a second spell in the same year picks up at the band where the first one stopped. The article does not say so in terms, and an employer's policy may be more generous.
Who pays sick leave since July 2026: your employer or the Fund
Article 82 sets what you are owed. Since 19 July 2026 the Social Protection Law decides who pays it.
Chapter Six of the Social Protection Law (Royal Decree 52/2023) created an insurance branch for sick leave and "extraordinary" leave. Royal Decree 60/2025 moved its start to three years after the law was issued, which fell on 19 July 2026. Under Article 124 of that law, the employer covers "the wages of the first seven days with the full wage", and the branch covers the rest at the same percentages as Article 82, taken from your last wage. The employer funds the branch with a monthly contribution of 1% of the wage (Article 123); nothing is deducted from you.
The branch applies compulsorily to Omani workers (Article 121). For expatriates, Social Protection Fund Decision R/13/2026 extended it, from 19 July 2026, to every non-Omani worker in a private-sector establishment covered by the Labour Law, and to non-Omani staff of government bodies.
On the OMR 600 example, a 30-day illness now splits like this:
| Days | Paid by | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 7 | Your employer | OMR 140 |
| 8 to 21 | Fund, at 100% | OMR 280 |
| 22 to 30 | Fund, at 75% | OMR 135 |
| Total | OMR 555 |
Your total does not change. What changed is the source of the money from day eight, which matters if an employer tells you it "cannot afford" a long sick leave: from the second week it is not their cost.
Proving illness, and when a long illness ends the contract
Article 47 is short: illness "shall be proven by a medical certificate". Keep the certificate for every absence, including single days.
Article 42(4) is the one to know if an illness drags on. A contract can end through "the illness of the worker that necessitates his absence from work for a consecutive or intermittent period of no less than 3 (three) months within one year", but only once the Article 82 sick leave and your ordinary leave balance are used up. So the employer cannot end the contract at three months; the 182 days and your annual leave balance come first. The notice period guide explains when long illness ends a contract alongside the other grounds in Articles 40 to 43.
An Article 42 ending is not a dismissal for misconduct, so your end-of-service gratuity is still due in full under Article 61.
Maternity leave, nursing hours and childcare leave
Maternity leave is 98 days. Article 84(10) grants "98 (ninety-eight) days of maternity leave" on the gross wage. Up to 14 of those days can come before the birth, on the recommendation of the competent medical body; the rest run from the date of birth.
Since 19 July 2024 the Social Protection Fund pays it. The maternity insurance branch (Social Protection Law Articles 127 to 134) covers Omani workers, and Fund Decision R/10/2024 extended it to non-Omani workers in private-sector establishments under the Labour Law from the same date. The Fund's own description of the benefit is "full pay for (98) days"; in practice your employer pays you, applies to the Fund, and is reimbursed. To qualify through the Fund the pregnancy must have passed its 25th week (Article 131).
Nursing hour. After maternity leave ends, a nursing mother gets one hour a day for a year to care for her child, at a time she chooses, and it counts as working time (Article 76).
Childcare leave. Two rules sit side by side. Article 83 of the Labour Law lets a woman take unpaid leave of up to one year to care for her child, but she then pays all the Social Protection Fund contributions for the period: hers, the employer's and the government's. Article 133 of the Social Protection Law gives an insured mother 98 days of childcare leave within a year of her maternity leave, also without pay, but with the maternity branch paying the contributions. The second is the cheaper route for the first three months.
Protection. Article 12(1) treats a dismissal because of pregnancy, childbirth or nursing as arbitrary, which opens the Article 11 compensation of three to twelve months' gross wage.
Paternity leave and the other special leaves (Article 84)
Article 84 lists ten special leaves, all "with gross wage", and requires proof for each. Two of them apply to Omani workers only, which is the detail most summaries drop.
| Leave | Days | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Paternity | 7 | The child is born alive; taken by the child's 98th day |
| Your own marriage | 3 | |
| Death of a parent, grandparent, brother or sister | 3 | |
| Death of a paternal or maternal uncle or aunt | 2 | |
| Death of a wife, son or daughter | 10 | |
| Hajj | 15 | Once in your service, after one continuous year with the employer |
| Exams | Up to 15 a year | Omani workers only, studying at a school, institute, college or university |
| Widow's leave | 130 (Muslim) or 14 (non-Muslim) | On the husband's death |
| Accompanying a patient | 15 a year | Omani workers only; a spouse or a relative up to the second degree |
| Maternity | 98 | Up to 14 days before the birth on medical advice |
Paternity leave is paid through the Fund's maternity branch (Social Protection Law Article 129), on the same terms as maternity leave.
From 19 July 2026 the sick-leave branch also pays the marriage, bereavement and widow's leaves at 100% of the last wage (Social Protection Law Article 125). The same article allows up to 30 days a year to accompany a spouse, parent, child or sibling for treatment, 15 at full pay and the rest at 50%. That is longer than Article 84's 15 days, and Article 84 gives the leave itself to Omani workers only. Whether an expatriate can now claim the Fund's accompanying allowance is a question to put to the Fund before relying on it.
Annual leave, weekly rest and public holidays
These are not special leaves, and they stack with everything above. Annual leave is at least 30 days a year on the gross wage (Article 78). You cannot take it before six months with the employer, but it builds up from your first month, and any balance left when your service ends is paid on the gross wage (Article 81). You can count your leave days and see what unused leave pays with the two calculators. The weekly rest is at least two consecutive paid days (Article 77), and official holidays are paid on the gross wage (Article 79). A non-Omani worker is also entitled to a return ticket home for the leave agreed in the contract (Article 78).
