Post by liko1001 on Mar 31, 2014 19:15:06 GMT
Dear all,
this forum is a great source of information and I am sure everyone else appreciates as much as I do any information shared for potential new colleagues in Saudi Aramco!
I had my interview a month ago in London, submitted my pay stubs including an explanation and am basically waiting for my offer.
In order to be prepared once it will be submitted, I'd like to ask a few basic questions to the experienced forum members who hopefully can share some of their knowledge and clarify one or the other issue.
I am Western European by passport (not UK) and was interviewed for a petroleum/reservoir engineering position. Other threads indicate that the payroll system has changed (or maybe is subject to change at all times?) and now I am wondering what to expect in terms of salary and benefits.
1. My understanding is that Saudi Aramco tries to match the current salary - is that gross or net? And if net, how do they define "net" (i.e. after tax or after tax and social security or anything else?)?
2. Do they only look at the pay stubs or also take into account that final net numbers depend on the tax return and that pay stubs don't show the entire picture?
3. What about pension plans, share plans etc. that present also income to the overall package with my current employer? Will that be taken into account as well?
4. If Saudi Aramco matches the current (net or gross) salary, do we talk about base salary or base salary + overbase?
5. Is it fair to assume that there are no taxes in KSA to be paid? Is the company providing tax advise to sort out questions regarding (possible) taxation in the country of origin?
I read about people (from the UK) opening offshore bank accounts, cutting all connections to the UK, etc. - sounds a bit like they're worried about possible taxation in the UK.
6. Do Saudi Aramco consider certain allowances (such as housing, car, etc., as packages vary depending on country and company) in their base salary calculation?
7. Do they take into account that certain high-wage high-tax countries (e.g. Norway or Denmark in Europe) have higher costs of living than lower-wage lower-tax countries?
x EUR in country A don't necessarily equal x EUR in country B.
8. Will it be a disadvantage for someone like me applying from a Western location compared to someone already in a hardship location who is given extra allowances already? Would that person make automatically more just because applying out of a higher paying contract?
9. Is it correct to assume that I would be put on Global Payroll Tier 1 ?
10. Is the overbase 25% or 40% as indicated in other threads?
11. How much is the DBS? 18%
12. Can anyone explain how the severance award is calculated?
13. Is the flight budget negotiable? I was presented a number during my interview that would possibly allow for 3-4 economy flights back to Europe per year, while I had about 10 economy flights a couple of years ago with my employer from another hardship location back to Europe (as the connection was admittedly very good with a lot of compeion and thus cheap).
14. Are there any other benefits to take into consideration (not talking about subsidized housing, schooling, health care)?
I really do appreciate any comment and info shared.
Best regards,
Liko1001
this forum is a great source of information and I am sure everyone else appreciates as much as I do any information shared for potential new colleagues in Saudi Aramco!
I had my interview a month ago in London, submitted my pay stubs including an explanation and am basically waiting for my offer.
In order to be prepared once it will be submitted, I'd like to ask a few basic questions to the experienced forum members who hopefully can share some of their knowledge and clarify one or the other issue.
I am Western European by passport (not UK) and was interviewed for a petroleum/reservoir engineering position. Other threads indicate that the payroll system has changed (or maybe is subject to change at all times?) and now I am wondering what to expect in terms of salary and benefits.
1. My understanding is that Saudi Aramco tries to match the current salary - is that gross or net? And if net, how do they define "net" (i.e. after tax or after tax and social security or anything else?)?
2. Do they only look at the pay stubs or also take into account that final net numbers depend on the tax return and that pay stubs don't show the entire picture?
3. What about pension plans, share plans etc. that present also income to the overall package with my current employer? Will that be taken into account as well?
4. If Saudi Aramco matches the current (net or gross) salary, do we talk about base salary or base salary + overbase?
5. Is it fair to assume that there are no taxes in KSA to be paid? Is the company providing tax advise to sort out questions regarding (possible) taxation in the country of origin?
I read about people (from the UK) opening offshore bank accounts, cutting all connections to the UK, etc. - sounds a bit like they're worried about possible taxation in the UK.
6. Do Saudi Aramco consider certain allowances (such as housing, car, etc., as packages vary depending on country and company) in their base salary calculation?
7. Do they take into account that certain high-wage high-tax countries (e.g. Norway or Denmark in Europe) have higher costs of living than lower-wage lower-tax countries?
x EUR in country A don't necessarily equal x EUR in country B.
8. Will it be a disadvantage for someone like me applying from a Western location compared to someone already in a hardship location who is given extra allowances already? Would that person make automatically more just because applying out of a higher paying contract?
9. Is it correct to assume that I would be put on Global Payroll Tier 1 ?
10. Is the overbase 25% or 40% as indicated in other threads?
11. How much is the DBS? 18%
12. Can anyone explain how the severance award is calculated?
13. Is the flight budget negotiable? I was presented a number during my interview that would possibly allow for 3-4 economy flights back to Europe per year, while I had about 10 economy flights a couple of years ago with my employer from another hardship location back to Europe (as the connection was admittedly very good with a lot of compeion and thus cheap).
14. Are there any other benefits to take into consideration (not talking about subsidized housing, schooling, health care)?
I really do appreciate any comment and info shared.
Best regards,
Liko1001
