Transport allowance for saleswomen under study

The Ministry of Labor and the Human Resources Development Fund are currently undertaking a study to find out the possibility of providing transportation allowance to saleswomen at lingerie, cosmetics and clothing shops.
Fahad Al-Tukhaifi, assistant undersecretary for development at the Ministry of Labor, recently said that Saudi female employees face certain problems in the private sector that need to be addressed with the cooperation of public and private institutions.
“The challenges that saleswomen face in the private sector include transportation problems, long working hours and a lack of nurseries inside or near their workplaces,” said Al-Tukhaifi. “We have collaborated with the Human Resources Development Fund to study the possibility of providing transportation allowance for female workers.”
Referring to solutions that might limit the number of saleswomen quitting their jobs, he said: “Saudi women may accept part-time jobs in order to resolve the issue of long working hours.”
He pointed out that three workshops will be held in the next two weeks in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to explore the next phase of the feminization process, including mechanisms of cooperating with government bodies to address the problems Saudi women face in the workplace.
“The Labor Ministry is seeking to provide a safe and suitable work environment for Saudi women,” he said.
Saleh Al-Humaidan, head of human resources committee at the Asharqia Chamber, said: “The government is the only body with the authority to issue regulations and laws. The fund is continuously negotiating with the Ministry of Labor to overcome the obstacles facing women in the workplace.”
He said the allowance amount has not been fixed yet.
Aside from transportation issues, Saudi saleswomen have also said they suffer from inadequate job training and poor language skills.
A number of saleswomen have requested training courses from their managers to help them conduct their jobs in a professional manner.
“It is very difficult to deal with non-Arabic speaking customers because we don’t speak English. We have requested our supervisors to provide us with English courses but they said we have to pay for them ourselves,” said Fatima, saleswoman at a cosmetics shop in Jeddah. “Our salary is less than SR 4,000 and English courses cost a lot of money, which we cannot afford. They don’t seem to be concerned, even if it would enhance their business,” she added.
Customer relation skills are essential for a salesperson as they delineate and impart the appropriate communication skills, the ability to “read” customers, and persuasion skills among other valuable talents.
“My manager recently cut part of my salary because I replied back to a client in what was deemed as an improper manner. However, in my defense I was merely responding to her offensive tone. If I had received instructions or courses on how to deal with clients, I would have been more acquiescent. There are many instances in which customers wrongfully treat us and we don’t know how to deal with the situation. We have asked our manager to train us, however he said this should come naturally and is not a skill that is acquired,” said Noura, a lingerie saleswoman.
Most Saudi saleswomen have not received the technical expertise or training, which qualifies them to work as saleswomen, said Layla Al-Zahrani, cosmetic shop manager.
“Women working in shops need more than just one week of training and unfortunately that is all they receive because demand is high. I have requested the upper management to provide our employees with monthly training in different skills,” she said, adding, “However, whenever I speak to management they always tell me these saleswomen are targeted by many companies and if we invest in them they might quit and accept the next offer they get.”