Living in Dubai

Salary and Pay Scale in Dubai

Salaries vary widely in Dubai, depending on your qualifications, and your negotiation skills. Contrary to several other nations, Dubai has no minimum wage rates or standardized salaries. Salary packages are mostly dependent on how well you negotiate. For instance, an executive secretary may be paid more than a product sales representative within the same company, and even two secretaries working on same jobs can have different salary packages. Although, the financial concepts involve several other elements, the quality of lifestyle that you would have in Dubai, depends on several factors, the major ones being cost of accommodation, nature of your lifestyle, and your purchasing power.

Before accepting the job offer, it is good to check with your employer if you are eligible for free accommodation in Dubai. There are several companies in Dubai that offer lodging in personnel houses free-of-charge, depending on the rank of the employees. It is good to join organizations that offer free accommodation, as housing always comes with food and transportation services. Apart from financial comforts, it also frees you from having to make all these necessary arrangements yourself.

Salary Range in Dubai

Often, for supervisory positions in certain industries minimum salary range varies between Dh.5000 to Dh.7000. But, this is right for a single expatriate leading an average lifestyle. But for couples or families, seeking to relocate their family to Dubai, a minimum salary of Dh.10,000 to Dh.15,000 would be required. A lower salary range is acceptable in cases where the employer offers housing benefits (in such case even a salary of Dh.5000 would suffice, depending on how much housing allocation would eat up on one’s budget).

Employment Benefits and Pay Package

A basic employment package in Dubai consists of several items which are mandated by law. Your employer must guarantee a return flight back to your homeland when employment has ceased. Your basic salary must be outlined in the contract and any gratuity pay must be discussed as well.

An annual paid leave of 21 days (for the first year) and 30 thereafter is appropriate. An employer may try to trick you into paying your own Visa fees and the like; and whereas this can be deducted from your final pay (should you violate your contract), they really should be paying for these upfront. Be sure it’s covered in the negotiations. No one else is going to watch out for you, certainly not the employer. After the completion of your probationary period, medical insurance can either be supplied by the government or some companies employ private coverage. In addition to these, there are a number of things that can be negotiated as well; they are:

• Allowances for food, accommodations, transportation, furnishings (for your accommodations), vehicle and cell (mobile) phones. These are things that are NOT required but can and should be discussed.
• Assistance with relocation costs
• Annual return ticket reimbursed
• Medical insurance – check if they supply private policies or will you be covered by the government of Dubai?

This is where the haggling can come in handy. It would be invaluable to you to learn this particular facet of negotiation. Severance pay in Dubai is referred to as gratuity pay and is presented to employees who have successfully completed employee fulfillment of the contracts under which they were hired. The fact that this gratuity pay is mandatory is yet another positive benefit of fulfilling your contract obligations. However, if you are terminated for good cause under Dubai law, your gratuity is no longer mandatory. As with most things, there is a limit to how much gratuity pay you can receive in Dubai. It cannot be in excess of what would be the equivalent of your salary for 24 months.

What it all boils down to, really, is your ability to negotiate not only a good wage but some desirable (if not necessary) perks along with that salary. Don’t walk in thinking that what you get paid is all you need to worry about because as I’ve listed here, there’s a lot more out there for you to get your hands on through employment in Dubai.

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