A private company in Riyadh sacked five Saudi women after they got pregnant.
The reasons given in the dismissal notice received by the women were that they were pregnant and inefficient and seemed to lack self-confidence when they were interviewed.
They had been working for the company, which operates a railway system at a university campus in Riyadh, for the past 11 months.
The committee for national employment bureaus at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) said the Ministry of Labor should intervene in the issue and get the women reinstated.
However, the committee refuses to take any action in the matter except giving some advice to the women, Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported on Thursday.
Salah Al-Bilali, chairman of the committee, said they could not accept the complaints of the dismissed women because the issue was beyond its jurisdiction. He hoped the Labor Ministry would deal with the issue.
Al-Bilali said: “Private companies are not permitted to cancel a job contract with a Saudi worker just because she got pregnant.”
He alleged some private companies were looking for excuses to get rid of women workers.
In the first place such companies employ Saudi women to fulfill the mandatory stipulations of the Nitaqat regulations for Saudization, he said.
“But when companies reach the required Saudization level and receive approval from the ministry, the companies look for flimsy reasons to get rid of Saudi workers. This is against the regulations.”
One of the sacked workers, who did not want to disclose her name, said the company replaced them with Asian and African women.
She said: “We were appointed 11 months ago on a monthly salary of SR4,000.
“We used to work hard. Now we are in trouble. We have decided to complain about the company’s treatment to the Ministry of Labor.”
Company sacks pregnant workers
