JEDDAH, 24 October 2004 — Saudi female workers have protested “illegal” conditions in work contracts that prevent them from pregnancy and maternity leave, and called upon authorities to protect their rights in accordance with the Labor Law.
They said the arbitrary conditions set out by certain private schools, hospitals and other institutions would prevent Saudi women from jobs at a time when the government has taken measures to expand job opportunities for them.
According to one contract issued by a private firm and carried by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, “the second party must make sure that she does not get pregnant during the contract period. If becomes pregnant, the first party will have the right to terminate the contract without any compensation or warning and the second party must bear her travel expenses to her country.”
The Arabic daily said many private institutions including schools and hospitals were imposing this condition on Saudi and foreign women for the past 15 years.
“A contract forbidding pregnancy must be illegal,” said Umm Khaled, principal of a prominent girls’ school in Jeddah. “I’ve been running this school for nearly 10 years. I’ve worked with Saudis and foreigners, we’ve never had such a contract,” she said.
Siham Al-Hamd, who works as a pharmacist at a private hospital in Riyadh, said the hospital administration refused to give her maternity leave, saying that the work contract does not allow a female worker to get pregnant during the contract period.
She said the hospital was applying the contract terms on both Saudi and expatriate female workers. “Some private hospitals still impose such conditions on women and get away without being punished by the Labor Ministry,” Al-Hamd told the Arabic daily.
Mariyam Murshid, an employee at a private hospital in the capital, censured the arbitrary and inhuman condition in the contract preventing her from taking maternity leave. She said she had to take additional unpaid leave in addition to annual leave for delivery and rest.
Muhammad Al-Duwaish, a legal adviser at the Labor Ministry, said no institution has the right to put conditions that prevent female workers from getting pregnant.
“They have to abide by the Labor Law which protects all rights of working women,” he added.
He said any women terminated from service as per these illegal contracts could take legal action against their employers. “They will get compensation and all other rights including end of service benefits,” he added.
Article 164 of the Labor Law gives working women in the private sector the right to maternity leave in addition to annual and sick leaves. “This article allows women to take maternity leave for four weeks before and six weeks after delivery,” he said.
Female workers should be given half salary during maternity leave if they worked more than a year with the same employer and full salary if they have more than three years service.
“It’s against the Labor Law to put a condition in a contract under which an employee can get fired if she gets pregnant,” said a human resources manager at a private hospital in Jeddah. “No one can fire an employee for getting pregnant,” she said.
“Reasons for resignation, discharge or dismissal are clearly specified in contracts approved by the law,” she added.
Huda Talaat, a former teacher, said, “Sure the maternity leave for non-Saudis is shorter and that’s unfair. But to exclude maternity leave by contract is something I’ve not heard of personally or by any of my friends.”
A source at the Ministry of Education told Arab News that the ministry had never approved such a contract. “There may be a breach of contracts, like people coming up with their own conditions. We’ve never issued or approved such contracts. I would like to see a copy of this contract that doesn’t allow women to get pregnant.”
Sameera Abdul Rahman, a teacher at one of Jeddah’s largest girls’ schools, said, “I’ve had three of my five children while I’ve been teaching. It would’ve been impossible if I didn’t have maternity leave. And I would’ve never worked in the first place with such a condition on the contract.”
Shurooq Mohammad, a newcomer to the teaching profession, asked, “Who would sign such a contract in the first place? I mean who could ever guarantee that pregnancy wouldn’t happen definitely in spite of precautions? It’s like asking someone to sign a paper stating that they would never die on the job. What kind of contract is that? If such a contract exists, nobody should sign it.”
