Business Law Assignment

Student Name: Jawahir Al Zadjali

Student Number: 2012859

1.0. Introduction

Disputes occur when there are disagreements between the employer and employee on certain
grounds and this makes the situation to be totally unacceptable. There are many situations
when employer and employee do not come onto a single solution and sometimes the
employer does not focus on the needs of employees (Gonzalez,, 2008). This creates feeling of
frustration among employees and results in labour disputes which are very common in
workplace. Industrial disputes are defined as the act which creates mismatch and conflicts to
root out between the employer and employee for which they need to look into different
procedures and mechanism to solve such disputes by conciliation, mediation or arbitration
otherwise the situations worsen leading towards strikes which are not easy to manage.

Strikes are the condition when employees are not ready to continue their work and this
situation is very damaging for an existing organization. Strikes are sometimes not easy to
handle as it damages the work situations (Murray, 2013). Strike occurs when workers refuse
to work in organization and carry protests until their demands are being satisfied. The
common reason for having strike is that employees want better working conditions which
make them to go on strike and also they want to fight for their rights in organization.

Trade unions are formed by employees as a self-regulating organization is made by

employees so that their rights can be protected (Bolle, 2007). The communication between
the employer and employee is carried by trade union which has the capability to solve many
issues and in modern times trade unions have been a fashion as employee demands should be
fulfilled in order to manage the workplace. Trade unions play a major role in protecting and
defending employee rights as they fight for employee rights and are a viable source for
maintaining relationship with employees and managing industrial relations. This essay shall
be based on evaluation of these concepts related with industrial disputes, strikes and trade
union by evaluating the case study of Omani Private School.

2.0. Case Analysis

1. Legal Issues Observed at Omani Private School- Trade Union Resolves Issues

There are many legal issues observed in this case study where Omani teachers have been on
strike as they want their demands should be fulfilled which can be summarized as they want
more pay based on performance, they demand right to formulate unions and also they are
demanding fewer working hours. The teachers have also been demanding that they should be
provided with transport by the school and the students should also be provided with facilities
related with transport. The major legal issues observed that the teachers want the curriculum
of teaching to be changed and also teachers demanding promotion after 4 years which is their
legal basic right as promotion should be granted to employees after period of 4 years. The
teachers also stated that their salaries should not be cut during holidays which is their basic
right and Oman Labour Law has stated that in Ministerial Decision 570 which was presented
in 2012 stating that trade union can be formulated by organizations under private sector
categorization if they have at least 25 members or more and this union has the right to
function independently as legal identity (Burkeen, 2007).

The Oman Labour Law also presents the details that trade unions formed as per Royal Decree
No. 35 of 2003 states that workers shall form the union which will be for the following major
causes:

1. Trade union shall play important role in protecting the interests of employees at workplace

2. Trade union also defends the rights of employees

3. Improves the social status and financial situation at workplace

4. Provides an opportunity to employees for having participation in the issues related to their
affairs.

This shows that trade union have been one of the most suitable situations which shall help in
managing the issues that teachers face at Omani Private School and this means that trade
unions are the best and most suitable option for rest of the employees who need demand to be
fulfilled at workplace.

2. Trade unions in Oman

The demands of teachers are very much related to the situation which many staff at Omani
Private Schools. The major demands are that the teachers need facility such as gym and
transport which is their legal right to fight for their rights. The reduction of working hour
time shall not be legally accepted under the Oman Labour Laws as the working hours in
Oman have been set to be one of the major factors which help to manage the social
conditions at work but the working hours as mentioned in the case are 5 contact hours as
children go home at 1 and teachers are working for managing the employee rights. The
employer cannot reduce the working hours as Article 68 of OLL states that there should be 9
working hours and currently the employees at the company are already working at lesser time
as mentioned and the teachers should not work for lesser time duration. The teachers are
demanding good buses and play area for employees which is also their legal right and
employees should be provided with their basic right which is one of the basic right of
employees as mentioned in Article 33 of Oman Labour Law, the employer has the
responsibility to provide all sorts of facilities related with medical treatment and also a
qualified nurse should provide medical aid and also make the treatment to be effective for
employees (Katzman, 2011). In the mentioned case study teachers at Omani Private School
demand for health insurance and this should be looked into by employer at workplace and
provide these benefits. According to the Article 108 as presented by Oman Labour Law,
states that employees should be provided with the basic work conditions by defending the
rights and improve the materialistic and social condition involving matters related to the
affairs (Zahlan, 2016).

