Part Time Work

Topic locked
  • Reply
Part Time Work Nov 15, 2007
I am coming to Dubai in mid Feb and hopefully my partner shortly after, she is a fully trained mid-wife supervisor, ideally she would prefer part time as she will be bringing her 13 year old son, I was told that there were no part time jobs in Dubai, how accurate is that statement.
Regards
alx

axlenoyl
Dubai Forums Member
Posts: 37

  • Reply
Nov 15, 2007
thecnically speaking there are no part-time jobs as the law does not recognise part-employment; your are either employed or unemployed.

by part time i mean 3 or 4 days a week, as opposed to say, mornings only, which if is daily shift work and could be configured so that your wife was able to spend the afternoons with your son. i suppose it depends on how she wanted to spend the time together.

it depends on the employer, some are prepared to cut good employees a little slack, however they still have to bear the costs of employing the person in a full-time capacity. because of this most companies would rather employ someone full time. your wife may however be able to find shift work, or possibly mornings only work at a hospital (e.g. American Hospital), I doubt any of the governement hospitals would be prepared to negotiate to this extent. additional to that governement hospital workers are seen as government employees and have a totally different set of employment regulations - personally i would stay away from them becuase of the latitude that a private employer may offer.

i need to point out another issue for you, you mentioned partner and her son, so i am assuming that you are unmarried. this means that you would not be able to sponsor her under your visa (i'm not sure if you are aware of this). however being in the medical proffession she should in all liklihood be able to sponsor herself and her son if she has a job. here in lies a new problem, this means that she would have to actually look for a vacancy and take up a position either whilst on a visit visa, or prior to arrival - which makes the issue of her looking for a suitable position while here a little tenuous. in otherwords she cannot simply arrive and live with you under your sponsorship for a few mnths while looking around for suitable job! unless of course you get married prior to moving here.

hope this helps and doesn't confuse the issue even more.
dbxsoul
Honored Member
User avatar
Posts: 1626
Location: Dubai

  • Reply
Nov 16, 2007
Thanks for the reply and no I wasn't aware that they could not simply come on my visa, the company I am going to work for did not tell me that! That certainly throws a spanner in the works.
Plus she didn't want to come to Dubai to work initially certainly not 45hrs.
Regards
Alex
axlenoyl
Dubai Forums Member
Posts: 37

  • Reply
Nov 16, 2007
i may be going out on a limb here, but if the position you have been offered makes sense then possibly look at the following senario:

comeout by yourself for a month, that way you'd be able to get an idea of the job as well as "home" environment, look at the cost of housing, schools and all those sorts of things. even explore the potential job market for your partner.

if it still looks like a good proposition after that, then you can either:

a) if you have a good lead for her - get her to come out under her own sponsorship
b) take the plunge, even if it's only on paper at a registery office

if you are a business person (not sure what industry your'e in), when you get here find out about some of the buisness groups that meet in dubai, it's a very quick way to build up contacts and make friends - it could aslo be a good way to find a contact for employment for your partner. a lot of dubai business is made through personal contacts - a matter of who you know, and not always what you know

if you do deceide to take the plunge and come out to work, have a look at some of the other postings (in the expat help section of these forums) relating to work bans and sponsorship. i've also place a fairly expansive, albeit general posting on working in dubai at the top of the "professionals" section of these forums, general info which i think is useful
dbxsoul
Honored Member
User avatar
Posts: 1626
Location: Dubai

  • Reply
Nov 16, 2007
Thanks

I am or was coming out with a canadian company called Norr as an electrical building services consultant, my partner is a mid wife and although should have no problem getting a job, as I said didnt want to work 45hrs. We unfortunatly are not in a position to get married yet, in essence I didnt go for a divorce and now I have my theoretical wofe isnt playing ball. Anyawy enough of my problems! I have looked at costs of housing, schooling etc and am happy with my figures, but may have to put my dream on hold for a while. Will check the position with the proposed company to see if they can possibly do anything but I would guess the rules are not as shall we say flexible over there as here!
Thanks again
axlenoyl
Dubai Forums Member
Posts: 37

  • Reply
Nov 16, 2007
mmmmm.... there is possibly another way, try it with the employer.

explain the situation to them. i know for a fact you would not be able to sponsor them under your visa (as you are un-married); but if your employer is accomodating enough he could "employ" your partner and sponsor her and her son for a visa. this is not totally illegal - just a "grey area", it does happen, but i only know of a handful of instances where the employer has been willing to do this.

technically they (the employer) would have to apply for residency for your partner and her son, as well as provide her with "employment" and a labour card. now whether she actually did any work for them or was paid a salary is open to debate, they may well be able to provide her with part-time secretarial work - which in effect would solve both of your problems.

there is also the issue of who would pay for the sponsorship and labour cards, in the cases i know of, the company would ask you to pay the fees (as you would normally have to if you sponsored them in anycase).

the above senario would depend on the relationship you have built up with your prospective employer to-date. there is not way to predict thier response, but it may be worth a try.
dbxsoul
Honored Member
User avatar
Posts: 1626
Location: Dubai

  • Reply
Nov 16, 2007
Just spoke to them and they said they already anticipated the problem and were not sure how to broach the subject till I told them she had a son, they obviously considered the possibility of my partner being male!
Hence they tell me they can sort it and will pay the costs. Not sure how didnt ask.
What do you do out there, how long have you been out?

I am initially coming out for a month or so myself and looking for property and a car etc and getting things set up, also an english spekaing school, the dollar being so week had me thinking twice as well as the cost of rent and education but what the hell. The UK is getting worse and although Dubai no doubt has its problems and I have read about some of them on the forum, it will take along time to get as bad as the UK.
axlenoyl
Dubai Forums Member
Posts: 37

posting in Jobs in DubaiForum Rules

Return to Jobs in Dubai


cron