It's been more than a year since I last posted on my blog. Where did the time go? 2018 has been a year of CHANGES.
Since January 1st, the country has introduced the 5% VAT on basically all goods and services. Employees have also seen a downgrade in their health insurance coverage and other benefits. In regards to health insurance coverage, some companies/entities have introduced a calling center type arrangement, in which a person who wishes to see a doctor or visit a hospital/clinic must first call the center to explain his/her symptoms/ailments. The call center personnel will then respond with a call back wait time that the person will receive from a doctor who is collaborating with them. From what I've gathered, more serious illnesses/symptoms will get priority and a shorter wait time, around 30 minutes to an hour. Less severe situations could see a 2 to 4+ hours wait time for a call back from a physician. However, I've seen complaints that some individuals have experienced wait time as long as 24 hours! For an emergency, it has been said that one can simply go to the emergency room to receive help and treatment. Some people have had success while others not so much. It's been a trying times.
There has also been changes in accommodation arrangements. Many companies now want the rental lease to be under the employee's name in order to avoid paying the 3% municipality fees. 3% might sound trivial at first, that is until you find out it is 3% of your annual rental amount. For example, a person living in a 2-bedroom apartment with modern finishings worth 100,000 dirhams in rent for the year could see himself/herself paying 3,000 dirhams in municipality fees. In some cases, people have had to shell out anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 dirhams when making the switch from the lease under the company's name to their own name. 8,000 dirhams!?!? How does that happen? Well, let me break it down for you. Some lease management companies want a security deposit, anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 dirhams, plus fees for their services, which is around 100 to 750 dirhams. Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) has been charged with the task of collecting the 3% municipality fees and even a backlog of said fees. Let's be conservative and say 3,000 (municipality fees) + 2,000 (security deposit) + 500 (other services fees) = 5,500 dirhams. I would like to also add that some newspapers have reported that the country might increase the municipality fees from 3% to 5% in the next year or so. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's better to be informed than not so you can make the best decisions for yourself, your family, and/or your future.
Finally, there's been changes to companies'/entities' names and merging of entities. With these merges come different policies and ways of getting things done. As some of you might know by now, not all changes are transparent or made clear to the people that they affect. Furthermore, some changes can come swiftly, abruptly, and unexpectedly, such as termination emails. It hasn't been clear the rhyme or reason for some of the terminations but the guesses are employees reaching the retirement age limit (60 years old), low performance, no longer qualifying for the position that they hold, and/or their department has been eliminated for the next year.
There's been many rumors flying about at any given time that it's hard to keep up and it's difficult to discern what's real and what's fictional. Nonetheless, in order to remain sane, it's important to let rumors go in one ear and out the other. Be in the know but don't overthink it until there is evidence (an official, stamped decree) or report in the newspapers. Sooooooo there's also been talks that some places are implementing new contracts for existing and newly hired employees. The terms and conditions of the supposed new contracts are once again a mystery to everyone. In worst case scenario, these new contracts would increase the overall monthly salary by a small amount, let's say from 15,000 dirhams to 20,000 dirhams. HOWEVER, the company no longer provides accommodation so individuals must now pay their rent out of the inflated monthly salary. So if they live in a place worth about 90,000 dirhams annual, the rent is about 7,500 dirhams monthly. As a result, 20,000 dirhams - 7,500 dirhams = 12,500 dirhams...an overall lower net/take-home monthly salary (from 15,000 before to 12,500 dirhams). Now, don't panic just yet. There is a small silver lining in that rental prices have gone down in some emirates so if you're willing to look around and negotiate a good deal on your housing, the loss might not be as significant.
Other changes to be aware of include: (1) many petrol stations are introducing "premium service" vs "self service", meaning you pay a small fee for petrol attendants to fill your petrol for you should you drive your car to a "premium service" lane. Otherwise, you can get out of the car and pump the petrol yourself free of charge (but deal with the heat yourself)! (2) Salik tolls are coming to Abu Dhabi sadly. I sure hope this is it for the bad news!!!
Now for some positive news and life in the UAE. Some government employees have been the beneficiaries of a BONUS in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the country. Said bonus amounts to one month basic salary, so some people have seen their bank accounts go up by 5,000 dirhams while others have seen an extra (up to) 50,000 dirhams for the big shots. I, and many others like myself, am still waiting for this lovely surprise/bonus to show up. It's been said that the government is rolling out these bonuses in batches. I guess one cannot expect them to send out 1.7 billion dirhams all at once, right? Right? Here's to being optimistic that my bonus will come on or before Eid!!!
So, what else is new? I've definitely done my fair share of traveling. I have now visited Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, Italy, and Malaysia since I've set foot here. They have all been soul-satisfying adventures! Next on my bucket list are Morocco, Portugal, (Bali) Indonesia, a few more European countries, and some in Southeast Asia as well. I'm saving East Asia and Central and South America for when I return to the United States. At some point, I would love to visit Australia and New Zealand as well.
Whew, what a post!
