The Fund offers several Social Protection Benefit schemes, including:
- Old Age Benefit
- Child Benefit
- Disability Benefit
- Orphans and Widows Benefits
- Family Income Support Benefit
The Old Age Benefit is an individual benefit; namely, it is entitled to every Omani citizen who meets the age and residency requirements, regardless of gender or family relationships.
- Updating personal data, phone number and other information in the civil status registry.
- Opening or verifying the beneficiary bank account number.
- Signing in the personal account at the Social Protection Fund and confirming the data, probably through approved service providers, on the date announced by the fund.
The Child Benefit program provides monthly financial support to Omani children from birth until the age of (18) years. It aims to ensure that there is a minimum level of social protection for this group during the stages that require support for their needs.
The following conditions must be met to obtain the child benefit:
- The beneficiary must be Omani.
- The child must be less than eighteen years of age.
- Must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
- Updating personal data, phone number and other information in the civil status registry.
- Opening a bank account number for the child beneficiary.
- Signing in the personal account at the Social Protection Fund and confirming the data, probably through approved service providers, on the date announced by the fund.
No, the Child Benefit is an individual benefit and is not subject to checks of family relationships.
130 Omani Riyals per month, disbursed upon registration of the case in the records of the competent authority, and not earlier than the benefit application date.
To obtain the Disability Benefit, the following data is required:
- The Civil number, with updated contact and residence data in the civil status registry.
- Bank account number.
- The applicant must be registered with the competent authorities and included in the categories stipulated in the regulation.
The disbursement of the Disability benefit shall begin as per the Royal Decree issuing the Social Protection Law in January 2024.
The amounts shown below shall be disbursed upon the breadwinner’s death, provided that they are registered in the civil status registry, not earlier than the benefit application date:
- Widows: The difference between 80 riyals and their share of social insurance pensions.
- Double orphan: The difference between 80 riyals and their share of social insurance pensions.
- Paternal or maternal orphan: The difference between 40 riyals and their share of social insurance pensions.
To obtain the widows and orphans benefit, the following data is required:
- The Civil number, with updated contact and residence data in the civil status registry.
- Bank account number.
- Registration of the death of the breadwinner (husband, father, mother) at the civil status registry.
- Signing in the personal account at the Social Protection Fund and confirming the data, probably through approved service providers, on the date announced by the fund.
The disbursement of the Orphans and Widows Benefit shall begin as per the Royal Decree issuing the Social Protection Law in January 2024.
The difference between the amounts shown in the table below and the actual and equivalent family income shall be paid, as of the application submission date and fulfillment of the conditions set forth in the regulation.
| Target amount (RO) | Number of family members |
| 115.000 | 1 |
| 162.635 | 2 |
| 199.186 | 3 |
| 230.000 | 4 |
| 257.148 | 5 |
| 281.691 | 6 |
| 304.261 | 7 |
| 325.269 | 8 |
| 345.000 | 9 |
| 363.662 | 10 |
| 381.412 | 11 |
| 398.372 | 12 |
| 414.638 | 13 |
| 430.291 | 14 |
| 445.393 | 15 |
To obtain the Family Income Support Benefit, the following data is required:
- Civil numbers for all family members, with updated contact and residence data in the civil status registry.
- The breadwinner's bank account number.
- Disclosure form for income, property, licenses, and economic activities.
The disbursement of the Family Income Support Benefit shall begin as per the Royal Decree issuing the Social Protection Law in January 2024.
The data recorded in the Civil Status Registry will be considered, and any other document will not be considered.
The Old Age Benefit is not linked to employment status, and not working is not a condition of entitlement to it.
Yes, a child whose parents or any of them are unknown or both are eligible for the orphan benefit.
The provisions of the Social Security Law will cease to operate as of January 1, 2024, and thus the social security pensions disbursed under it will cease. They will be replaced by social protection benefits (Old Age Benefit, Child Benefit, Orphans and Widows Benefit, Disability Benefit, and Family Income Support Benefit).
- The beneficiary must be Omani.
- Must reach the age of (60) years.
- Must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
To obtain the Old Age benefit, the following data is required:
- The Civil number, with updated contact and residence data in the civil status registry.
- Bank account number.
The disbursement of the Old Age benefit shall begin as per the Royal Decree issuing the Social Protection Law in January 2024.
10 Omani Riyals per month, disbursed starting from the month of birth, and no earlier than the date of benefit application.
To obtain the Child Benefit, the following data is required:
- The civil number, with updated contact and residence data in the civil status registry.
- Bank account number.
The disbursement of the Child benefit shall begin as per the Royal Decree issuing the Social Protection Law in January 2024.
The Disability Benefit program provides monthly financial support to Omanis with disabilities whose conditions require care and support in accordance with the requirements and evaluation mechanism that will be stipulated in the regulation.
The following conditions must be met to obtain the Disability Benefit:
- The beneficiary must be Omani.
- Must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
- The beneficiary must be included in the categories stipulated in the regulation.
- Update personal data, phone number, and other information in the civil status registry.
