Bahtatboy

A Company pays, sufficient to send my kids to the school of my choice

B Company pays, contributes to >70% of the cost of sending my kids to the school of my choice

C Company pays, contributes to <70% of the cost of sending my kids to the school of my choice

D Company doesn't pay anything for schooling, but my total package is sufficient to send my kids to the school of my choice

E Company doesn't pay anything for schooling / my package is insufficient for my kids to go to the school of my choice, and I have had to compromise

1 Company pays more for schooling for kids of western expats than for kids of other nationalities

2 Company pays the same for schooling for kids of all nationalities


I'm interested to know companies' attitudes towards paying for their expat employees' kids' schooling. Any info additional to that in the poll would be welcome.

Please choose one from A-E, and either 1 or 2.

Thanks

Millhouse

I voted A & D.

Those on US contracts get 'A', those on local contracts, after a bit of negotiation, get 'D'. I fall into the latter.

Those on the US contracts also get a significant portion (if not all) of their housing covered but are generally expected to move on every couple of years.

EDIT> can't re-vote, but it would be '2'. We would all get the same benefit regardless of nationality.

Blue Cat

what about company pays 100% of school fees for school of choice?

Millhouse

well, that would be "A" then...

scrubbedexpat141

Very difficult to say having no kids myself....but, the packages we see and get offered vary massively.

A lot of firms will now just offer candidates the classic 'all-in' + flights and medical. So all your base, housing, transport and school fees are built in. A lot of the time they don't neccessarily specify how much of which.

Fewer firms break it down now and there is a gulf between what Western expats get compared to TCN's.

Just recruiting for one firm that pay AED 750 per month towards school fees for example - wherever you like (that is for an Indian chap)

Majority now just offer an all-in it seems.

Blue Cat

sufficient/enough, all sounds better

Millhouse

agreed - perception is all in Dubai.

co durham boy

We try and not hire guys with more than 1 child and single status if possible . Hiring expats with say 4 kids is just too much total cost to the company .

Rough times but essential in the Construction industry at the moment . Obviously if the role demands it or seniority of the position dictates then we go with that but it's very rare .

Millhouse

Too bloody right. I've always found it odd and a little hard to accept that someone is effectively paid more simply because they have more children.

Blue Cat

the recession gave many companies the opportunity to get rid of the folk on these packagaes, it became too expensive to relocate families and singles or couples became the package of choice.

co durham boy

It's just simple maths , companies just can't afford to bear the cost anymore , especially for Western Expats it's unsustainable in the long term for private companies specifically in my industry.

There's also too many Western expats in the system in the construction industry in my opinion , there was an overload 5 years ago because of the boom , it has now got to correct itself and that's why we're seeing a decline in the Premiership packages which includes horrendous school fees .

Blue Cat

and that is exactly why I we are still seeing redundancies, it is nearly 10 years ago since I worked in an HR Dept, annually we were told to cost each employee, the expensive ones went.

co durham boy

Fair play to anyone who's on a great Family package but i'm afraid they're a thing of the past and what was the norm is now the exception . The funny thing is some expats still want to be treated like royalty and demand deals that are unreal .

The main thing now is to make yourself employable and attractive to hire , we have a specified criteria that we look for in the current market and we find it cost effective and to our advantage .

scrubbedexpat141

Amen.

Tockalosh

Never mind school fees that are fortunately a given with my employer, what about nursery fees and summer school fees that arent
5000 aed a term for nursery fees (3 days a week) and 1000 aed a week (3 days) for summer school.

My package really does need amending to cover these.

Whilst looking down on those with all in packages I still look up to our Directors packages which include maids allowances and club memberships. Aspirational and long may those packages continue. All spoken with Messers Barker, Corbett and Clees intonation before the all in package mob get frightfully upset