driftingaway

Hi all,

Moving out to Abu Dhabi in August. Wife has a job as a teacher, we get furnished accommodation, flights, healthcare.

I'm at interview stage with a global media agency. The school has made it clear that any benefits I get will not be replicated - basically, if I get a job that includes accommodation allowance, we'll be turfed out of the (apparently relatively new and shiny) furnished flat they put us in.

The school requires I declare my job status and salary/package if I live with my spouse.

My question is thus - if I'm offered a job, am I in a position to:

a) Surrender my accommodation allowance and gain 0, but not lose wife's accom

or

b) Ask for them to add my accommodation allowance on to my base salary (and am I likely to get 100% of that or is it more bartering no accom and 25% more base salary?)

busybee2

yep it happens a lot you cannot double up, the only way to get around it is if you take a "all in" salary, so no allowances at all etc just salary. they do check and they will not pay double and wont issue your visa.

Bahtatboy

In my experience employers are increasingly keen to give employees an all-in salary and tell them to sort everything out themselves, which would seem to suit your circumstances.

FWIW, I find it disgusting that an employer will strip an employee of benefits if her husband is given them by his employer, and that employers are keen to foist on their "most valuable assets" all manner of liabilaties in UAE given both the market conditions and the legal system. Its indicative of the complete lack of integrity which pervades the region--so please be warned, and go in with your eyes wide open.

busybee2

its been the way here in auh for a long time, if you are teachers same sch you dont double up, if you are a teacher in one sch but the other works in hct etc then they dont allow you to double up. to get around this you would need to work for one in government and one in private, thats how people do it.

scrubbedexpat141

BE CAREFUL.

Find out exactly what happens when you get a job.

My partner has an allowance for accommodation OR an apartment provided. If we get married, she loses that completely, irrespective. In fact, I'm 90% certain she loses her visa too and I'd have to pay for it.

We'd go from spending 25,000 of my money on housing a year to spending 95,000 + Visa costs. (See why I won't propose yet?)

archie159

It's mostly been said already, but FWIW... we (a large Emirati group of companies) pay a monthly amount which is theoretically split into salary and allowances (the latter is not defined as being specifically for housing - it just says "allowances" on the contract), but what you do with it is up to you. We definitely do "double-up" for 2 spouses working in the same company or group, but we would not change that theoretical 40/60% split. The only thing we will not double up are the annual flights, medical insurance and visas. Nor, if we employed a wife, would we ask whether her husband already received a housing allowance (or vice versa).

If we did employ a woman, married to man working over here, we'd offer her the option of staying on her husband's visa (we'd need a no-objection letter from him), or we'd give her her own visa. For the other way around, I think we'd need him to get a visa with us, as I don't think it is legal for a wife to allow her husband to work (I'm not sure), but we would not expect the wife to give up her own employment visa.

As you state you'd be working for a global company, you might find that they are prepared to be flexible on the breakdown of the package - though if you would be employed by a local subsidiary, on a local style contract, then that is probably less likely.

I definitely agree with Scamp - be careful, and get all your questions answered in writing.

driftingaway

Thanks all - very helpful. Sounds like it can vary a fair bit from company to company, government to private, male to female.

Scamp, we are already married and have been informed I am welcome to live with my wife in the accommodation provided, but yes, we're still trying to understand what happens if and when I get a job. They can't surely expect a husband to live without working...

busybee2

you would be surprised many house husbands here.....

driftingaway

So just heard from my wife's employer - turns out they have a shortage of apartments for married couples available! Sigh. So they're giving us 90,000 (in two 6 month payments) to find somewhere to live, 2 weeks in a hotel to find a place and 12,000 furniture allowance.

Which would get us a reasonable 1 bed on Al Reem, it seems.

So it seems the question is now whether when i get a job I'll get more than 90k accom. allowance!

So my final question is - are all rental agreements for 12 months? Just thinking that if I got a job 3 months in and they offer me more accom allowance, we'd ideally want to move to a 2 bed place...

archie159

Standard rental agreements are for 12 months. One can get furnished apartments (often managed by hotels) for shorter periods - the longer you commit to, the less the monthly rate, normally. But these are generally more expensive than standard year-long rentals.

busybee2

rentals are 12 months so you will have to find somewhere that will accept 2 cheques but you are still liable for the whole amount.

you can get monthly ones at hotel apartments but they charge an awful lot more for the privilege.

also the fees, 5% commission, deposit and utility set up fees etc.

Bahtatboy

In my experience (of renting in both AD and Dubai), it is unusual in AD for landlords to accept a "break clause", ie a clause which allows you to terminate before the full 12 months are up. Conversely, in Dubai, its not uncommon.

As busybee says, even if payment is by 2 (or more) cheques, you remain liable for the full 12 months (if there is no break clause), which puts you at risk in the event that you want or need to move or leave before the 12 months are up. Landlords invariably require that all cheques are deposited with them at the beginning of the tenancy (post-dated in line with the payment frequency), and if you're not in the position to honour a cheque when its presented you're potentially in deep shit. As I understand it, a bank will not make an issue of a cheque that isn't honoured unless the payee makes a complaint to the bank.

I'd be very wary of committing to a 12-month unbreakable lease without great certainty that my job was secure. The best option (other than getting your employer to rent in their name) is to have a break clause in the rental agreement--but, as I've said, I don't believe that AD landlords normally accept such clauses. However, don't ask don't get...

Next best option is renting by the month, but the price premium is substantial.

Good luck.

busybee2

yep indeedy.. unfortunately ad rentals very different from dxb rentals... in dxb they have accepted multiple cheques for long long time.... not so much in ad. once they have your money its gone usually unless you get a nice and reasonable landlord but ....... for a studio apartment its like 10k a month for hotel apartments etc so a lot lot more for that flexibility.

busybee2

u will just to have to find something for this year, and if you get a job that you can afford more etc look again next year.