Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor unveiled a set of conditions that must be complied with by owners of women's wear shops after the July 7 deadline to hire female staff expired. Adbullah Abu Thunain, Deputy Minister for Inspections and Workplace Environment Development, said that the most important condition is that employees should be Saudi women. The shop owner and the employee must comply with the terms and conditions stipulated in the work contract. The employer must block the view into women's wear shop and ban the entry of men. It is not permissible for the owner to employ both men and women together in the shop. It is also a must for the shop owner to appoint a security guard or set up an electronic security system at the shop entrance. Abu Thunain said that these conditions are in line with the ministry's keenness to create a proper and safe working environment for women. He said that the ministry teams will carry out periodic inspections of the women's wear shops. “The ministry will take action instantly against the violators. The punitive measures include placing the firm running the shop in the red category of the Nitaqat program, blocking the shop's file from the Labor Office's computer system, and asking the mayoralty or municipality either to freeze/cancel commercial registration or permanently shut down the shop.” Abu Thunain said the ministry has employed 45 Saudi women inspectors and guides to check the women's wear shops in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province in the first phase. Inspectors for other cities and regions will be employed in the second phase. “The inspector's job includes checking women's wear shops to ensure that these shops are feminized and are strictly following the ministry's regulations. They then report any violations to the ministry while the guides are entrusted with explaining the ministry's regulations to the shop owners and enlighten them on how to effectively implement the directives,” he said. The ministry started on Monday intensive inspections on women's wear shops to check whether they are complying with its decision to employ Saudi female staff by the July 7 deadline. The inspection campaign comes in the second phase to feminizing shops selling women's dresses, abayas and accessories. It is complimentary to the first stage of feminizing lingerie shops, and its implementation is compulsory as it is considered to be a national program aimed at employing as many Saudi women as possible.
