Job Discussion Forums

[davester13]

Hello,

Thanks for reading my post. A tentative offer was extended to me from an academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The written offer is on the way, but I wanted to start getting opinions from those with experience and knowledge about what a fair offer in this region entails.

Summary: I have 2 years formal EFL teaching experience, a background as cororate trainer, a Bachelors degree, and a TEFL certificate (not a Masters degree). The work hours are 8 or 9 hours per day, 5 days a week in split shifts (total teaching time not to exceed 25 or 26 hours per week). The "salary package" offered is about $3, 700 a month, which includes monthly salary, housing allowance, and transportation allowance. All other benefits seem to be standard: medical insurance, paid holidays, 30 days vacation at end of contract.

Is this a fair deal? Are there other benefits I should be aware of? AND, WHAT WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT DEAL, IN YOUR OPINION? Thanks in advance.

[scot47]

30 days vacation is a bit mean.

[Mark100]

Your salary is 3700Dollars a month ....okay but are saying there is a housing allowance on top of that and flights and holidays etc or you have to pay your housing out of the 3700?

Sounds like a private college to me and to be avoided unless completely desperate.

Do you really want to live in the local community in Riyadh?

Not for me for any money.

[Cleopatra]

A few points occur to me, some of which have already been made:

1) $3700 is about 13800SR, which is quite a good salary for a newly hired teacher with no MA. However, as Mark says, you need to be sure that housing allowance will be provided on top of this salary. Renting a decent apartment in Riyadh will take a big chuck out of your salary, so if you have to pay for this out of the $3700, this is not a good deal.

2) 25-26 teaching hours is quite a lot. Of course, if this is just an occasional thing to cover absences, it's not so bad, but if they expect you to teach this load regularly without getting overtime pay, it's a bit of a rip-off.

3) When you say you get '30 days vacation at the end of contract' what exactly does this mean? Does it mean that you will not get the usual paid Eid holidays during your contract year? In any casae, 30 days is not good: most third level insitutions offer 45 or even 60 days paid summer leave, in addition to Eid holidays.

4) For me, not having to work split shifts was one of the major attractions of teaching in KSA. Granted, they may not bother everybody, but if you factor in travel time in Riyadh's awful traffic (will this be paid for, btw?) you might find that work is taking over your life.

5) As Mark says, this sounds like one of those private 'language schools' which might seem to offer a good deal to those coming straight from Poznan or Guangzou. However, much better packages are available in KSA, especially for male teachers. Third level colleges offer decent pay and working hours, along with often very generous holiday allowances. True, many of them claim to only hire MA holders, but in practice this claim is often waived. Try applying to one of them before accepting this offer.

[yamahuh]

I saw this salary and benefits package offered in Riyadh and was wondering whether it would be considered a 'reasonable' deal for teachers with 4+ years experience, B.A and Tesol certs but new to KSA.

In general when housing is provided is it a furnished apartment / dorm / house and what is the end of service gratuity exactly?


Salary and Benefits

• Tax free monthly salary between SAR 14 000 and SAR 16 000 according to qualification and experience (depending on current exchange rate, between � 1 900 and � 2 200)
• Yearly increments of SAR 300 on monthly basic salary up to the tenth year of service.
• Settling in allowance of SAR 6 000 paid once only the first year.
• Housing is provided or a housing allowance equal to SAR 36 000 is paid.
• Transport allowance of SAR 1 000 per month.
• Free air passage from point of recruitment to Riyadh for employee and family up to 4 people.
• Free yearly roundtrip air tickets for employee and family to point of recruitment.
• Health insurance for employee and family.
• End of service gratuity as per the Saudi Labour law.
• 60 days annual paid holiday + local holidays.
• Education allowance of SAR 15 000 per dependent child, up to a maximum of 2 children.
Duties.
• Teach a maximum of 20 contact hours per week.
• Work a maximum of 18 office hours per week depending on the needs of the department (e.g. student counselling, exam preparation and grading, administrative work when required)

I'm really curious to know what would be considered a 'decent' package so that I will know what to look for in relation to the cost of living, which I imagine is ridiculously high.

If housing is paid and you are making this kind of wage how much is it possible to save without starving yourself or sitting at home for the entire contract?

[hameedox]

If it is private language school, it could be either Al-Fasial Academy or the new Jazeera Academy. The offer sounds ok considering the Wall Street teachers get less than 10 000 excluding housing.

Just make sure you won�t be required to attend the �Thursday� meetings; a typical �private language school� way of hugely wasting teachers� time.

[yamahuh]

OK, thanks for your reply.
Next question; is it enough to save money on if there are two of us working?
What kind of ESL teaching is it actually? In Asia it is predominantly 'oral English'; conversation classes, accent reduction, some writing training and lots of opportunities to engage the students in levels of conversation from very basic to quite accomplished.

Would we expect about the same in KSA?

[Mia Xanthi]

[yamahuh]

Great info, thanks a lot.

[trapezius]

The end of service benefit (ESB) is calculated as follows:

* 0.5 monthly salary per year for the first 5 years served.
* 1 monthly salary per year for years served beyond 5 years.

This is how it is mandated by the Saudi Labor Law. That much I know for a fact.

But, I think that you have to serve two years at least to get any ESB, as per the law, but I am not sure about that. Also, you lose it if you you are fired and/or break the contract, but I am not very sure about it. Someone else can drop the knowledge bomb on that.

However, some employers give more. For example, some give a monthly salary for every year served.

[Stephen Jones]

Trapezius has basically got it right. ESB is calculated on total emoluments, which include housing benefit.

[Bebsi]