Labor ministry warns offices to follow Nitaqat procedures JEDDAH – Shops selling women's lingerie have a week – until Jan. 4, 2012 – to hire female workers, said Dr. Fahd Al-Takhifi, Assistant Undersecretary for Development at the Ministry of Labor. “The ministry will suspend services of violators,” said Al-Takhifi in a statement to Al-Watan Arabic daily on Thursday. Al-Takhifi said the ministry will form an inspection committee to implement the decision and will send teams out on daily visits for a week. Business owners must comply with regulations by not allowing men inside these stores, and women employees must dress modestly, in line with the Shariah, he added. All malls where women work will have a safe electronic system and will be well guarded, he said. Once the inspections of lingerie shops are completed, the ministry will visit shops selling cosmetics and clothes, starting from July 1. He added that the 450-member committee completed a list two weeks ago of all the country's stores which should hire women. A workshop explaining the implementation of the Royal Decree regarding the hiring of female workers will be held on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor has warned negligent directors of labor offices that they will be penalized if they do not follow procedures of the Nitaqat Program, the government's new Saudization drive. This follows complaints received by the Minister of Labor that certain labor offices were still facilitating procedures for companies falling in the Red Zone – those firms which have failed to meet the required quota of Saudi employees. These complaints prompted Ahmad Al-Luhaidan, Undersecretary of Labor Affairs at the Ministry, to issue a strongly-worded circular warning labor office directors to comply with the law. The ministry said that only companies complying with Saudization quotas should be rewarded with promised government incentives and services. Al-Luhaidan also warned labor offices that inspections of companies falling into the Green Zone, should only take place in coordination with his office.
