Getting paid

It's long been a dilemma for freelancers to get paid in the UAE, here's one reader seeking advice:

What do you do when a UAE publishing company owes you more than Dhs40,000 (and has done so for the best part of a year)?

I have emails, text messages and paperwork to prove it. I have been promised the money on many, many occasions - and heard every BS excuse under the sun when it hasn't arrived.

Would those in the know recommend I sue the company, complain to someone or other...or write the money off and just tell as many people as possible?

Any wisdom gratefully received.

A novel approach to Dubai

It warms the cockles of our DMO hearts when we can report on the success of a former Dubai journalist, especially when we're genuinely pleased. David Williams, who many of you will know as a freelance journo or as provider of media passes to the rugby or tennis, has had his first novel published.

Desert England is a thriller about football hooliganism, and is set in England and Dubai. While we're still waiting for our preview copies, we're told that some of the scenes in Dubai cut pretty close to the bone.

David is appearing on the book show on Dubai Eye on Saturday; a case of the poacher turned gamekeeper?

Banned on the run

A recent comment on DMO asked: "I'm about to leave a Dubai publishing company and move to another. I am presuming my company won't want me to go to a competitor (ie rival publisher, the titles aren't in direct conflict), but I'm reassured that DMC don't uphold bans on journos. Anyone had problems making a move?"

Forget about press freedom - are hacks able to move between companies without incurring a work ban? Do publishing houses use nefarious means to spoil a former employee's move? And, do they pay up on gratuities or force you to pay back huge sums of "relocation" fees? In pre-Dubai Media City days, it used to be far better for a journo to get themselves sacked if it was after less than three years at the company than it was to resign, which meant their gratuity was reduced by two-thirds.

What are the implications for a hack wishing to leave their job if they realise they've made a terrible mistake/been lured to Dubai under false pretences/hate everyone they work with/get offered more money from The Nation*? (* delete as applicable)

Show me the money

What's the accepted average freelance rate per word in Dubai? How does it compare with overseas? Whether you're a legitimate freelancer, or doing some moonlighting, do you get paid the same rates? Do publishing houses like Motivate and ITP actually stick to a rate across the board? How many of you freelance for PR companies?

And, who are bad / late / no-payers? With great power etc: don't be a prat and start naming every company you don't like... we're looking for genuine warnings on companies that don't cough up. We'll give you a clue: they're normally government or quasi-government.

In the absence of proper unions, let's at least be open about the rates available, and make the tightwads pay up on time! We want to hear comments from editors about what they pay, and from freelancers about market rates and which companies are slow to cough up.

Close encounter - but for who?

Confirmation of what we had hoped was a vicious rumour has come in the form of The Secret, Secret Dubai's newsletter, which arrived in the DMO in-boxes today. The typically veiled snippet referred to a "notorious H.A.C.K" who was in the UAE on a false passport.

Yes pop pickers, could Mr X be back in town? Dubai media veterans may recall his former aliases, which include: ITP journo, 7Days, freelance "PR" consultant, accompanier of ladies of negotiable affection. Oh, and in case we forget, convicted felon.

Mr X has had a couple of stays in a Dubai jail already, for alcohol-abetted auto scrapes and japes. How on earth could he get back in the country, we hear you ask?

Our second source confirms: "He's in town on a false passport and already got picked up by the Jebel Ali cops. They suspected who he was, but couldn't be bothered to pursue it, and let him go."

The ghostly "freelancer"

Such a juicy nugget it deserves its own post (from an anon comment in the previous post):

there is this particular "editor" of a magazine who ghost writes articles for his own magazine and collects the payments through various accounts that he has created. this guy is an absolute genius. A master of download he ensures that he stays in his job by sucking up to his management and of course stabbing anyone who could remotely disturb his operations.

Well the journalists will all know who i am talking about .... he he .

Nice work if you can get it.