JEDDAH — The Labor Dispute Committee is looking into three cases filed by nine Saudi women who were fired from their jobs, Makkah daily reported. The women, working in women's accessory and perfume shops, have accused their employers of violating the labor regulations requiring Saudi women to be employed in such shops.
One of the women's attorneys said all the victims were hired in accordance with the Ministry of Labor's program for creating job opportunities for women in the private sector.
“They accused their employer of rotating female employees in different branches over a short span of time. He hired them in a branch for a short time then moved them to another branch in another city quickly, disrupting their life and causing them to come late to work. He was doing this on purpose to force them to resign from their jobs,” the attorney said.
“He also refused to provide them with transportation services and just fired them when they started showing up late for work,” he added. The ministry attaches great importance to cases of this kind because if its program to find jobs for women in the private sector fails, thousands of women will become jobless.
Maha Al-Anbari, one of the female employees, said her manager in the perfume and cosmetics shop did not put up partitions inside the showroom to separate female and male employees as required by the ministry. This fact affected her performance.
“Many of us get harassed by men and this makes us hate work. It's important that the conditions set by the ministry are met by employers to avoid such problems,” she said.
Al-Anbari refused to move to another branch that is 25 kilometers away from her home. Her employer also did not give her transport allowance. As a result, she was fired.
The ministry warned that it would impose strict penalties on any shop owner that does not abide by the requirements of hiring Saudi female employees. Such employers will have their business services suspended and face hefty fines.
