hi all

i am a south african who lived in the UK for 3 years and my wife and i have now been offered a transfer with our company in SA to go to Dubai to their newly established office.

we work for a design and branding agency, me as a senior designer and her as an account manager. does anyone here know what sort of packages to ask for with regards to these positions???

from what i have read on this site, 18 000 AED each per month would be a good amount. what should we ask for with regards to benefits? they have already said that they will pay for rent up front and that we would pay it off out of our salaries. we will also get a flight home each year.

i get 20 leave days per year, what is normal in dubai and i have also heard about a gratuity scheme that happens in dubai, whereby people earn a 'bonus' which equates to 21 days pay per year - is this true???

basically i need to know that if my wife and i get 18 000 each, can we live in the marina, pay for a car, pay bills, furnish an apartment and also save some cash....???? or am i making any of you laugh yet?

we dont party a lot but would like to see and do diferent things each weekend.

thanks alot

harry harris

Welcome Harry Harris...

When you do a search on this site, you will find a lot of info, and I am sure you will get some answers to this post as well.

Good luck...

hey there

im specifically looking for senior designers working for design and branding agencies like Landor, Fitch, Enterprise IG who can answer my questions. my search has shown up every single career except mine.

can anybody help, as i have a meeting tomorrow with the directors to talk packages.

regards

harry

lol...well at least you are unique...

anyway, I do think a search can give the a good idea of the cost of living in Dubai...so that is always a good starting point in any case.

You as the husband should be on the company's sponsorship. You can then sponsor your wife.

For you AED 20,000 plus

1) You must ask for medical insurance for self and wife.
2) Tickets for self and wife to home country.
3) Leave must be 30 calendar days minimum for both.


Good idea to keep the basic as high as possible (gratuity and bonus is normally paid on basic salary)

For spouse Aed 18,000 without tickets and medical (since she will be covered by your perks)

A 2 bedroom in the Marina will probably cost you Aed 120,000 per year (not sure, may be others could confirm), add to it 5% tax.

Utilities - Add about Aed 300-400 per month.

Car - May be Aed 1500 a month (depending on car, interest rates are about 12% reducing balance/ 4% flat rate)


Without kids, Aed 36k-40k should be ok, yes you will definitely be able to save atleast 1 full salary.


It is gratuity (NOT bonus, if you can negotiate a bonus - all the better 21 days basic pay each year for the next 5 years. 30 days basic from the 5th year.


Cheers

welcome to BE

And the general questions, they have been answered a plenty....but as for living in the UK, your wife a Brit? If so, you thought about getting UKC first incase you want to move back?