Tài liệu Negotiating A Relocation Package pdf

Negotiating A Relocation Package

By Jill Hill

Each month thousands of employees move to a new community, to start a new job.

Moves often are more expensive than anticipated. Not only is there the actual expense of

moving, but also, for a home-owner, the expenses connected with selling an old home, and

buying a new home.

Some corporations may offer to cover some or all of the relocation costs for employees who

are moving at the company's request. Larger companies usually offer a more elaborate

relocation package than smaller firms. These benefits become particularly important when

there is a large increase in housing costs. For example, an employee leaving a $150,000

four bedroom home in a small midwestern community may find that comparable housing in

the San Francisco Bay Area may cost around $500,000.

When interviewing for a job, ask your prospective employer whether or not it has a

relocation program, and find out as much as you can about it.

Benefits which may be offered to a relocating employee vary widely. Each situation may call

for a different bundle of benefits; analyze your own situation carefully. It is always best to

negotiate these matters as part of a transfer package, before accepting the new job, to

avoid surprises to either the employee or the company after the move has taken place.

1. Cost of a familiarization and house-hunting trip for the employee, spouse, and

family. (Does your family really want to move here?)

2. Extra time off (with pay) for traveling and house hunting in the new location.

3. Moving expenses, including packing and insurance.

4. Travel expenses (lodging, meals, gas, etc.) while traveling to the new location.

5. Assistance in the sale of your old home:

o Company assumes responsibility for monthly payments, taxes and insurance

until the old home is sold.

o Price guarantee: if sold by the employee, the company will pay the difference

between the net selling price and a specified price.

o Alternative price guarantee: If employee can not sell the house within a

specified period of time, the company will buy it at a specified price.

o Company will pay commissions and other costs of sale.

6. Assistance in the purchase of a new home:

o Company to pay rent of temporary quarters, until a permanent home is

located.

o Buy down the interest rate.

o Company provides low or no interest loans.

7. A salary level commensurate with any increase in cost of living between the new

location and your old location.

You will want to minimize the tax impact of any benefits you receive. For information on

the tax ramifications of your relocation expenses and any reimbursements by your

employer, see the IRS Publication 521, Moving Expenses. Browse on-line or download this

publication from the IRS at www.irs.gov/

How hard should you push for relocation expenses? Try to analyze your bargaining

position relative to the prospective employer. Does the employer have many options? Are

there many qualified local applicants for the same job? Or do you have unique skills

unavailable in the local market? Ask yourself, "If I owned the company, would I be willing

to pay for my relocation?"

As a final check-list before accepting a new job in a new community, consider the effects

on your over-all career goals: