Job Offer
Every year thousands of people move to Dubai and take up jobs full of high hopes for a new and exciting work experience in a new place. Some of these new recruits quickly realise that the jobs they’ve taken are just not right for them or not at all what they were expecting. If you are lucky enough to have received a job offer, you should invest serious time reviewing the company and the job you will be doing to make sure you are not making a move you will soon come to regret. This section aims to help you understand how to evaluate a Dubai job offer and contract, negotiate the best possible terms, and avoid getting your fingers burned.
Understanding Sources of Information
The best source of information is your contact in the company who has sent you the offer letter – typically the HR department in a large company, or a line manager in a small company. Don’t be shy to ask direct questions to fill any gaps in your understanding of the role.
:Talking to company employees and getting more information on the company’s work culture.
:Visiting the company’s office.
:Talking to the line manager you will be reporting to.
:Reading about the company online (e.g. its mentions in news articles).
:Reading former employees’ reviews (e.g. on Glassdoor.com).
Evaluating the Job Offer
When a company decides to offer you a job, they might send you a simple one-page offer letter or a full employment contract. Before signing any contract you should make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into – to have a good understanding of the company you’re joining and your role in it.
Role and responsibilities: What are the responsibilities of the job? Who will you be reporting to? Who will you be interacting with on a daily basis? How will your performance be evaluated?
Salary and benefits: Make sure you understand what is and is not included in your package, including any relevant details. For example, if there is a sales commission included, what is it based on? If there is health insurance, what does it cover (and not cover), what hospitals and clinics are included in the coverage? If you have children, do the benefits include school fees and if so, are there limits? It is important for you to know that your package is in line with the Dubai market norm for the role you are taking, and your profile.
Work location: What does your place of work look like? Will you be working in an air-conditioned office or on an industrial site? How often will you need to travel? Is the place of work near the centre of the city or on the outskirts? Is it close to public transport, or will you need to drive there? (Getting a driving license in Dubai can be a lengthy and costly process, unless you already hold a license from a recognized country.)
Working hours: What would be a typical working day? Will you have 1 or 2-day weekends? Will you be required to work on weekends and how frequently? Are there night shifts? How many days of annual leave are included?
Company culture and fit: Do you see yourself fitting in with the company’s culture and style of work? Is the company workforce ethnically diverse or dominated by one particular nationality? What are the languages commonly spoken in the workplace?
Salary and Benefits
The salary structure in Dubai varies a lot between companies. Many companies break up your total compensation between several components, labelled as follows:
Basic salary: Typically 60-70% of your total pay.
Accommodation allowance: Typically 30% of your total pay (or alternatively, the company might provide free housing).
Transport allowance: Typically around 10% of your total pay (or alternatively, the company might provide you with a company car).
Not all companies ‘segment’ packages in this way. Some may refer to your total pay as ‘basic salary’ without listing allowances separately. At the end of the day, what should matter to you is the total value of the package you receive, rather than how its components are labelled.
Additional Benefits
It is very important to understand which additional benefits are included in your employment package as these benefits can make a significant impact on your financial well-being:
Health insurance:All Dubai employers are required by law to provide health insurance for their staff. It is advisable to find out the details of the specific cover provided by your company, what is included and what is not.
Flight tickets:Some firms include in the package one annual flight to the employee’s home country.
PEducation allowance:Full or partial payment of schooling fees for the employee’s children. With top schools costing up to USD 20,000 per year, this can be particularly important if you have several school-aged children. This type of employment benefit is increasingly rare these days, limited mostly to top management positions.
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