Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH – The Ministry of Labor started on Sunday the implementation of the third phase of the feminization of shops selling women's accessories. This phase includes shops selling female perfumes, Jalabiyas (traditional dresses), bags, shoes, socks, clothes and fabrics for women as well as shops selling mother-care products (baby stuff are excluded), and pharmacies in malls selling beauty products and accessories. By October 2016, the ministry plans to achieve its goal to employ women in all stores selling women's accessories. The ministry bans the employment of men and women at the same time in these stores. Shops also cannot ask Saudi women to report for work before 9:00 a.m. and leave after 11:00 p.m. The shops that employ three or more Saudi women will have to employ one Saudi woman as their supervisor or manager. All violating shops will be categorized in the red zone of Nitaqat. Employment of expatriate women at these stores will lead to a fine ranging between SR3,000 and SR10,000 for each non-Saudi female employee. The employer will also be banned from getting visas or renewing iqamas of their employees. Any Saudi woman who helps a business by agreeing to register her name without working there will be deprived of the financial support provided by the Human Resource Development Fund for at least three years if it is her first violation. If she commits the same violation again she will be deprived of the support for five years. The Ministry of Labor began an intensive inspection campaign on shops selling women's accessories last July. The inspection campaign was part of the second stage of feminizing shops selling women's dresses, abayas and accessories. It was complimentary to the first stage of feminization of lingerie shops. The feminization campaign bore fruits. The number of female workers rose to 454,000 from 50,000 in 2009. But there are still over a million jobless women. That is why the ministry is working nonstop to create job opportunities for this huge number of female applicants.
