shiva

I am led to believe that the salary offered is about right for a legal PA in Dubai, you might be able to negotiate a bit more upto say mid 20's but you can forget a housing allowance, thats for them fee earning lawyers only I'm afraid.
You should expect filghts home once a year but if they are playing hardball then you'll only get 1 flight home at the end of the contract, I'd expect full healthcare as well.

Is it an international firm or local company?

ps it is perfectly possible to live on 18k a month, plenty do, just dont expect to live like a millionaire....

MrsHawkes

I used to work in a law firm here and the secretaries were getting over 20,000dhs a month.

Maybe it's changed days though and they are paying less now because they can?

There are so many people out of a job here at mo i don't understand why people are still recruiting from the UK either.

Mrs H

Ethos83

I second the above. Your package must include one flight a year (which is required by law, I think?). Ensure you have proper health insurance, not just access to the governmentally-sponsored health clinics. What is your gratuity? You should expect to receive a lump-sum payment at the end of your employment as a contribution towards your pension.

18,000 AED is not a shabby salary and there are certainly people who live on less than that (most of the country). If you're willing to share, you can find a room in a Marina flat or a Jumeira villa for 4,000-4,500 AED. Monthly car lease will run 2,000 AED. So that's 6500 AED for your room and a car. You can easily live decently on 2,000 AED/month and that includes going out once a week and eating comfortably.

Based on the above scenario, you can save half your salary by being a bit frugal. However, and this is a big however, I'm surprised at your firm's refusing to offer you the requisite annual flight, and make sure they include top notch health insurance as part of the package. That makes me a bit suspect.

Last but not least, how old are you? You may be tired of the shared flat/villa lifestyle, although plenty of thirty-somethings do it out here.

rowell

[QUOTE=Ethos83;7599432]I second the above. Your package must include one flight a year (which is required by law, I think?).

Can anyone clarify this matter as I do not get annual flights in my contract, I know that the final return flight is mandetory but didn't think annual return was.

klaus3974

[QUOTE=rowell;7599581] If you work for the government, repatriation tickets are compulsory (HR law, art 74) and so they are annual air tickets (art 149) but private sector do not have the obligation of annual leave tickets.

Annual Leave Air Tickets
Article (149)
1. Expatriate employees are entitled to annual leave air tickets on the date of work joining anniversary and as follows:
• Grade 14 and above: Business Class for self, spouse and up to 3 children
under 18 years old.
• Grade 9 – 13 : Economy Class for self, spouse and up to 3 children under
18 years old
• Grade 8 and below: Economy Class for self only