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Saturday, March 04, 2006
Some Who Wander Are Lost
As more and more people permanently leave Britain (and plenty of other countries) for Spain and the Canary Islands, it's as well to point out a few of the realities of the expat life.
"An expatriate is cut from different stock. Expatriates do what many forever dream of attempting: they leave everything that is familiar to them and trek to foreign lands for compassion, love, adventure, religion, escape, Military mandate, career advancement, enlightenment and self discovery or a host of others reasons."
Sometimes life abroad is idyllic, but what happens when the expatriate finds themselves alone and, heaven forbid, sick?
Employers are certainly very quick to distance themselves from the potential costs of such unproductive workers. You might think that this is a situation that could only occur in "human rights challenged" China, but you would be wrong.
It is illegal in this country to dismiss someone while they are officially signed off sick, but employers have no qualms about "persuading" doctors to declare the worker fit, even when they are not, in order that they can be released from contracts. Some threaten or bully the employee into resignation.
In Spain, dole (unemployment) is paid out so many weeks per year of job contract you have worked. Once that runs out, there is no supplementary benefit, as such, only a discretionary award that you can apply for from your local town hall.
Whilst, I am sure that no official policy exists to prevent these awards from being given to anyone resident and in need, I truly have no idea if this is ever awarded to foreigners. You certainly don't get it if you are foreign, single and even waving a medical certificate that proves that you are incapable of working.
As they say, been there, done that, worn out the T-Shirt.
This discretionary award is only available to families and, even then, is a flat rate of around €375 (£250) a month. You could bearly feed a dog on that. It is absolutely not available to single people, who, by law in Spain are "the responsibility of their families". Doesn't matter what age you are, you better hope you have parents, children or other relatives with means.
If you don't, you are up shit creek, basically!
This, of course, applies to Spanish singles as well as foreigners, but Spanish nationals don't have to prove their means to gain paperwork, etc., and might have family to live with. For an expat, it could mean deportation with nowhere to go.
THE EXPAT FILES: SOME WHO WANDER ARE LOST
2 Comments:
Pamela wrote (on
March 05, 2006)
I wish it weren't, because this is based on personal experience. In some ways it is worse when it happens in "developed countries", because it is harder to persuade others that it goes on.
Try telling your "conservative" British family that you are sick, even though an "expert" doctor says otherwise and that you personally saw someone from the company in a place that implicates them.
Since this can only happen "in movies", in their minds, their only possible conclusions are that their child is lying or completely mad.
I had no idea it was the same in "developed counries"...Great post...
Nihao from an expat' in China...