Negotiating salary and benefits in the United Arab Emirates

Hi Bhavna

as far as my experience goes on the additional benefits apart from salary in UAE, you would need to have HRA, Medical, Ticket (expats), transportation, children education, etc. 

once you have the accommodation and education covered then most of your expenses are covered.    major junk of your salary goes for these 2 factors.

new innovative trends of employer friendly rules also spoils the job market to a certain extent

rgds.

It's worse the case may be just included in papers but no one is getting in actual very few companies acting justice towards it..even salaries are not paid for many months there should be labour happiness system measurement should be introduced in uae in that every one should be asked how their life at particular companies.even I dnt recieve annual ticket gratuity medical insurance and leave salaries.

Hi,
As the situation is existing in UAE , but not only salary negotiation for expats / Westerns  looks like a dream ! Employers don't give you the right for salary negotiation , what is offered from them that's it . You like it get it , you don't like it go somewhere else to find a job .

My comments could sound tough , but this is the reality since I am not dreamer . The old time in UAE has passed when an employee can negotiate his salary .

Regards
Aris M

Hi  according to my knowledge based on  my 44 years experience in UAE  the federal jobs are mostly the best yielding in the country for both nationals and expatriates . It is also secure let you work more years if you are qualified and if you respect the UAE  laws, you have low margin to negotiate salary and other benefits because law arranges the level of salary,  jobs offered by local governments are also attractive giving employees security and long serving , while in companies you may negotiate the  conditions depends on the money power of the company and the capabilities of the job applicant . Small and medium businesses are less  paying ,science related jobs like engineers are paying more Anyhow newly employed have to work as proposed by the employer and his income will be better after few years and after be loyal to the job missions

We have to come to term that most companies in UAE don't give room to negotiate salary, arrears or whatever benefit employee deserves. Okay, why would company not provide quality, convenient, and comfortable accommodation for majority of their staff? note staff not labour.

When you ask for salary increment all they do is to add whatever they wishes without seeking your consent or give room for negotiation.

Don't be surprised, someone who earn Dh20000 couldn't bring in his family because of the cost of accommodation and education. Those too takes larger percentage of one salary.

What I will ask for, they company should provide comfortable accommodation, and subsidize education cost.

THANKS A LOT BHAVANA

COULD YOU PASS ME IF YOU HAVE ANY CONSULTANTS TO GET ME JOB THERE IN..... my contact is ***

Thanks

S. Raviraja

Hello everyone,

@ S. Raviraja no i don't personally have any contact however, there are some registered or recommended by members in the business directory, you might want to contact them : Jobs in the United Arab Emirates

Regards,
Bhavna

Babsman wrote:

We have to come to term that most companies in UAE don't give room to negotiate salary, arrears or whatever benefit employee deserves. Okay, why would company not provide quality, convenient, and comfortable accommodation for majority of their staff? note staff not labour.

To put it bluntly, why should they?

A company is a business that has been set up to make money.  All salaries and benefits for employees are based on value contributed i.e. someone who is very senior has a much bigger impact on the Company's bottom line, has more decision making power and thus has better salary / benefits than employees under him or her.   So rightly so, not every employee will be equal. 

Secondly, I can tell you from personal experience, providing accommodation to non-labor staff is a nightmare that most companies do not want to deal with.   People have different expectations at that level for accommodation i.e. quality, location or even, don't want to live with other employees from the business in the same compound.  To make everyone happy in this situation is impossible.  Therefore, unless the company is located in remote / high risk areas (where accommodation is not easy to source) or there is a requirement for staff to be on 24/7 call e.g. large industrial operations, most companies will provide a housing allowance linked to the level of the employee and leave the decision up to them.

Babsman wrote:

When you ask for salary increment all they do is to add whatever they wishes without seeking your consent or give room for negotiation.

Again, a company is a business.  They will give you a reward based on two simple elements:

1) What they can afford - professional companies look at this coupled with what the market is giving through salary surveys overlaying it with economy e.g. inflation
2) What your value to them is i.e. performance and future potential for higher roles

There is absolutely no way to regulate or force anyone to give a certain %age.  You always have a choice if you are not happy.