Monday, August 27, 2007

That Which Makes Me Happy

"What i do next?", i asked the HR Officer as he handed me the Final Settlement papers regarding my resignation from the Company, folded it up and placed it in my back pocket without even reading it.

"Come back here and give me a copy of your ticket", replied the officer.

"What ticket?", i seconded.

"Your plane ticket", he ended.

I was stunned for a moment. So what i have been hearing is true. After my resignation, the Company is really expecting me to go back home and they would only give me my passport in the airport on the day of my flight that's why they want to have a copy of my plane ticket. I didn't know which way to feel upon realizing that. I'l be returning home empty handed and indebted.

I went out of the office with empty cells in my head. Temparature is almost 40C. I didn't seem to mind getting the tannest tan. While i was waiting for some damned taxi ( they normally don't show up when you need them the most), i put out the papers on my pocket and took time to read it. I was expecting to pay the company some amount because i have not completed at least six months of work and without a one month prior notice. But to my surprise!, I won’t be paying the company anymore and rather I would be receiving something more for the days that I have worked on before my resignation. Suddenly a huge smile from ear to ear was painted in my face.

As you may not know, labor laws here in UAE are very strict and protective of investors’ interest so much so that if an employee who’s working for less than six months resigns, not only that he will be fined to pay penalty of P50,000, he would also be ban to work for at least six months. In my case, I was expecting to pay that same amount and to be ban to work for six months. That explains why I have been so problematic and so stressed out this past few days. Now that this development has came in, I could very well go back to the Philippines and used the money to start all over.

Whatever it is that has made these things possible, I am very thankful. But I have a strange feeling that the Finance Manager, upon whom I have reported in my job, has worked it out so that I would not pay anything. Maybe he realized that with all the contributions that I have made for him during the four months that I have worked for the company, I have been more than a good employee, a trouble shooter and dependable staff.

Well, now that I don’t have to worry about finances, I am more so willing to return home and start again. At least something concrete now is brewing in my head unlike before that I am so desperately confused as to whether to stay, borrow money and look for another job or to just go back home and return to Dubai after the six months ban.

I still have some hesitations of going home cause I know that means turning back from a lot of possible opportunities. Dubai is where the money is, it’s the fastest growing city in the world, but being here there’s price to pay. Though I always say that my journey here in Dubai was never a chance but a choice that I could always make, my friends would always tell me, “nandito ka na rin lang, saying naman”. I get the point but I am not prepared. I just hope that “kung saan mang desisyon ako magigin masaya, suportahan nio na lang ako”.

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