Russia

Hi All,

I'm currently evaluating a move to Qatar with QP. I just had a query regarding the standard practice for QP in relation to Educational Assistance for Basic schooling.

Is it standard practice for QP to ask for the employee to pay back the entire amount of Education Assistance paid by QP over the duration of their employment if the employee chooses to resign or is terminated on disciplinary grounds?

Thanks in advance for any guidance and advise.

Russia

scot47

Wow - that really would be "golden handcuffs" akin to indentured servitude. I have never heard of this before.

OriginalSunshine

Check out the HR policy manual and your contract.

Britmal

Hi. The first thing you should know is that once QP recruit and mobilise you, they regard you as their property and they do not want you to leave, even if you are not particularly good at your job. You will be assigned an employee number which will identify you in all correspondence with QP's various and numerous departments.

You can forget the fact that you have a name...

If you want to leave before your contract term is completed, they will reclaim a proportion of any 'loans' which you have taken and any 'furniture allowance' given, read your contract carefully.

As far as I know, they will not reclaim any education fees from you.

You should also know that if you want to leave before your contract term is completed, you will have to go through QP's 'leaving procedure', during which you will be subjected to many interviews (why you want to leave? etc, etc.) and you will have to obtain around sixteen signatures from various 'senior' QP staff before you are allowed to leave.

I have heard that obtaining these signatures will take a minimum of six weeks, if one of the 'senior' staff is not available or is unwilling to sign it may take considerably longer...

You know that once you have a Qatar resident's permit you are not allowed to leave the country without your sponsor's (employer's) approval, right?

Be very careful before you accept any job offer with QP...

scot47

The "Leaving Procedure" is fairly standard in the ME. I went through similar bureaucratic exercises when leaving Saudi Arabian Airlines and then KFUPM. Just one of those things. Accept !

TGFKASE

I thought my employer utilised a pretty standard rule..

12 months.. If you leave prior, pro-rata the costs incurred by the employer, money goes back to them.

If you leave after, free and clear..

OriginalSunshine

Me too. I left Oman happily, with a paid up end of contract bonus, a PRO doing all the immigration hassle, BC flights home, but I still needed 27 signatures on a piece of paper. If someone wasn't in, I just asked their stand in to sign. If they were scared to sign, I pointed out they couldn't possibly delay my departure, unless their department was willing to accept the extra hotel costs (because I'd already packed and moved out) whilst we waited? I did it all in four days!

Britmal

Well bully for you! What a clever little soul you must be...

Now go and work for QP and try going through their leaving procedure.

OleJanx

Do you get pleasure from being an utter arsewipe?

Britmal

Have you considered the possibility that it is you and other off topic posters who are utter areswipes?

The topic in question relates to Qatar, and not the Middle East in general or Oman...

OriginalSunshine

Have you gone to work for QP and gone through their leaving procedures then?

Since QP's JV company is the same as the JV company of my ex job, I know the procedures are similar.

How about you? What's your direct experience?

Britmal

Yes I have worked with QP and I can express my experience with them in three words: 'They Suck, Bigtime'.

Anything else?

OleJanx

I presume that you didn't exactly have a good time working for QP then?

OriginalSunshine

Brains1983

you should have taken advantage of QPs educational assistance whilst you were under their employment. "they" "suck" "big" "time" total four words...