A number of female employees joining the retail sector have been wary due to the lack of transport allowance and low salaries, reported by Okaz.  As ‘feminizing’ women product stores began earlier this week.

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Earlier the Ministry of Labour also warned private sector not to discriminate between married and single woman and pay discrimination.

“Some private companies are stipulating conditions such as a woman shall be recruited only if she is single or not pregnant if married,” said ministry spokesman Hatab Al-Anazi. “[That] is against the regulations approved by the ministry, reported by arabianbusiness.

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Few Women employees are suggesting that no job contracts were given to them by managers. 

One woman who works in an accessory store says she has been getting only SAR500 a month as a transport allowance but she has to pay SAR 1,400 to go back and forth to work. 

Another employee has said her manager did not give her any contract to sign at all.

“Transportation is the biggest obstacle for working women. We have to spend a huge portion of our salary on it,” said Amani – Okaz/SG

Feminizing  is used to describe the exclusive hiring of women in certain jobs. Women joining the 1st feminization of stores often complain that  employers do not give them full information, especially about their rights and job description. 

Many job contract enlists that all woman employee will have transport arranged as long as they are registered via a web platform called TAQAT. But many employees are unsure how this is done and why they are not on the program.

Faten Al-Sari,  acting head of Ministry of Labour’s Women Employment Policy said,  the ministry is trying to solve transport problems by giving vouchers for ride-hailing apps. This program started with 400 women last year and hopes to serve 150,000 women by 2020. 

Majority of senior positions i.e. managerial posts are still held by men and many do not take a proactive role in educating female employees’ about their rights. Although some major retail outlets have been doing very well in creating a satisfying work conditions. 

A huge number of Saudi women are entering the workforce for the first time, some the first in their generation and it is quite normal that many are unsure, confused and feels not fully  prepared for the job market.

I just began working there and I was told that the salary for a night shift is SR1,800. When I checked my social insurance account I found out that my salary was supposed to be SR3,000,” said Al-Ahmadi.- Okaz/SG

This 3^rd phase of feminization of all stores targeted selling ladies bags, shoes, ready-made garment and  perfume. Additionally, retail stores in malls selling female accessories will be fully feminized alongside pharmacies selling cosmetics and accessories.

Despite all the challenges, Ministry of Labor also released a report highlighting 200,000 saudi woman
now work in Saudi retail sector since the process began in 2011. All this is good news however working conditions, pay scale and workplace education needs to be prioritized too.