So you’ve been offered a job in the Gulf. The pay’s great, and it’s tax free too. However, there is one step you must take – and that’s to research your employer before accepting the job.

For your employer has immense power over you in the Gulf through the system of sponsorship.

Sponsorship has been compared to slavery by no less than the Prime Minister of Qatar, one of the more pleasant Gulf states. In Qatar your employer is your sponsor, and without your employer’s permission you cannot leave the country, buy alcohol, get a driving license, rent a house or take out a bank loan.

It is not unknown for a sponsor to reduce the wages of an employee after they have been hired.

The best employers are large companies, international companies and the government. Avoid working for individuals – if you get a bad employer you will be at his or her mercy – and small companies. If a company went bankrupt while you were working for them, you could have no end of hassle and a great deal of expense before you could extract yourself the country.

Some bigger companies also subcontract to other employers. One friend of mine was offered a high paid job by British Aerospace in a Gulf country.

When he researched the job, he found that he would be subcontracted to the army of the country. According to previous employees, he would be teaching unwilling conscripts. There were immense discipline problems – but the problems were held to be the responsibility of the teacher, not the army, and therefore the teacher was punished, not the soldiers. Not only was there no support from the army, there was active racism and discrimination against the teachers by the army officers responsible for them.

All this information was available on the internet, where it had been placed by former employees.

Incidentally, my friend has since found a very good job in Qatar - and he’s not teaching any conscripts!

This article was provided by Qatar Visitor Qatar Visitor is a tourist and resident's website providing extensive information about jobs,travel, flights, culture and the history of Qatar, and includes images, sounds and videos. http://www.qatarvisitor.com/