- Opening a bank account for the beneficiary.
- Medical and functional evaluation of disability by the competent authorities after issuance of the regulation. Signing in the personal account at the Social Protection Fund and confirming the data, probably through approved service providers, on the date announced by the fund.
The Orphans and Widows Benefit program provides monthly financial support to eligible orphans and widows, to help them with the challenges resulting from the loss of a breadwinner. This is in cases where orphans or widows receive social insurance pensions less than the value of the benefit, or in cases that receive no pensions.
The orphan must fulfil the following conditions to obtain the orphan benefit:
- The beneficiary must be Omani.
- Must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
- The age of the orphan must not exceed eighteen (18) years.
- To have lost one or both parents, and if one or both of parents are unknown, he/she is considered an orphan.
The following conditions must be met by a widow to obtain the widows’ benefit:
- The beneficiary must be Omani.
- Must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
- The widow must not have reached (60) years.
Must not remarry after widowhood.
- Update personal data, phone number, and other information in the civil status registry.
- Opening an account number for the beneficiary, in addition to opening accounts for their children or the person responsible for them if they are under the legal age and do not have account numbers.
The Family Income Support Benefit program provides monthly financial support to families with the lowest income and least earning opportunities. Eligibility for this benefit depends on the level of the family's income and the ability of its members to earn. The value of the targeted benefit is linked to the number of family members and the total income of the family. The benefit aims to improve the living conditions of these families.
The following conditions must be met to obtain the Family Income Support Benefit:
- One of the applicant's family members must be Omani. A non-Omani widow of an Omani citizen who has no Omani children can submit an application provided that she resides in the Sultanate of Oman continuously after the death of her Omani husband.
- The total family income - including equivalent income - is less than the target level. The target level is calculated by multiplying the square root of the number of family members by (115) Omani Riyals.
- Disclosure of income and assets in the designated form when submitting the application.
- Respond to the social researcher if necessary.
- Updating personal data, phone number and other information in the civil status registry.
- Opening a bank account for the breadwinner.
- Filling out the disclosure form for income, property, licenses, and economic activities.
- Responding to the social researcher if necessary.
Yes, it is required to have a special bank account for each beneficiary, including children.
The widow’s entitlement to the widows benefit does not lapse by employment.
Child Benefit is not linked to employment status, and not-working is not a condition of entitlement to it.
Yes, entitlement to all social protection benefits is linked to residence in the Sultanate of Oman according to the requirements stipulated in the regulation.
The widow’s entitlement to the widows benefit does not lapse by employment.
Social insurance program that covers common workplace hazards (old age, disability, or death). It applies to Omani employees, workers and affiliates of the State's Administrative Apparatus and other juristic persons, the private sector employees, self-employed Omanis and persons of similar status, Omanis working in the GCC countries, Omanis working abroad and persons of similar status, in addition to voluntarily registered Omanis.
This category may retire whenever it wishes without being required to satisfy the new conditions for pension entitlement set forth in the Social Protection Law due to the fact that such category could retire before the promulgation of the Social Protection Law. This law safeguards the legal status accorded to this category by the previous laws.
Yes, the social insurance programs are unified under the Social Protection Law and cover all workers across all public and private sectors. This ensures that the service of the insured person is maintained in the pension program upon transfer across the various sectors.
Non-Omani (expat) workers are covered under the following social insurance systems: Insurance for work injuries and occupational diseases, insurance for sick and other leaves and insurance for maternity leaves. These programs will apply to non-Omani (expat) workers on different dates. The program also includes a provident scheme for non-Omani workers to cover their end-of-service gratuity through monthly contributions paid by the employer to the Provident Scheme (scheme with fixed contributions with no subsidies available to categories and generations). In contrast, the contributions paid by the Omani worker are utilized for the insurance of old age, disability and death (a specific benefits program with subsidies to categories and generations, is partially financed and offers entitlements exceeding, in most cases, the contributed amount and investment returns). The employer or Omani worker or both may pay additional contributions voluntarily to the provident scheme.The dates for the application of the mentioned program on non-Omanis will be announced well in advance to allow for the proper preparedness of employers.
The Social Protection Law does not affect the end of service gratuity and grants paid by the employers because they are regulated in employment laws and systems and are not related to insurance rights such as pensions. For example, the end-of-service gratuity received by pensioners working in the civil service sectors is regulated by the Civil Service Law and is paid by the employer (government). It is not affected by the issuance of the Social Protection Law whatsoever. Moreover, any grant or gratuity paid by the employer at the end of service of the employee within the private sector entities will not be affected by the issuance of the Social Protection Law and will be regulated by the applicable laws of these entities, in addition to the employment contracts signed between employees and employers.
There is no maximum limit for the retirement pension and it will be calculated based on the years of active service and wage rates during the service period.
All wages whether accrued from employment based on employment contracts or private businesses are insured and contributions must be paid in this regard. The pension is calculated from the total pay collected from the different sources of the insured person. This formula will compensate the insured person upon retirement for his total income before retirement even if collected from more than one source.
