Nawaf Afit Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Shops failing to implement feminization decision will be deprived from recruitment and sponsorship transfer, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Labor. Assistant Undersecretary of the ministry Dr. Fahd Al-Tekhaifi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that many shops have been found employing illegal expatriate women. “We pursue owners of shops that do not implement feminization decision and impose penalties including fines,” he said. The penalties in the third stage of feminization are stern and include recruitment ban and stoppage of transfer of sponsorship. The shops will also be referred to the Saudization Committee, Al-Tekhaifi said. The ministry started intensive inspections in 2013 after its deadline to employ Saudi female staff expired on July 7, 2013. The inspection formed part of the second phase to feminize shops selling women's dresses, abayas and accessories. It was complimentary to the first stage of feminizing lingerie shops. In March 2014, the ministry started the implementation of the third phase of the feminization of shops selling women's accessories. This phase includes shops selling female perfumes, Jalabiyas (traditional dresses), bags, shoes, socks, clothes and fabrics for women as well as shops selling mother-care products (baby stuff are excluded), and pharmacies in malls selling beauty products and accessories. By October 2016, the ministry plans to achieve its goal to employ women in all stores selling women's accessories. The male staff of over 13,000 women's accessory shops all over the Kingdom were replaced by 65,000 women in the first and second phases of shop feminization.
