Job Discussion Forums

newtogolf · Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 49

What should you do if the contract is both in English and Arabic with this included "Where the contract is in Arabic and English, the Arabic version shall prevail." ?

If they are the same, why is there such a line? I don't know if it is common.

Thanks for your input.

newtogolf · Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 49

Should there also be something about the number of months the employee will be paid in the contract? I only saw the number of monthly salary. Or is it just by default: 12 months?

carlen · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 172 Location: UAE

newtogolf · Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 49

Thanks alot, carlen.

There is no 12 month salary thing written in the contract. Should I assume I will be paid 12 months salary for each contract year? There is one month salary after each year of the service.

I know I can pay for the translation. But what should I do if there is discrepancy between these two versions of contract?

Will there be a problem for the visa application since the school will take care of it?

Zoot · Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 408

newtogolf, you should never assume anything about anything in the UAE. Ensure you ask for a direct translation of the Arabic to English and if that's refused, then, either have it done yourself or ask for another piece of paper that says your arabic one is a direct translation of the English one. This has already been said on another thread.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

It is safe to assume that it is 12 months pay. We haven't had anyone on here saying that they were mislead by any employer on this issue. I have heard of a very few contracts that specifically mentioned 10 or 11 payments, but these were rare one-year contracts with marginal employers who were trying to avoid paying the gratuity required by the employment laws. Their plan is that you are long gone from their employment by the 12th month when it kicks in.

Every contract that I had over the years was in both Arabic and English. Naturally since Arabic is the language of the country, the Arabic side rules. I never bothered to translate any of them because my common sense told me that my being a foreign expat teacher means that I have to follow my half of the contract while they pretty much do as they please. Laughing

I'm curious... those of you who bothered to have a translation done... did you find any discrepancies? Was anything done to remedy them?

VS

carlen · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 172 Location: UAE

carlen · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 172 Location: UAE

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

What we did in the past was even worse than not getting a translation Carlen. For all of my jobs in the Gulf, I never saw a contract until long after my arrival. At Kuwait University, they never did give me one.

But, I was normally working for the major government tertiary institutions... and I never did have a problem - always got just what they said. Just dumb luck probably... Laughing

VS

haopengyou · Joined: 02 Mar 2009 Posts: 197

The contracts that US companies write and sign with businesses in other countries also have the same "fine print" that the English copy of the contract will be valid in case there is some discrepancy with the translated copy. This is a practical issue because, in case there is some trouble the first option to have it resolved - maybe all of the options - are all in the country where the contract was written.

Integrity · Joined: 16 Apr 2009 Posts: 23

Thanks everyone,

I did get someone who Arabic is their first language to translate my contract and I have been assured that it is as it should be and there are discrepensies. SO I will just have to trust that it all works out and deal with whatever the gods bring.
Cheers