The short answer
WPS stands for Wage Protection System. It is run by the Ministry of Labour with the Central Bank of Oman. An employer pays its workers’ wages by transfer through a bank or financial institution that is regulated by the Central Bank of Oman, and tells the bank what to pay by sending a Salary Information File (SIF). The Ministry’s guide describes the SIF as the file the establishment fills in with the information needed to pay its private-sector employees, and the Ministry’s FAQ gives CSV as the format agreed between the Ministry of Labour and the Central Bank of Oman.
Registration is done through the banks where the establishment holds the accounts it pays wages from; the Ministry’s FAQ says one registration is enough, and an employer that pays from accounts at several banks registers with each of them.
What changed with Ministerial Decision 729/2024
KPMG Oman’s summary of the decision says employers must transfer workers’ wages through WPS, to a bank or financial institution regulated by the Central Bank of Oman, within three days of the end of the wage period. Press reports of the same decision add that employers must pay at least 75% of their workforce through WPS, rising to 90% from the November 2025 wages, and that workers hired less than 30 days earlier and workers on unpaid leave are not counted. These are summaries: read the decision and the Ministry’s current notices before you rely on a date or a percentage, because they can change.
The monthly routine for a contractor
- Close the month’s attendance for every site: days worked, overtime, absences and approved leave.
- Add allowances and deductions, and check the Social Protection Fund (SPF) contributions for Omani employees.
- Check every employee’s bank details and ID: a wrong bank code or a missing ID number is the usual reason a bank rejects a line.
- Approve the payroll, produce the SIF as CSV, and upload it to your bank within the time the rules allow.
- Keep the payslips and the bank’s confirmation with the month’s records.
Social Protection Fund contributions (as of 20 October 2026)
These are the rates for Omani employees that BinaFlo’s payroll uses, kept as a dated table with the source of each row. They apply to the gross monthly wage up to OMR 3,000. The Fund can change them, so check spf.gov.om for the current schedule.
| Branch | Employer | Employee | In force from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old age, disability and death | 11% | 7.5% | 1 Jan 2024 |
| Work injuries and occupational diseases | 1% | 0% | 1 Jan 2024 |
| Employment security | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1 Jan 2024 |
| Maternity leave | 1% | 0% | 19 Jul 2024 |
| Sick and other leave | 1% | 0% | 19 Jul 2026 |
| Total | 14.5% | 8% |
Rules for non-Omani employees are different and have their own start dates; see the Fund’s schedule. Sources for these rows: Royal Decree 52/2023 (Social Protection Law) and Royal Decree 60/2025, as published by the Fund.
How BinaFlo produces the WPS file
- Payroll is generated from the month’s attendance: basic pay, allowances, overtime, deductions for recorded absence, and SPF contributions from the dated table above.
- Before the file is written, a review lists every employee whose bank code, account or ID number is missing, so you fix them first.
- The payroll is approved, then exported as the SIF in CSV. Exporting locks that month’s payroll, so the figures you sent to the bank can’t change afterwards.
- Payslips come out in Arabic and English.
Every bank checks the file its own way. Run your first month with your bank’s contact at hand, and tell us what the bank asked for if a line was rejected.
Facts and rates checked on 20 October 2026. Laws, rates and dates change: confirm them with the source before you act on them.
Sources
- Ministry of Labour, Oman: Wage Protection System (WPS) guide (PDF)
- Ministry of Labour, Oman: WPS frequently asked questions
- KPMG Oman: Ministry of Labour updates to the Wage Protection System in Oman (January 2025)
- Times of Oman: Wages Protection System launched by Ministry of Labour
- Social Protection Fund, Oman: contribution rates (spf.gov.om)
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