3.0. Discussion

Oman Labour Law only supports peaceful strikes and is against situations which create chaos
in Oman. The approaches which are preferred under the Oman Labour Law includes
collective bargaining, settlement of labour disputes and peaceful strikes which state that the
disputes are preferably solved by collective bargaining or peaceful strikes to be the mean for
solving issues related to strikes in Oman. The strike carried by teachers working in Oman
Private Schools are allowed as per legal law situation in Oman is concerned which can be
observed in MD No. 575/2014 which states that only sectors that belong to public services
cannot go for strike and this sectors include petroleum establishments, refineries, airports and
ports which cannot go for strike and the MD has established mechanism for managing the
labour demands at work. The MD also offers mechanism which states that employees at work
should be allowed to go on strike only if their rights are being ignored at workplace. The
strike at Omani Private School is legal as the employees are mentioning that they are not
being allowed to form union for which OLL provides details that trade union or labour
federation should provide interference for representing the worker in the union federation and
also has conducted a relationship between the trade union to solve the necessary demands of
teachers at Omani Private School.

Legal Procedure for Strike and Dispute Resolution in Oman

The stoppage of work is avoided by Ministry of Manpower which has made certain
amendments in the Oman Labour Law which shows that there are negotiations between the
employer and employees following a discussion which states that negotiations should not be
more than 30 days as this is the duration which should be looked into by ministry and to
resolve the disputes at work. The procedure for strike in Oman is very systematic as the
employees are regarded to inform the employer before they intend to go for strike. This is
very necessary for employees before they intend to go on strike as mentioned in MD
294/2006 and the procedure says to have compulsion for informing the employees regarding
the disputes which is a notice and indicator to have better managed employee relations for
holding on the strike for employees (Cemmett et al, 2010). The notice is the ground for
forming the strike as they should be informed before going on strike. The Labour Law as per
MD states that employees have the right to hold peaceful strikes and they have total freedom
to fight for their rights which means that they should be provided with better working
conditions. The strikes shall be considered legal in Oman if the MD provides the following
systematic procedure for holding the strike:

1. The union or member of representatives should provide the employer with a notice at least
three weeks prior which shall be suitable and for better working conditions of employees.
These strikes shall be held by employees in enterprises to provide better services and
conditions at work.

2. The notice should be set forth along with the series of list of demands of employees for
which they have been holding the strike (Elliot, 2011).

3. There should be copy provided to Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or to the relevant

authorities regarding the strike which is being held by the employees.

Dispute Resolution Process in Oman

The dispute resolution in Oman is mainly done by the Omani commercial courts which are
responsible for managing the strike and also to ensure that everything is being managed in a
systematic order. The procedure should have low appeal and tendency of managing the issues
that arise in courts (Elliot, 2011). The Court Appeal is related with managing the disputes
majorly in case of serious dispute issues in Oman. The Supreme Court in Oman is the highest
court which helps in dealing with the decisions of Appeals and also to add law and
regulations in the country.
a) Arbitration

The dispute resolution in Oman is by Arbitration which has been issues under The Omani
Arbitration Law as stated in Royal Decree No. 47 of 1997 which states it to be in writing
form if there is need to have relative appeals and to use provisions presenting the following
details clearly:

Language of arbitration
The number of arbitrators
Place and location of arbitration
Law governing system of arbitration

As Oman forms an eminent part of the New York Convention registered in 1958 regarding
the Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards which has been expected to have convention
member jurisdictions that shall be enforced in Oman (Chaudhry, 2009).

b) Conciliation and Settlement Approaches

The disputes as mentioned in Oman Labour Laws can be solved by conciliation and
settlement law which has been presented in Royal Decree 98 of 2005 and this states that the
parties shall be provided a chance to refer to the Committee and Conciliation for settlement
which needs to be solved and also the dispute should be settled within the time span of 60
days from the date of application of the Committee (Hill, 2013). The period for settlement of
disputes should not exceed 30days upon the agreement of the parties and the settlement needs
to be achieved by enforcing the same decisions of the final judgement court. The parties can
come on to settlement by planning to calm the waters and consulting professional mediator
for settlement of disputes in Oman.

4.0. Conclusion

Disputes at workplace can be solved if the trade unions proactively participate in various
tasks and also build a good communication channel which helps employees to work well and
take the striking action. The issues can be addressed by the employers and employees should
also negotiate with the employer on certain grounds which could have been a better option in
case of Omani Private School and the trade union should use open door policy. This will help
employee representatives to take part in active decisions that shall be more suitable for
employees to take action. The result of solving disputes shall be basically be concerned for
resolving strikes and bringing it into action while workplace disputes can be eradicated by the
support of trade unions and employer should have supported communication with employees.

References

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