Long has the employee in the private sector - those who don't have a high qualification that enables them to get a very excellent salary - been dis-serviced for all his hard work during the 36 long years of the renaissance in many matters such as the number of holiday days he may take during one year, or his weekly weekend off his work, his work timings, his public holidays, and last but not least - his salary.
Unlike the public sector employee that follows a structural payment system enabling so much for the degree number he falls under and allowing that same person a chance to prove himself further to get to a higher position through gaining a better qualification. Hence, earning himself a better salary for him.
Up until now the private sector employee still works double shifts, less weekend hours and sometimes none in some newer organizations, less holiday days during a year especially during their first year of service (i.e.: 15 days in the first year of employment only), his public holidays in comparison to his public sector counterpart are very relatively less which means less time with the family (sacrifice is sacrifice but there are limits) and most of the employees who only have HNDs (Higher National Diplomas) earn no more than 200 Omani Rials ( no more than 2100 AED) (source: employees of the very same establishment - unanimously).
And this was after there was an intervention from the Ministry of Manpower.
But there have been stories - for instance - that when, for example, Starbucks first opened, it wanted initially to give it's employees higher salaries in the beginning that the very same Ministry pushed the organization behind the establishment in the Sultanate of Oman to bring down the salaries to the same line of that of other companies within it's field.
Fair, would you say? And for what reason? Nothing apparent. Though, this was more than four years ago when it was first starting up the chain here in Muscat.
Now, the head of private sector employee association is calling upon all private companies, establishments and institutions to set forth the same example when His Majesty Sultan Qaboos ordered that all public sector employees get a 15% raise in their basic salary income by asking the private companies to at least raise the bar for income by - at least - 10%.
Will they follow suite? No one's to know really? And should they? And if so, why and if not, why too?
No one really knows for sure.
But I know one thing for sure. It won't make a big difference in the salaries of those who barely earn 200 Omani Rials and can barely keep a roof over their head let alone help their families out, and still try to do their monthly shopping while planning to get married by getting a loan from a local bank which they end up paying for the rest of their natural lives? Let alone the problem of inflation that the country is now feeling it's bend on its curves.
What I don't get is why Oman insists on making all employees whether they are nationals or foreigners, making them work like they are damn slaves? People need time to breath to think, to eat, to dream, to sleep to do their other natural parts of their so called life. And not the other way around.
And in the end, nobody is really appreciated.
It's a shame, I tell you.
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Update: The holidays for the 'big Eid' - Eid Al Adh'ha have been declared as follows; the public sector will have 5 days from Saturday 30th December, 2006 - 3rd January, 2007 (which makes the grand total of the days off 9 days including weekends); private sector will have only 4 days off from Saturday 30th December, 2006 - 2nd January, 2007 (making the grand total of 1 week off if you count both Thursdays as half days off together combined into one day). Still think it's fair? Happy Holidays and Eid Mubarak to everyone out there who does and doesn't celebrate Eid Al Adh'ha, and a Belated Merry Christmas to everyone out there and Happy New Year.
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Links:
- Private sector union calls for higher salaries by private companies (in Arabic).
- Holidays declared for public & private sector (in Arabic).
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Updated Links:
- Holidays declared (in English)
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
what's fair anyhow?
Posted by Sleepless In Muscat at 00:40
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2 comments:
I think its fair! If the gov't regulated the private sector to pay higher wages, less people would be hired. Are you suggesting that less people get more money? I though you wanted more employment.
To allow the unemployment rate to drop we should advocate for more private companies in Oman, to allow foreign Investment, to ease the establishment of business, but not to create more hardships for business owners. What’s the incentive then to enter the market and hire Omani's? Let’s shoot for a better business environment, more transparency and less bureaucracy not more regulation. With time, as more business enter, they will compete for the same employees, and force wages up to attract new workers. Sounds like a win-win situation?
Per Your Request:
I am not suggesting, I am stating that less people are getting more money.
I am not entirely sure about the figures of number of employed individuals in the private sector but it is rising, not due to the fact that the private sector is so encouraging to get people into it's fields of business, but because the public sector has less and less spaces to employ anyone there - in fact they want to get rid of more people to turn the financial tables round to their advantage - which is something I highly agree with.
But with the current rate of salaries that people are getting with all the different issues that are happening nowadays (inflation and price hikes and the what not), a person who lives by even 600 Omani Rials can barely go by a month to save a dime for their future.
And by the way, I am also aiming here for the same thing: more employment, but the Ministry of Manpower is barely making it any easier these days by interfering into what the businesses should not pay their employees - hence, the Starbucks case cited in the topic.
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