Dragon Air's new Standard contract
Im with Aquis on his comments.
If your a first officer xpat in this town with wife and kids, there is nothing left at the end of the month.
THe locals, are a lot younger on average, so a lot of them live with their parents and single. Those that are married with kids can send their kids to local schools, albeit they would love the choice to send them to better schools.
The housing that they end up buying is suitable if thats how you were bought up, but if you want a big apartment the "special allowance" will get you sweet FA.
I came here for the Capts salary diff from the FO's and the Housing purchase.
Even with the USD were it is (hkd pegged), I'd be having second thoughts, considering the lifestyle sacrifice and moving away from clean air.
This below has just been posted on the union website:
MUST KNOW FOR PROSPECTIVE DRAGONAIR PILOTS - the Standard Contract
Effective as of 1 April 2012, all pilots recruited by Dragonair will be employed on
the Standard Conditions of Service (CoS) regardless of background or experience.
The Standard COS was unilaterally introduced by the Company, without input and
consultation with the Dragonair Pilots Association (DPA). The DPA has attempted to
rectify this without success thus far.
The Standard CoS is an inferior contract compared to the Expatriate B Scale that all
previous pilots recruited from overseas were offered. Cadet entry and local
citizens are employed on a 'Local' CoS, which is at a lower total remuneration than
the Standard CoS and Expatriate CoS.
Standard CoS Details
The Standard CoS is made up of three parts;
1. Part 1 - contains Contractual Agreements that affect your condition of service
and will only be changed with your consent,
2. Part 2 - contains Company Policies that are written for your information only.
It does not confer contractual rights to you and may be unilaterally amended or
removed by the Company at it's sole discretion, and
3. Part 3 - Agreed Policies which are agreements between the DPA and Dragonair.
Agreed policies may only be amended after mutual agreement between the DPA and Dragonair.
Unfortunately, benefits and provisions that may affect your decision to join
Dragonair, such as Credit Hour Provisions, Child Education Allowance Policy and
Medical Benefits are now Part 2, which means they can be amended or removed
unilaterally if and when the company sees fit.
Importantly, your credit hours could be amended from 75 per month (as currently set)
to a higher level without your approval, or a salary increase. Housing and Education are very
expensive in Hong Kong, and the medical benefits have not been adequately increased
for over 15 years.
Spaces for International schools are limited and require up front debentures typically between HKD $100,000 and $400,000 . Some of these debentures are non refundable. This is in additon to annual fees of approximately HKD $100,000. per child.
Conclusion
All currently employed pilots were given the opportunity to sign over to the
Standard CoS.
However due to the 'open to change' nature of the Standard CoS, the overwhelming
majority of the pilots employed on the Local CoS did not switch over to this
Standard CoS. This despite it providing provision for SUBSTANTIAL increases to
Child Education Allowance and Special Allowance compared to the current Local CoS of
around HKD 20k to 30 k per month.
The Standard CoS is about 40% below the Expatriate CoS.
The DPA advises all prospective new joiners to study and evaluate the Standard CoS
prior to accepting employment with Dragonair and consider the impact it could
have on your career and lifestyle in Hong Kong.