MLSD conducts nearly 96,000 inspection rounds to feminize women-only shops, uncovering compliance of 79,000 firms

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development said on Sunday labor inspectors conducted 95,745 inspection rounds on shopping centers and independent stores in various regions of the Kingdom to make sure employers comply with the decision aiming to feminize women-only shops in its third phase, which is in cooperation with several government entities. Khaled Abalkhail, spokesman for MLSD, clarified the inspection campaigns uncovered 79,343 complaint establishments (equivalent to 83 percent of the total visited establishments) compared to 16,402 non-compliant ones (17 percent). Abalkhail pointed out the inspection campaigns detected 13,361 violations related to the labor decisions, including 4,190 nationalization violations which constitute 31 percent of the total number of violations and 7,359 feminization violations (55 percent). He added: ‘The remaining number of other labor violations stood at 1,812 representing 14 percent of the total number of violations.’ Abalkhail urged customers to report labor violations or submit inquiries through dialing the customer service No. (19911) or using ‘Ma3an lil Rasd’ app on smart phones. Meanwhile, the third phase of the decision kicked off on Oct. 21, 2017 to nationalize and feminize shops selling women-only necessities, namely perfumes, shoes, bags, women socks, ready-to-wear cloths, kiosks and women fabrics, in addition to department stores selling women cloths along with other staples. It also targets independent and small stores that sell soiree gowns, wedding dresses, Abaya (cloaks), accessories, Jalabiyas (traditional dresses), mother-care products and pharmacies with sections that sell accessories and cosmetics. In support of the move, the Human Resources Development Fund has offered an array of services for female workers, including the children hospitality program ‘Qurrah’ and the transportation program ‘Wusool’ for the working woman in order to increase the number of Saudi women in the workforce.