Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh announced Monday three decisions regulating women's employment in the private sector. The first decision limits jobs at women's accessories and cosmetics shops to Saudi women. Employing women at these shops does not require a permit. Women's accessories shops have six months to employ Saudi women. Any failure to do so will result in their closure, he said. Shops that sell cosmetics and women's lingerie will have 12 months to employ Saudi women. The second decision stipulates that a company in Nitaqat's Excellent Zone should have at least 7% women employees, a Green Zone company must have at least 5% women employees, a company in the Yellow Zone should have 3% and the Red Zone has no percentage of Saudization calculated. For a woman employee to be included in the Nitaqat consideration, she must be between 20-35 years of age, registered with Social Insurance, and the company has to present a bank statement to prove that she has been receiving her salary. As per the Nitaqat System, two Saudi female part-timers will be counted as one full-timer, Fakieh said. The third decision regulates women working in factories. It states that a factory owner has to provide safe and decent uniforms. Women must have a women-only section. A woman must not work in the factory's offices if the number of women workers is less than 10 in a single shift. He said the ministry was serious in implementing the decisions regarding the employment of women in the private sector. Fakieh also said that his ministry will not lift the ban on importing Indonesian and Filipino domestic workers anytime soon. He confirmed that a high-level Indonesian delegation was now in Riyadh negotiating a solution to the issue. The decision to ban domestic workers from Indonesia was taken after improper conditions imposed by the Indonesian side. The ban will not be lifted unless Indonesia revokes the conditions and commits to the agreement signed in this regard, the minister said. He said that the ministry was studying the proposal to reduce working hours in the private sector. __
