The chief of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia), Abdul Latif Al-Asheikh, says women should only work until 7 p.m. because working late hours affects their family life. He says it is also not good for men to work shifts that end late at night.
Al-Asheikh said it was unacceptable for women to work until midnight. “Women should work reasonable hours in order to lead normal lives with their families.” He said that “current working hours in the marketplace are deeply disorganized, and unlike work regulations in other parts of the world.”
“Men and women salespersons are not given their human and familial rights and are made to work long hours. Workers in the marketplace simply do not have rights. “Workers in stores are subjected to practices tantamount to slavery. If the Ministry of Labor is serious about working in the public interest and helping localize jobs for Saudi citizens, it has to set regulations for working hours like developed countries,” Al-Asheikh said. “Our lives, first and foremost, revolve around obeying the commands of Allah.