How does your company cover school fees?
 

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

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

sufficient/enough, all sounds better

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

agreed - perception is all in Dubai.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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 .

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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 .

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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 .

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Amen.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

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 :)

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Company will pay a multiple of basic salary towards school fees which varies by grade - but all nationalities treated equally.

For the driver, this is enough to cover all of his kids school fees back in Kerala though for some relatively senior professionals it doesn't cover full school fees here in UAE.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

I don't understand this (I would like too for sure). If you negotiate an all in package that covers your school fees, maids, golf, housing, utilities and savings aspirations does it really matter?

It's the total value that counts, not how your employer tells you how to apportion it.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Its purely down to having to having little financial commitment with a real package. So if things do ever go pear shaped we just walk away and then come back when things settled without having to worry about the 40,000 sterling you just paid for a years rent etc.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

23k each rest is up to me

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

fair point - I'm now on 4 cheques so no big deal - when it was a year, My employer paid and did monthly deductions. This is why I pay the school fees on the first day of term :)

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

And thats just a B

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

$25,000 per child....but it's a known but unwritten fact that more than 2 kids and you don't get a move.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

School fees aren't salaries. It's an use it or lose it benefit. Expats in Dubai have to use the international schools and the school fees are just an indirect transfer of wealth from the companies to the schools.

So much for a tax free state....

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Would you rather your company provided a host of employees for you so that you never in fact in have to go near your kids?

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

we get a grand total of... nowt for school fees. Didn't in Mr Kitty's previous company either - such is the lot of the all-in packager.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Thats the way so many are going now.

Sign of the times. Millhouse made a good point about being better off if you have kids compared to if you dont...sometimes packages work that way.

I like the all-in system, it's more real and more suitable to to such a 'soft' expat posting like Dubai.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

A lot of organizations still offer quite complex packages, and there are good reasons for doing so including the obvious issue of 'basic salary' being used as the basis for end of service, performance related/bonus calculations etc. Having remuneration spread across other allowances with a smaller basic salary can save a company a lot of money in the long run.

Even though Dubai is relatively a soft expat posting, it is much harder to have employees relocate an entire family than for singles/DINKYs. Family friendly packages are a key mechanism for getting experienced staff out here rather than younger people with little experience who think they know everything already (but don't).

Kids are very expensive, I can't see how you can possibly be 'better off' ie. more disposable income, even with family packages.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

I voted D and E, by the way. Get paid nowt but we can afford the childcare that we want (it's nursery, not schooling at the moment), but of course, 60k for the two of them from September is going to dent our savings goal!

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

A 'family expat' will cost more to employ. However, one would hope that it is because they are a bit older and have more experience. However, a guy with 3 kids should cost no more to employ than a guy with 2 kids if they bring the same experience and skills to the table.

Remember, kids are the decision of the parent not the employer.

Now, don't me started on Mother & Child parking bays.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

I hope that this is all accounted for in Microsoft Money.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

OK, sorry. I forgot.

For a decent employee they have to be married with 2.4 children because the other option is someone younger with little experience who think they know everything already (but don't).

Family packages are not as readily available as they were. I agree the way all-in's are broken down can vary, some specify each allocation, others will say "we will agree your monthly figure, and once we have that the ratios are; 60% of that is basic, 35% is housing, 5% transport".

Swings and roundabouts a lot of it. Some people demand a full package and others don't care, because an all-in means you get to sort out what you pay and how much, where you can cut costs and maximise savings etc.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Amen.

Amazes me how some people can see it so differently.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Not a fan?

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

I'm always intrigued by this. Isn't there an argument that if they want you, you can negotiate?

If i had 3 kids in the UK, at a great comp, and you wanted me more than the guy with 2 kids in the school, would you not grant me schooling for 3 rather than 2?

If i turned the job down (scared off by the BE post i made :D) would you not then offer the 2 child parent less to get him over? Why would you offer him more money if you didn't think you needed to?

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

No. Kids are a choice not a disability.

Oh, and why does Tescos insist on allocating some large % of the car park to disabled drivers when they must represent only 1% of road users?

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Problem comes to greed. Coming from the UK with the whole family makes an entirely different situation compared to someone going and working on a single status somewhere.

Why should a company pay for Joe Blogg's kids' education? Dubai is hardly a tough place to live, people are earning more here than in the UK and are avoiding all tax on it, why not pay for your kids to go to school?

Sure it'd be great for the company to pay it for you but if they say, we have a limit of 2, but you have 3 kids, we still really want you but we can't do anything...turning it down would surely be down to greed alone?

I just think it's not a hard place to live out here, if you want to bring your family then great but it's your choice. But hey, just my opinion.

Sometimes I question why you'd want to bring kids up here? If you've got a live in maid, a great lifestyle, all the toys, treats and holidays you want...what will happen the nippers when they go back to the UK and to reality? Do people worry about that sort of stuff?

Anyway, not my issue, at least not for a long time yet.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

That's the point - ceteris paribus the number of kids 1,2,3 or 17 (like Sheikh Mo) should be irrelevant.

However, for senior positions (despite Scamp's sarcasm) quite often the best candidates have children so therefore need a package that reflects moving not just themselves but their family as well.

Given all the usual crap here, death on the roads, real probability of being kicked out in days, less than ideal schooling etc. that is a very serious commitment to make.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

Kids have the freshest legs of all. Stick them near the back and let the kids go mental all the way to the door.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

They are parents and kids spaces not disabled spaces and the extra room to put carseats, baby capsules etc is really helpful. After being blocked in once with a baby capsule i do quite like them but effing hate people who park there with no kids in the car. That's taking the piss. I also love the trolleys there when you can put babies in. Feels so civilised, puts me in a browser kind a mood and possibly makes me buy more! Probably the end game.

However, I'm also amazed by the amount of disabled parking spots. Love to find out how many have been used at once (By disabled drivers not cheating chancers) ever. Wonder if it ever gets reviewed.

Re: How does your company cover school fees?
 

My company covers schooling as an allowance for all kids (irrespective of # of kids - i.e. if you have 4 kids, they are all covered same as if you only had 1 kid).

However, housing allowance is on different rates : Single or Couple or Family. The family rate is one rate irrespective of # of kids - ie someone with 1 kid gets same as someone with 4 kids.

I think this is a bit sh*t to be honest, but maybe I should re-consider my opinion as my company allowances appear to be better than a lot of other companies.