admon

there are teachers now in Dubai even at primary school level, earning in excess of 18k with all accom/utils plus the usual paid..

sounds about time you lecturers had a pay hike..

bedarwen

If it's any help, the top of the scale for assistant professors at University of Sharjah is 20,277AED per month.
You also get:

• 1 month extra salary per year that is paid around September time (pro-rata if you have been there less than a year).
• Housing (including all utilities except telephone)
• Internet (subject to university firewall naturally!)
• Medical insurance (although the coverage of this has just been reduced)
• Dental care (ditto)
• 30K AED furniture allowance (that has to be paid back proportionally if you leave before 4 years...not sure yet if they actually do this!)

not sure if they provide a loan for a car

Think that's about it.

If you ask for more than you want, they might pay they might not. There's sometimes negotiation. It's quite hard to get faculty believe it or not, so you should bargain as hard as you can if possible - I wish I had!!

Remember they need you more than you need them - even if it's not true!

Good luck - it's a challenging task teaching here...

bedarwen

Oh yes, and

• Ticket home once a year - which is pretty much twice what your ticket actually costs.
  
• Shipping allowance of 4K AED - you can probably negotiate this one if you need to

Also - make sure you get in writing what kind of housing they are offering you and how many bedrooms - if you want 2 beds minimum, ask for it and don't sign anything until they have agreed.

Same goes for anything you want - you cannot negotiate ANYTHING at a later date!!!

farouha

Thanks for your help. I have one more question, the monthly salary is broken down into 50% "basic salary" and 50% "other allowances".
Because of this breakdown, my end of service gratuity is calculated on the "basic salary". My question is, is this normal?

admon

a lot of schools do it, but some don't, it also keeps your salary increments down..

lobby lou

Yes we are in the middle of nowhere...all we have here is a fab golf course,shops,takeaways,laundys,from march a top sports complex,(complete with equastrian ,paintballing,karting,shooting.etc etc)f1 race track near by,nice beach club not far,etc etc ......really crap.......

bedarwen

Personally I've not heard it referred to as this - if the "allowances" are all the housing etc then yes, it's normal.

btw your end of service gratuity might be paid at the end of each year of service - ask them to clarify because then you can plan what you want to do with it - invest, spend whatever - it can make quite a bit of difference to you depending on what expenses you have back home for example.

Basically, ask them to confirm as many things as you are concerned about - they might make you feel like you're asking too much and being "difficult" but just keep going, you have virtually no rights once you're here, so you might as well be as clear about what you're letting yourself in for as you can - there really is no negotiation after you sign...although the first paper you are sent that you sign is not the contract, it is just an offer of employment, bear this in mind. You might get a contract several months later if you're lucky, which will have a clause in it saying they can change any of the terms or conditions at any time without warning or reason! Good huh!

hawkhead

This is quite common, mine is the same but the % of allowances is smaller. They do it because your end of service gratuity is based on basic pay, so obviously the lower the basic pay the lower the gratuity.

Bedarwen, is that the American University? Your salaries are on the low side aren't they?!

Sorry Louby Lou perhaps I should have said 'a long way from AD city'....

bedarwen

hi hawkhead - no not AUS the other one, UoS - and yes!! our salaries are low! and this with a 15% rise this year...they also just cancelled our mid-year holiday for the whole university. so morale is pretty low too. many other things low - but hey, it's sunny outside, must keep looking on the brightside...!

hawkhead

What is this with cancelling holidays??? They did that at our place too, though luckily not for the whole place so it didn't effect me, but it is really not on :curse:
At least your package looks ok - wish we got an extra month's salary every September!!!

bedarwen

that's interesting they cancelled your holiday too - then it's some new angle they're collectively taking to piss us expats off...

you should check if you get the extra month's salary - it is usually an "end of service" gratuity, but for some reason we get it at the end of each year rather than when we leave.

which university are you at? am looking for a new one as this one is too much to bear most days - can you recommend where you are (with or without the extra salary!). send me a PM if you like - other people probably aren't that interested...!

hawkhead

Ah I see - yeah we get our gratuity when we leave....

I've PM-ed you with a few details of where I work - am trying to maintain some semblance of anonymity here!!

busybee2

and remember that kca will become the new hub of abu dhabi when its built.

international

Hi farouha, is the monthly salary of 22,000DHS for an assistant professor rank?