Leaving an International Airline, Leaving the Middle East

Two years ago last week I left Dubai and Emirates (the airline) after 12 years, to come home and help with the launch of V Australia. This series of posts documents the leaving process - partly as my first attempt at a blog (which hopefully someone will find worth reading), partly as an assistance to others in my position. While this blog should provide some amusement, it should also be of assistance if you are leaving soon as well. There will be differences however - a lot of this depends on your years of service, and I'm sure some things have changed - hopefully for the better!

There’s a wad of documentation associated with Accommodation and Leaving Ek – I’ll find some place to put samples of it all so you know what to expect. No doubt you’ll receive more up to date documentation and therefore should ignore mine. For starters, yours will probably have correct phone numbers – despite the fact that most of the significant departments concerned moved months ago, many of the numbers are old EGHQ or EOC – that’s two HQ relocations ago. Even the phone number of the assistant responsible for helping me – in the new EGHQ building – had her own phone number with transposed digits in her e-mail. And she gave me an out of date form for Provident Fund Termination.

Also – some of the stuff I’ve received is particular to me – my years of service; for example I’d opted for the refurbishment allowance, etc. This may not be the case for you.

Today (company e-mail) the first of the Accommodation paperwork arrived. The Key Check In/Out form is the same one I filled in when I arrived, it’s to ensure they can charge you for any keys you may have lost in the interim months/years since you entered the villa. Replace the keys you’ve lost yourself – the price charged is extortionate. The other letter is the Check Out Letter, which deserves a paragraph all on it’s own.

This is going to take a while to work through. So far, what stands out :

Villa must be clean and in good condition, with all modifications or enhancements to structure, fixtures or fittings made during my tenure taken back to their original condition. The decision of the Accommodation department is final.
Potentially I can be charged for the following once I’ve left and an assessment is made of the villa:

Any “excessive” wear and tear – broken glass, glue removal, tiled/marble floor, damaged wood work, missing/damaged fittings and fixtures.
Re-instatement of any alterations or modifications done to the accommodation back to original condition.
Re-painting of the unit back to company standard white/off white, if it’s been painted.
Cost of removal and disposal of personal items left behind.
Tidy Up/General cleaning of the unit if left with litter or in a dirty condition.
Missing Keys/Access Cards/Door openers etc.
Overstay charge of Dhs 150/day on delayed return of keys.

I need to have a Maintenance Check done by Accommodation 14 days before leaving the villa. If this is not done, 5000-7000 Dhs will be held back from final salary.

Ok, so now I have an idea of Accommodation. As some of you will know, this will be my third move out of Company Accommodation. It’s funny – I moved into this villa 18 months ago – I still haven’t managed to put up any pictures on the wall – they’re all still on the floor in the lounge room. Maybe that was a sign that I’ve been ignoring all this time.

Next Week : I have a fatigue induced mental breakdown that induces a rant. Enjoy.