Unlicensed hairdressers face jail, deportation

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Labor has announced that it is coordinating with relevant bodies to find expatriate women who work as “independent hairdressers.” The ministry says it will penalize them with prison, fines or deportation.
According to an official at the ministry, who spoke to a local newspaper, the ministry seeks the involvement of Saudi women in an organized labor market free of unfair competition. Therefore, he called on citizens not to deal with illegal labor which puts pressure on Saudi workers.
Jawahar Abdul Rahman Al-Aqil, an expert at a Riyadh center to develop small and medium businesses, said a study had been completed regarding the entire sector and the problems it faces. The study contains a number of possible solutions. She said that the ministry could monitor wedding halls and rest houses and direct them to prevent the entry of illegal or irregular workers.
Businesswomen said there are many violations of the residency and labor laws by those who work as hairdressers. These individuals have thereby taken business away from Saudi women who work as hairdressers.
The businesswomen said that beauty salon owners have many commitments in terms of leases and government fees; foreigners, however, who work as hairdressers escape those obligations which means they make no contributions to the Kingdom’s economy.
Rima, a beauty salon owner, said that hairdressers ask for large sums of money, as much as SR3,000 for both hair and makeup. Some exploit brides in particular by asking for as much as SR14,000. She also said these hairdressers lack health certificates which can be very dangerous.
Hind Al-Rashed, another salon owner, emphasized the importance of setting up a hotline to report hairdressers operating in violation of the labor laws. She added there was a need for society to be informed about the dangers of dealing with violators. She called for such workers to be penalized, requiring hotels and wedding halls not to admit any beautician unless she has a license and a valid health certificate.
Recently, a number of social media users published a videoclip showing an expatriate male being arrested while wearing women’s clothing and practicing hairdressing inside homes.
Since then, many have called for the introduction of laws and strict punishments to control mobile hairdressers who work without official documents and are not associated with legal beauty salons.
Riyadh police spokesman Col. Fawaz Jamil Al-Maiman said the police had nothing to do with independent hairdressers. As for the man dressed in women’s clothing, he said that the Riyadh police had not received any complaints about him.