“Closed for not employing Saudi women!” This may well be the epitaph of those lingerie shops which do not replace foreign salesmen with Saudi saleswomen today (Saturday). The Ministry of Labor has warned lingerie shop owners that they face closure and fines if they have not complied by March 10 with regulations to employ Saudi women. Dr. Fahd Al-Takefi, Assistant Undersecretary for Planning at the Ministry of Labor, was quoted as saying in Asharq Alawsat on Friday, that foreign workers still found working at these shops will also be punished for not complying with directives and changing their professions. He said the decision to employ Saudi women at these shops is based on socio-economic and cultural reasons. He said the decision must be respected because it was issued by the highest authority in the country. Meanwhile, the decision to employ only Saudi women at these shops has been criticized as gender discrimination by Nada Al-Nashif, Director of the Regional Bureau of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Beirut. She told Asharq that it is a common labor rule that the employment of workers at companies is made according to competency and experience and not gender. Dr. Samir Abdul Rahman, Head of the Human Resources Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said Al-Nashif's remarks show that she is not aware of the reality of the Saudi labor market. “We in the Kingdom introduce legislation which suits our circumstances. It should be taken into consideration that 80 percent of jobseekers in the Kingdom are women. The Ministry of Labor has taken the decision to create jobs for Saudi women at lingerie shops, in line with Islamic Shariah and social norms.” He said he does not blame Al-Nashif for her comments because she is not familiar with the Islamic environment. “We can't employ a woman in a mechanics shop to prove there is no gender discrimination. This is simply because such an environment does not suit the nature of Saudi women. Another factor to be remembered is that most of the jobs at lingerie shops are filled by foreigners so preference should be given to Saudi women.”
