Abid Khazindar Al-Riyadh Newspaper I previously wrote an article about the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) ordering the owner of a store in Makkah to fire female cashiers he had spent time and money training and hiring. The order to hire the cashiers came from another government department that is authorized and responsible for making employment decisions. It was clear that the Hai'a did not have the right to issue such an order as it constituted an unjustified interference in a situation that did not concern it. The Hai'a did not comment on the issue and I was the only one who wrote about it. Recently, I read a newspaper report in which the Hai'a in the Eastern region assured female cashiers working in Dammam that it would not interfere in their work. The statement was made after women voiced concerns that they might lose their jobs. The official spokesman of the Hai'a in the Eastern region, Ahmad Al-Shehri, said that the permit for women to work as cashiers is issued by the Ministry of Labor and the Hai'a will not interfere in the affairs of the ministry. He added that the Hai'a does not have the right to question any commercial establishment on women's employment if the Ministry of Labor granted them a permit to work legally and in accordance with government rules and regulations. It is clear that there is a difference in the performance of the Hai'a in Makkah and the one in the Eastern region. The central administration should work to fix this problem so that there aren't any more contradictions.
