# Advice needed on Job Offer



## forumnewbieUK (Apr 24, 2016)

Hello All, 

I am new to this site and this is my first thread so i will apologise in advance if something similar has been posted.

Im currently based in the UK and looking to relocate to dubai this year.

Im married with a beautiful and supportive wife and 2 daughters (9&7).

I have been offered a senior sales role for a great company and after various conversations with them and the CEO over Skype im in need of advice.

an except of a recent email from the CEO is as follows..

_*"We will provide a basic salary inclusive of all allowances: housing, car, petrol, salik, health insurance – where you will be responsible to manage those details. Therefore please research and propose a suggested basic salary"*_

I have also been tasked to put together and propose my own commission structure for the role.

I will be looking to head out on my own for the short term and then my wife and ids to follow maybe 6-12 months down the line.

Based on the above email except, could anyone suggest a realistic Basic salary proposal which would be inclusive of the above.

I have no idea how car leasing works. and i dont mind room sharing in a nice area in the short term to reduce outgoings.

sorry for the long post and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!


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## Standanista (Sep 26, 2014)

I guess it depends on what you're selling and what the pay back home is. Nuclear power plants or fleets of A380s will command a better basic than knock off watches down the Gold Souk, not that I'm suggesting you would be purveying the latter.  What's the industry? Maybe then somebody will be able to give you better info.


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## forumnewbieUK (Apr 24, 2016)

Haha sorry. It's in the health and fitness sector. I'll be developing business selling and providing fit outs for gyms and leisure facilities across the region. 

I'm also a qualified PT so will be also training clients.. Diary permitting of course.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

If someone is offering a role without a clear compensation package, it sounds fairly dodgy. They're practically banking on you selling yourself short, but just not so short that you need to leave. 

I would be asking them to provide a realistic picture and expectation for all of it, and if they're unable to do so I'd walk away.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

One other thing I've just thought about: 



> "We will provide a *basic salary* inclusive of all allowances: housing, car, petrol, salik, health insurance – where you will be responsible to manage those details. Therefore please research and propose a suggested basic salary"


Is that a verbatim quote? If so, it's worth knowing that 'basic salary' has an explicit legal meaning here.

'Basic' is what contributes to your 'end of service benefit', a lousy expat equivalent for a pension which is worthless until you hit 5 years if your employer follows the letter of the law. Now it's a positive if all that stuff goes into your basic as it means the contribution to this is higher than a lower basic, and the rest broken out as allowances. 

That said though, that's not an oversight I'd expect anyone out here to make if they're used to discussing compensation and contracts. This either leads me to think that:
A - it's someone who doesn't know what they're doing; or
B - there's some nuance here that I'm not getting, some oversight that could bite you in the arse, and they're both sharp and taking you for a ride

Innocent idiot or intelligent snake oil salesman: take your pick :eyebrows:


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## Racing_Goats (Sep 5, 2015)

Honestly it doesn't sound like an offer that will realistically see you getting your family here within a year - basic for the role you're describing might range between 8-15k depending on the company and the proposition.

It's a tough market generally and more so just now to close sales and convince businesses to invest in their facilities, expect there will be less new openings as well although the fitness industry here is doing well overall.

I'm not sure if your wife works or would intend to if she came here but for a reasonable lifestyle for a family with 2 school age children here I think you'd need to earn 30-40k per month between you. It'd be a concern for me if a big proportion of that was dependent on commission.

If your basic covers outgoings here and back home for 6 months without any commission it might be worth a try but I'd be very careful I think. If you can build a decent client base for PT that supports your income that'll help as well, but that's a very competitive space here.

One red flag is them trying to include medical insurance in basic salary (eg you've to sort your own), this isn't normal I don't think and may be illegal from 1st July this year. You'd also presumably have to fund your family's residency and medical inurance yourself as well.

Good luck


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> If someone is offering a role without a clear compensation package, it sounds fairly dodgy.


I asked my physio who works at a certain well known location where guys with sticks spend hours looking for a white orb........ and he says all the physio/gym staff are on a similar scheme. basically, its a commission job with the employer only doing enough to get you legals in the UAE.

I forgot to ask him about medical cover and who provides.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
As from 1st July - all employers in Dubai must provide medical cover for employees, spouse and dependents.
Cheers
Steve


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Just had a thought. I'm not sure if you're even allowed to include, housing, medical etc etc as part of the basic salary. I seem to recall that allowances can't be more than a certain % of the total salary. Basic and allowances have to be separate.


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## Racing_Goats (Sep 5, 2015)

Chocoholic said:


> Just had a thought. I'm not sure if you're even allowed to include, housing, medical etc etc as part of the basic salary. I seem to recall that allowances can't be more than a certain % of the total salary. Basic and allowances have to be separate.


It's common for company's offering all inclusive or lump sum salary plus commission to call the fixed payment each month 'basic' - this is then broken down in employment contract as basic salary (for MoL and gratuity purposes) plus food, housing, transport, phone etc allowances.

Often basic salary mentioned in contract as 50% of the fixed pay amount (the company's 'basic'), with all other allowances adding up to the other 50%.

For gratuity purposes the basic salary/30 x 21 days calculation compounds this breakdown and means (for many companies) that any gratuity payment received is a lot less than what a worker takes home in a month.. eg around a third of total monthly payment (excluding any variable commission) received by the employee, instead of the headline 1 month (21 working days) salary for each year worked.. pish.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

twowheelsgood said:


> I asked my physio who works at a certain well known location where *guys with sticks spend hours looking for a white orb*........ and he says all the physio/gym staff are on a similar scheme. basically, its a commission job with the employer only doing enough to get you legals in the UAE.
> 
> I forgot to ask him about medical cover and who provides.


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