(Page last updated: 27 May 2015)
Entitlement
In general:
- On successful completion of your contract with British Council Malaysia, you and your accompanying dependants (if you have accompanied status) will be entitled to an accountable economy class flight back to your home country, defined as the country of which you (ie the mentor) are a passport holder, or back to the country where you (ie the mentor) were previously stationed.
- If British Council Malaysia books flights for you and your dependants at the end of your contract and you fail to take them, British Council Malaysia shall accept no further responsibility for your repatriation.
- On successful completion of your contract, if you are leaving the British Council, your flights are paid by British Council Malaysia. If you are transferring within the British Council, for example to a teaching centre, the receiving centre pays for these benefits. If there is a significant period of time between the end of one contract and the start of another, you may reasonably be granted benefits by both British Council Malaysia and the receiving centre. But in most cases benefits are only granted by the receiving centre.
Note: For the exact details of your personal entitlement, please consult your contract. If there is any difference between the information above and your contract, it is the contract which is correct.
Additional notes
1. You are asked to submit a travel request for your end of contract flight by Friday 29 May The request must be supplied on the End of Contract Flight Booking Form.
2. Tickets can only be booked by the British Council (no self-bookings) and, in order to conform with British Council procurement rules, will be the cheapest available flight (within reason, eg we would not expect staff to have extremely long flight times, long layovers, etc). It is likely that many of the bookings will require stopovers, eg in the Gulf on the way to Europe. Requests for specific routings cannot be granted.
3. Most tickets are likely to be through Kuala Lumpur, or Brunei (in the case of Sabah-based staff). Any decision to route a staff member through, say, Singapore, would be based on price, not on personal preference.
4. No stopovers en route (beyond that required to catch the connecting flight) are allowed.
5. If travelling to your home country, you are asked to specify the city to which you wish to fly.
6. We will check the reservation with you prior to making the actual booking.
7. The ticket booked by the British Council must fall within the validity of the work pass. Last day of service is 30 Sept so flights will be booked for evening of 30 Sept (as this is a working day) or 1 Oct (mentor may choose, provided work pass is still valid on 1 Oct).
8. When booking the tickets, it may be found that there is a shortage of seats on the required day when most staff will be leaving. If we have to postpone a staff member’s departure because of this, eg by 1 or 2 days, then we will ensure your work pass is valid until you leave.
9. Accompanying dependants must fly out of the country on the same flight and to the same destination as the staff member. Any alternative arrangements will be the staff member’s responsibility and at the staff member’s expense.
10. Once flights have been booked, no requests for changes will be accepted.
11. If you are planning to spend some time in Malaysia after the project and/or if you change your flight, you must still exit Malaysia on the date of the e-ticket provided to you by the British Council. Failure to do so will result in problems with Immigration. You may then decide to re-enter Malaysia on a tourist visa. If so, the British Council cannot assist you with obtaining a tourist visa and cannot be responsible if you encounter problems when trying to re-enter the country. (Although many people do them, “U turns” – when you exit the country and then fly back immediately – are not strictly allowed).
12. If you wish to change the flight provided by the British Council, you must wait until you have received your e-ticket before you do this. We will use your e-ticket (relating to the flight booked by the British Council) to shorten your work pass. Any changes will be your responsibility and at your expense (the actual charges for changing tickets vary). You should contact and pay the travel agent directly. (Please note that we cannot guarantee that your flight will be changeable and, if it is, we expect there to be restrictions on how you can change your ticket, eg you may be able to change the date, but not the destination or routing).
13. You may not leave the project before the end of your contract. Sept 30th is a working day (not a travel day). Unless there is good reason to start earlier (eg because of work pass expiry on 30 Sept and distance to travel), journeys should normally start after 1pm on 30 Sept and flights will not normally be booked before 4pm on that day. If you need to stay overnight in a hotel in order to catch an early flight on 1 Oct, the project will book and pay for the hotel, but no subsistence will be payable.
14. Your checked luggaged allowance will depend on the airline with which you are flying (usually 20Kg). Requests for extra checked luggage cannot be granted.
15. Any extra cost of air ticket due to shipping of pets, bicycles, musical instruments, etc will be counted under your shipping allowance. (Note, the project will not pay for any expenses, other than your actual flight ticket, related to the shipping of these items, eg cage, quarantine, packaging etc). It is your responsibility to contact the suggested airline to check that you are allowed to take the item when being asked to confirm flights.
16. You may receive a letter from Immigration stating the date you are leaving and the destination (likely in Sabah, possible in Labuan). We advise you not to offer to show this letter when exiting the country, especially if you have changed the date of your ticket as this has caused problems in the past. Our experience is that Immigration do not usually ask to see it.
