Reading an offer letter line by line

Offers in the Gulf and Levant are rarely a single salary figure. They are a basic, a set of allowances, a variable component, an end-of-service calculation, and a set of conditions — and two offers with the same headline number can be worth meaningfully different amounts. Read the whole document before you respond to any part of it.

The salary structure

• Basic versus total. Gratuity, and often bonus and pension, are calculated on basic alone. An offer with a high basic and low allowances is worth more than the same total with the split reversed.
• Which allowances are included — housing, transport, schooling — and whether they are paid monthly or annually in advance. Housing paid yearly changes your cash flow substantially.
• The variable component: what percentage, measured against what, paid when, and whether it has ever actually paid out at target. Ask that last question directly.
• Whether the figure is gross or net, and what deductions apply — social insurance obligations differ for nationals and expatriates, and across countries.

The conditions

• Probation length and the notice period during it. Three months is standard in much of the region; six appears and is negotiable.
• Notice period after probation, on both sides. An asymmetric notice period is worth questioning.
• End-of-service gratuity terms, and whether they follow the statutory minimum or better.
• Annual leave, in working days or calendar days — the difference is about a week — plus ticket entitlement and who it covers.
• Any non-compete or non-solicit clause, its duration and its geography. Enforceability varies, but the clause still governs how you can leave.
• Visa sponsorship: who holds it, what happens to it if you resign or are terminated, and whether any relocation cost is repayable if you leave inside a period.

The things not in the letter

Start date, reporting line, job title as it will appear internally, and any commitment made verbally in the interviews — a promotion track, a remote day, a training budget, a team you were told you would build. If it matters to you, it belongs in writing before you sign. "We don't put that in the contract but it's how we work" is a sentence you may hear, and it is worth at least an email confirming it.

Before you respond

Ask for the full package in writing if you were given it by phone, then take a day. "Thank you — I'd like to read it properly and come back to you tomorrow" is a completely normal response and no reasonable employer refuses it. Compare offers on total annual cash plus benefits you would otherwise pay for, not on the monthly headline, and be alert to the offer that arrives with an expiry of 24 hours: legitimate employers occasionally do this under real pressure, but it is also the most common way candidates are rushed past the clause they should have read.

You will negotiate this document once and live inside it for years. A day of careful reading is proportionate.