Unpaid leave and your gratuity
This is the part no other page in the search results states.
Article 80 lets an employer grant special leave without pay at the worker's request. Article 83's childcare leave is unpaid too. Both carry the same two consequences:
- You pay all the Social Protection Fund contributions for the period, including the employer's and the government's share.
- The period counts as service but not for gratuity. In the law's words, "this period is not counted in the calculation of the end-of-service gratuity stipulated in article 61".
For an Omani worker there is a third: Ministerial Decision 317/2025 lets the employer suspend the annual periodic allowance for a year in which the worker took unpaid leave under Articles 80 or 83.
Paid leave is different. Sick leave, maternity and paternity leave and the Article 84 leaves are all paid, so they count in full. When you check your Oman gratuity, enter only the unpaid days in the calculator's unpaid-leave field, and when you check your final settlement, enter any leave you have already taken so the balance is right.
Is there emergency leave in Oman?
Not under that name. The Labour Law has no "emergency leave"; its paid special leaves are the ten in Article 84, and the deaths, marriage and hospital stays they cover are what most employers mean by emergency leave. For anything outside that list, the options are annual leave (once you have six months' service) or unpaid special leave under Article 80, which the employer may grant but does not have to. Your contract or the company's work regulation can give more: Article 4 keeps any term that is more favourable to the worker.
Common mistakes
- Quoting the old law's ten weeks. The repealed 2003 law gave ten weeks of sick leave a year. Several Arabic pages still quote it. Article 82 gives 182 days.
- Paying sick leave on the basic wage. Article 82 says gross wage, allowances included.
- Assuming the employer pays all 182 days. Since 19 July 2026 it pays the first seven; the Fund pays the rest.
- Treating exam leave and accompanying-patient leave as universal. Article 84 gives both to Omani workers only.
- Counting unpaid leave towards gratuity. Articles 80 and 83 exclude it, and you also carry the contributions.
- Ending a contract at three months of illness. Article 42(4) requires the 182 days and the leave balance to be used up first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days of sick leave do you get in Oman?
Up to 182 days a year under Article 82 of Royal Decree 53/2023, for an illness proven by a medical certificate (Article 47). Days 1 to 21 are paid at 100% of the gross wage, days 22 to 35 at 75%, days 36 to 70 at 50% and days 71 to 182 at 35%.
Who pays sick leave in Oman, the employer or the Social Protection Fund?
Both, since 19 July 2026. Under Article 124 of the Social Protection Law the employer pays the first seven days at full wage and the Fund's sick-leave branch pays from day eight at the Article 82 percentages. The branch covers Omani workers and, under Fund Decision R/13/2026, expatriate workers in private-sector establishments covered by the Labour Law.
Is sick leave in Oman paid on basic or gross salary?
On the gross wage. Article 82 sets the percentages of the gross wage, which Article 1 defines as the basic wage plus all other allowances and stipends. On OMR 600 gross, the first 21 days pay OMR 20 a day.
How long is maternity leave in Oman?
98 days on full pay (Article 84), of which up to 14 can be taken before the birth on medical advice. Since 19 July 2024 the Social Protection Fund funds it for Omani and expatriate workers: the employer pays and is reimbursed. The pregnancy must have passed its 25th week for the Fund to pay.
Is there paternity leave in Oman?
Yes. Article 84 gives a father 7 days of paid paternity leave, provided the child is born alive and the leave is taken by the child's 98th day. The Social Protection Fund's maternity branch pays it.
Is there emergency leave in Oman?
No leave carries that name. The paid special leaves in Article 84 cover marriage, deaths in the family, Hajj, exams, widow's leave, accompanying a patient, paternity and maternity. For anything else you can use annual leave or ask for unpaid special leave under Article 80.
Does unpaid leave reduce my gratuity in Oman?
Yes. Articles 80 and 83 say unpaid special leave and unpaid childcare leave count as service but not in the calculation of the Article 61 end-of-service gratuity, and you pay all the Social Protection Fund contributions for the period. Paid leave counts in full.
Can my employer end my contract because of a long illness?
Only under Article 42(4): an illness keeping you away for at least three months in a year, consecutive or not, and only after the 182 days of sick leave and your ordinary leave balance are used up. Your end-of-service gratuity is still due in full.
Check your own numbers
Sick leave is a percentage of your gross wage, so the only figure you need is the gross monthly wage on your contract: divide by 30 for a day, then apply 100%, 75%, 50% or 35% depending on how far into the year's sick leave you are. For everything else you are owed when a job ends, the Oman final settlement calculator adds gratuity, unused leave and notice pay on their own wage bases, and the Oman gratuity calculator works out the Article 61 gratuity. For the rest of the law, from contracts to complaints, see our guide to Oman labour law.
The primary sources: Royal Decree 53/2023 promulgating the Labour Law (Articles 42, 47 and 76 to 84) and Royal Decree 52/2023 promulgating the Social Protection Law (Articles 121 to 134), with the Ministry of Labour's labour law page. This guide explains the law and is not legal advice; for a disputed claim, take it to the Ministry of Labour or the Social Protection Fund.