KHOBAR: Fifteen Saudi women have begun working as checkout girls at a well-known shopping center in Al-Khobar, months after the move was halted and the Ministry of Labor announced that it would only be permitted once regulations governing the work were produced. A source at the supermarket told Al-Hayat Arabic daily that the Labor Office in the Eastern Province had informed them by telephone that they could employ women as cashiers from the beginning of the current Hijri month of Rajab. When contacted by the newspaper, head of the Labor Office Ahmad Al-Abid said only: “No comment on the issue of checkout women.” The women themselves said they began working at the supermarket last Saturday. “We were given a month's training about eight months ago and were due to begin work at that time, but then it was put back,” one of the women told Al-Hayat. “Our families were against it after the fatwa declared women cashiers impermissible. That was almost the end of the matter, but we kept our hopes up until the happy decision came a few days ago. Then our families agreed to it once they understood properly the nature of the work and once the dust had settled on the whole issue, particularly with the introduction of the Ministry of Labor regulations.” Another employee said that following approval from the ministry “no problems were encountered with any official body”. He said the ministry regulations covered “the nature of the job”. “We do not permit any mixing of the sexes and the checkout ladies only handle families,” he said. “Single males are dealt with by male cashiers.” He added that the supermarket has both male and female supervisors to keep an eye on procedures and ensure regulations are enforced, but that that has not prevented “disapproving looks from some shoppers over the last couple of days”. Noura Al-Shehri, an academic and women's rights advocate, said that the return of female cashiers after a nine-month halt constituted the “realization of goals aimed at strengthening the image of women and their ability to work in any field while maintaining their personal privacy”. “The decision has by chance occurred at the same time as moves to employ females at outlets selling women's items and instructions to administrations to open women's departments,” Al-Shehri said. “It will help tackle female unemployment which is continuously rising year after year, particularly among university graduates.” She said that all the moves result in one main trajectory - “supporting women” and involving them in the development process”. “Women are going through a boom age. These are opportunities, and opportunities don't come twice,” Al-Shehri said. “We have to make the most of them properly within the permitted framework and without going beyond its bounds.”