The Social Protection Law is not intended to regulate the labor market and does not prevent the pensioner from engaging in work. However, should the pensioner return to the labor market, they will be covered under all social insurance schemes. The pensioner, upon return to the labor market, will have the option to stop the pension and consolidate the several service periods into one period in accordance with the rules and guidelines to be later detailed in the executive regulations or continue without including the service periods. In this case, they will be rewarded for the loss of pension towards their period of service in accordance with provisions of the Social Protection Law.
The average future value of salaries is used instead of the last salary drawn subject to the new retirement system because the average future value is more fairer and equitable between categories in terms of retirement pension calculation as the pension is associated with the paid contributions:
Further, the average future value of salaries enables the system to accommodate categories currently not covered under the pension schemes such as temporary workers, self-employed, and seasonal workers with no fixed income. Such categories cannot be covered in systems that use the last salary formula and as such will be deprived of the retirement pension in the future. The last salary systems do not allow the collection of salaries from more than one employer of the insured person but the new system allows such a scenario.
They are not entitled to retirement pension until they reach 45 years of age prior to the 1st of January 2024 and they will be entitled to the retirement pension after fulfilling the new conditions set forth in the Social Protection Law.
Yes, They are entitled to retirement pension after two months (أi.e. upon reaching 45 years of age before the 1st of January 2024) and their entitlements are calculated as in the previous system in case they retire during the transitional period. However, if they continue work until they fulfill the new conditions for retirement, their retirement pension is likely to increase.
The Fund provides several social insurance program including:
Except for categories that completed (20) years of active service prior to the enactment of the Social Protection Law and fulfilled the requirements of the previous pension system before 1 January 2024, the conditions for pension entitlement shall be as shown in the following table:
The previous retirement systems were various in terms of the covered categories, contribution rates, definition of salary subject to contribution, rate of pension entitlements, and conditions for pension entitlement. Such variations resulted in considerable challenges to transfer periods of service across the various systems, the sustainability of these programs considering the demographic distribution across numerous systems, in addition to the challenge posed by the coverage of part-time workers and contract workers.
The Insurance for Old Age, Disability, and Death (new pension program) under the Social Protection Law covers all sectors, businesses, and categories as it addresses the challenges associated with mobility from one sector to another, achieves insurance coverage for workers in all forms of employment and contracts and, therefore, unified the conditions for pension entitlement as well as contribution rates and pension calculation rates. Under the new pension system, the contributions paid by the worker and employer are directly reflected on the entitlements of the insured person to ensure equity among all categories. The system is integrated with mechanisms capable of re-evaluating the value of contributions paid by the insured person and employer during the employment period so that their real value is maintained upon the calculation of pension entitlements. The new system also included mechanisms to increase the annual pensions on a yearly basis.
The Social Protection Law covers mandatorily all types of employment contracts whether specific or nonspecific-term contracts including part-time contracts, hourly contracts, training contracts, and casual work among others. Further, it also includes self-employed persons engaged in licensed professions such as taxi drivers, driving instructors, fishermen, farmers, etc. to serve as a safeguard for them during old age, disability or death.
There is no minimum age for pension entitlement in connection with old age stipulated in the law which is 60 years. All people who reach old age and have completed the active service (contribution) period shall receive a pension.
The provisions of the Social Protection Law state that the executive regulations of the law will identify mechanisms to include the periods of service. The provisions of the executive regulations will include mechanisms to handle the periods of service before the issuance of the Social Protection Law.
The law allows the purchase of service years for insured persons who reached the age of pension entitlement and spent a few years in service not exceeding 15 years but wish to increase their pension entitlements.
The limit of the insured pay under the basic insurance system (Old Age, Disability, and Death) is in the range of OMR 3000 initially and it increases proportionally with salary increments. In case the total salaries of the insured exceed the specified limit, the excess contributions are transferred to the insured account in the Provident Scheme. This will enable the insured to receive additional entitlements from the Provident Scheme upon retirement.
The retirement pension is calculated in accordance with the Social Protection Law based on 2% annual entitlement x years of service x salary provided that the result shall not be less than the cash payment once the conditions for entitlement are fulfilled.
The salary considered in the formula is different for the service years prior to the 1st of January 2024 compared to the salary considered for the periods of service post this date.
Yes, they are entitled to the retirement pension at any time during or after the transitional period and entitlements are calculated as in the previous system in case of retirement during the transitional period. However, if they keep working, their future pension will not be less than the current pension. In case they continue work until they fulfill the new conditions for retirement, their retirement pension is likely to increase substantially.
Yes, They are entitled to retirement pension after two months (أi.e. upon reaching 45 years of age before the 1st of January 2024) and their entitlements are calculated as in the previous system in case they retire during the transitional period. However, if they continue work until they fulfill the new conditions for retirement, their retirement pension is likely to increase.
They are not entitled to retirement pension. Rather, They are entitled to a retirement pension after fulfilling the new conditions for retirement set forth in the Social Protection Law.