More explanation about the job benefits . . .

So I told you about some of the benefits, but now I want to explain a little about the nitty gritty and how it all works . . .

Great tax free salary that depends on degree, experience, and position.

Salary is determined by the folks at the head office in Riyadh.  They have a pay scale that is based on your degree level and experience.  Once they determine your pay, they are pretty hard to negotiate with, because they want everything to be fair and everyone to follow the pay scale.  Some schools in Saudi have huge salaries, but those can be hard to find.  Salaries over the years in Saudi have gone way down compared to what they use to be, but overall the benefits and salary here allow you to save a huge amount every month.  I am here with my husband and 3 children.  We are able to live off of about $1,200-$1,500 a month.  I know of some singles who live off of $500 a month.  It just depends on how frugally you live.  No matter what, you should be able to save a huge amount of money here.  Your only expenses are your food and your cell phone bill.

Fully Paid Health Insurance (Medical, Dental, & Eye)

When you arrive, the school will try to get you your medical insurance card within the first month.  If you have to go to the doctor before you get your insurance card, keep your receipts!  The school will reimburse you for any of your medical expenses that you incurred before you got your card.  Submit those to the HR person in your school.

Medical insurance here is really good.  The system overall is a little confusing because you have to make an appointment, pre-pay for the appointment, see the doctor, and then go get insurance approval, and pay for any tests or medicine they ordered before getting them.  It is definitely a bit of a hassle, but our care has always been pretty good.  I had 2 kids here in Saudi, so I have experienced a full range of insurance usage.

Yearly Flight or Flight Allowance

When you get your visa, please tell us right away and the school will book you a one-way flight to Saudi.  You will fly into Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam airports depending on what branch of the school you are working for.  

In about February or March the school HR department will give you a one page form asking about your summer vacation.  They will ask you what day you plan on leaving Saudi and it will ask if you want them to book your flight for you or if you want an allowance.  Almost every teacher takes the allowance.  That way, we can travel where ever we want during the summer.

Additionally, the school will give you 1,000 SAR to use towards a multi-entry/exit visa. (More about those visas in another post.)  

So, in your April or May paycheck you will just get a huge chunk of money in your salary to help pay for your flights and visas.  The money will be a bit different for everyone, it will just be the average flight cost based on the day they looked up your ticket amount.  For example, my husband and I work at different branches of the school.  So, they looked up our flights in the home office on different days-- we both had different amounts of money given to us for our flights.  It just depends on the day that they look up the flights, and is a bit weird, but the amount that we got did cover our flights back to the USA and our visas.

Fully Furnished Apartment (or housing allowance if you prefer)

All the apartments are fully furnished.  Housing at the different locations is a bit different, but overall, they are all pretty nice.

For example, if you are in Dammam/Khobar you will probably be in a shared 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment.  There are some older apartments by us that are not shared.  The benefits of this location include a pool, 2 gyms, and the location which is 30 miles to Bahrain.

In Riyadh there are some different housing situations, but all are single 1 bedroom or studio apartments.

In Jeddah, the housing is single 1 bedroom or studio apartments.  The Jeddah school is brand new, so the housing that is connected to the school will hopefully open this school year.  The women will be placed in this housing first.

All housing will include basic kitchen supplies, bedding, and towels, and furniture.

All utility bills are paid

All of your basic utility bills are paid-- water, gas, electricity, internet, etc.  Other than that some branches include different benefits.  For example, the housing in Riyadh includes cable.  The housing in Dammam includes weekly water delivery.  Every building is just a bit different, and have their individual perks.

½ month salary bonus for every year worked

By Saudi labor law, everyone is entitled to this.  For years 1-4 you get 1/2 a month salary as a bonus.  When you work 5 years or more, then the bonus size goes up to 1 full month salary for year 5 and beyond.  This will be paid to you in one lump sum when you finish your time here in Saudi.  You must complete a minimum of your full 2 year contract in order to be eligible for this.

2 year contract with paid summers and holidays

The contracts here are for 2 years, with paid summers and holidays which are determined by the ministry of education and the school.  Each year it looks a little bit different because of when Ramadan and EID fall.  You are guaranteed, by Saudi law, to have at least 30 days of vacation per year.

30 days paid sick leave per contract

When you get your contract, you will see that you get 30 days of paid sick leave per year.  Please bring in a note for these days.  Any days after 30, you will get 75% pay with a doctors note.

Maternity leave is for 10-weeks, paid. Six of those weeks have to be after you deliver, but you are flexible as to when you use the other 4 weeks (before or after the baby is born).

50% reduced tuition for dependents

International school tuition can be very high.  One of the benefits of our school is that there is daycare in the school and that foreign kids can go there as well.

Daycare is around 700 SAR a month (this fluctuates a little-- so I am not sure the exact amount)

School fees are 50% tuition discount for preschool-high school students.  The fees also include books (that you can keep) and school uniforms.

So, if your child's basic tuition is 35,000 SAR-- you would pay 17,500.  You can also break this down into monthly payments for the 9 months of the school year. 

Transportation to work and local stores (if not within walking distance)

Some of the housing locations are very close to the malls, restaurants, and stores.  Some not so much.  

For the branches that are a little further out, there are buses that come 3-4 days a week to the housing locations to take the teachers to the grocery store and malls. 

Also, you are free to go to the stores or malls whenever you want.  Most people just install the UBER or Carrem app on their phone.  There are also taxi's everywhere!  They are just a little bit more expensive.

$500 cash advance when settling in

The school's will issue you a 2,000 SAR cash advance when you get here.  You need to ask your school HOD or director about this if you don't get it.  Don't be embarrassed to ask!  Sometimes they didn't get your check for this in the mail, or wait to see if you want this.  Please ask about it right away, it really does help.  This will help to cover your food and basic expenses when you get here and until your first pay check.  

Salary check issue dates are determined by your arrival date.  The HR department in the school sends your name into the head office and payment information at the beginning of the month.  So, if you are not in country by the first week of the month, there will normally be a slight delay. 

If you arrive on August 18th, you are going to be paid from that date.  Yet, since it is after the first week of the month, when names were given to HR, you will probably not get your first pay check until the first week of October.  In that pay check, you will receive all of your pay from August and September.  Normally, you either have to pay back your HR person the 2,000 SAR when you get that check, or they will deduct it in your second pay check automatically.

Visa related fees reimbursed (with receipts)

All of your visa related fees will be reimbursed within the first month of your arrival.  Keep all your receipts (passport photos, copies, notarization, gas to the airport, etc.) !  You will receive a form that you fill out when you get here and then the HR department will submit that form and your receipts to get you some money back!  I will try to upload that form on here next!