School fees or flexi-working: What do you want?

Full reimbursement of school fees is the most important perk that employees in the UAE have on their wish list.
 
More than one-third (37 per cent) of the online respondents want this to become a part of the pay package they currently draw in the UAE, according to a poll run by Emirates 24|7.
 
Only second to rents, high cost of private schooling is the second biggest financial drain on an average household budget in the country and, thus, a large percentage of employees want their employers to foot the bills.
 
Schooling fees, that once formed an integral part of the expat pay package in the UAE, is being slowly weeded out of employment contracts that people now sign up.
 
According to an Economic Intelligence Unit, provisions for school fees is not a given now for professionals in the region as competition for jobs heats up.
 
A previous survey by Which School Advisor reveals that a healthy education allowance in the pay package is not a norm anymore how much ever the employees want it.
 
“Educators said this will come as a shock in many educational establishments within the UAE, where there is the assumption that parents get their fees paid.

“This we were told is simply because teachers, and the management of the school, do not pay, and therefore think a company covering educational costs is the norm,” reads the survey.
 
The survey shows that 62 per cent of respondents get no help at all from their company, 24 per cent of respondents get a contribution from their company and just a lucky few – 13 per cent - get their school fees paid.
 
And many companies that do pay this perk are not inclined to cover it fully.

“I work for a leading company in aviation but school fees for my kids are covered only to a certain extent and we have to fill in from our own pocket,” says an employee in Dubai on the condition of anonymity.
 
Second on the wish list of UAE employees is a flexible work schedule.
 
Thirty-two per cent of participants want to get this perk from their employer.
 
There are companies in the UAE that do understand life and career balance and offer the option of flexible working to their employees.
 
Companies on The Great Places to Work for in the UAE list make it there because they offer their employees’ things like job sharing, flexi-time, telecommuting and unpaid leave.
 
However, the majority of the companies in the country are still averse to this idea.

Data from a survey conducted by YouGov in the last quarter of 2014, says only 23 per cent of businesses surveyed fully encourage and enable employees to work from anywhere, using any device.
 
The majority disagree, with 34 per cent of UAE organisations fearing that employees may become less productive when outside an office environment and 33 per cent believe that a lack of security controls for devices prevents them adopting mobility solutions.

Despite this reluctance this is one perk that employees would want from their employers.
 
Third on the wish list is the option of working from home and 25 per cent of the participants give maximum weightage to this perk.
 
This is particularly true of mothers with young children who find it difficult to meet deadlines in office and take care of young ones at the same time.
 
The fourth perk on the wish list, again that something most young mothers would want, is child care facility at work. Five per cent of participants want this option so they are really not far from their children even while at work.
 
There are some progressive companies in the UAE that do offer this facility to employees. For example, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has this service for employees' children aged from three months to four years.
 
The Ministry of Social Affairs is urging working mothers to insist on crèches in government offices and a nurseries bill that is about to be passed to the FNC would only expedite this.
 
A Cabinet resolution states that ministries and other Government institutions with more than 50 female employees should set up crèches or nurseries at their headquarters for their employees’ children.
 
Even though this is encouraged in Government departments, private sector companies may shy away from offering this perk to their female employees but nonetheless it makes it to the wish list of many residents.

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