starsky_

Hello,

As the title asks, what's a "standard" expat package in Dubai these days?

Thanks.

Brains1983

pretty vague question. industry, experience, nationality?

NorthernLad

There isn't one.

As mentioned above, there are different factors to take into account, industry being the most relevant.

Beakersful

That'll be why you alluded to being a "single chap" at an earlier date. There is most definitely no missus in your lifestyle

starsky_

Wiseguy, eh? YFT.

Okay, so what's typical then? Something like:

- Free accomodation or at least a decent allowance
- Free dental and medical insurance
- 1 month bonus for 12 completed months of service
- At least one flight home a year
- Subsidised car

weasel decentral

In construction:

Potentially an accommodation allowance, or part of an 'all in' package
Medical insurance is mandatory but unusual to get dental cover.
Legal requirement for end of service benefit
Depending on your employment status, one is about normal but you can get more.
Potentially a car allowance, or part of an 'all in' package. Depends a lot on the job or seniority of the position.

Eeyore

As has been said, depends on industry. Increasingly, only the "traditional" expat industries - oil, gas, construction etc - offer the real benefits any more. The vast majority of people we know out here are on all-in packages, meaning they get a monthly salary out of which they have to pay for almost everything themselves, and there's no guaranteed annual bonus. Housing allowances vary widely, from the company paying in full and not expecting you to pay them back (fewer and fewer companies offer this), to an interest-free loan that's claimed back from your salary, to just a chunk of your salary that's designated as "housing allowance", leaving you to come up with a full year's rent by yourself, which for many people means taking a bank loan.

Medical insurance is mandatory, but dental isn't. The way companies handle the annual flight home varies too - some will buy you a ticket on request, others designate a certain amount of your monthly salary as "air ticket allowance", the idea being that if you save that, after 12 months you'll have enough to buy a ticket.

In short, as has been said, there's no typical package any more, but certain industries are more likely to offer particular perks than others.

Inselaffen

housing allowance and transport allowance also allows the employer to limit your end of service benefit, which will usually not be paid on those components

Meow

Medical insurance is not yet mandatory in Dubai, but will be.

For companies with 1,000 or more staff cover must be in place by 31st October this year and smaller companies have other dates. See link.

No requirement for employers to offer cover to beneficiaries although if you sponsor any one, whether family or staff you must have cover for them by June 2016.

News: Update on Dubai Medical Insurance | Financialuae's Blog

NorthernLad

I work in IT, and the packages vary hugely.

For me:

- Housing
- Health insurance (includes dental)
- Family flights home once a year
- Car allowance
- Schooling

But if you look at other IT workers (e.g. desktop support, web designers) they are likely on very different packages.

Generally speaking (at least in IT), the more specialised you are, the better the package you can negotiate.

Olivia Ogilvy

If you follow the "standard" expat package , you will lose money.

By principle , an expat package is tailored to your own needs.

Bahtatboy

Even within an industry the packages vary between employers. Some enlightened ones employ lower-paid staff to organise shit and therefore to ensure that high-value-adding staff can concentrate on working (and thereby adding value) rather than having to expend time, energy and worry on sorting out accommodation, cars, flights, bank loans and so on. Increasingly, though, narrow-minded influencers (particularly in HR, but elsewhere too) burden even high-value-adding staff with managing everything, and taking on risk which the employer is far better placed to take.

Even big multi-nationals adopt the narrow-minded approach; Far-Eastern companies, however, tend to take the opposite approach, for both pragmatic and cultural reasons.

Choose your employer carefully: its not only time and cost at stake, but risk, too.

Millhouse

If you include the Indians, probably about four inches. Excluding them, around six.

Bahtatboy

You should write for Top Gear.