Pocketful of Dirhams

Gratuity in the UAE

How the UAE’s end-of-service gratuity is evolving. If you are an expatriate employee in the UAE, you are entitled to a gratuity payment. But how much will you receive when you leave your current job? And, with the Dubai International Financial Centre now implementing its workplace savings plan, known as DEWs, is the UAE also considering a change to the gratuity system for the whole country? 

Alice Haine, the personal finance editor of The National, is joined by Rory Reynolds, The National’s news editor. Later on we’re joined by Martin McGuigan, a partner at McLagan and Aon Recruitment, who will give us some insight into the changes around the new workplace savings scheme at the DIFC and answer our questions on the future of the end-of-service payment. We’ll also hear from Fred Wobus who used his gratuity payment to start an investment portfolio for his children.

How to get a pay rise

While every employee would like a pay rise in 2020, making it actually happen is another story altogether. Numerous research studies say we are in line for a raise this year: employees in the UAE can expect an overall base salary increase of 4.5 per cent in 2020 across all industries, according to global consultancy Mercer. Meanwhile, The Cooper Fitch Salary Guide says while strategy roles are set for a 5 per cent pay rise on their basic salary plus allowances this year, other sectors are looking at more modest increases of 2 per cent.

So how can ensure we get a pay rise at all?  

Host Alice Haine, the personal finance editor of The National, is joined by Nyree McFarlane, The National’s features editor and David Mackenzie, Group Managing Direction of recruitment company Mackenzie Jones, who explains how to secure that elusive pay rise. She is also joined, later in the show, by Rasheda Khatun Khan, founder of the wealth wellness corporate training company Design Your Life, who once secured a pay rise of 40 per cent.

In this episode:
Alice and Nyree on pay rise (1m 14s)
David Mackenzie (4m 12s)
Success Story (22m 28s)

New insolvency law: What it means for you

Helping UAE residents resolve their chronic debt issues has been a mission of The National since it launched The Debt Panel in April 2016.  Since then we have received hundreds if not thousands of letters with about 200 people receiving constructive advice from our panel of six personal finance experts.

In November 2019 it was announced that a new personal insolvency law, which comes into effect in January 2020 would help people with debt. The new law will help borrowers struggling to make repayments resolve their financial difficulties without the fear of persecution.

Host Alice Haine, the personal finance editor of The National, is joined by Rory Reynolds, The National’s news editor and Matthew Dyson, an associate at law firm Pinsent Masons to explain more about the law.

In this episode:
Intro (0m 04s)
What is the insolvency law? (1m 06s)
How the insolvency law works (7m 07s)
Listener's question (14m 08s)
Success story (18m 34s)