Remuneration & Expenses on Secondment

[romeogolf]

For two years I've been based in Hampshire. The company I work for are opening a new location in Belfast and have asked me to go and be a key part of the mobilisation team. This includes staying/living in Belfast over a period of 6 months either 3-nights-a-week or week-on, week-off or some combination. After this I will return to my regular role, albeit with a remote "mentoring" capacity for the new site/team.

I say it's "early" stages in discussions, but I'm flying out Sunday evening for my first meeting with the client on Monday so it's actually moving quite quickly. I have a further meeting with our divisional board on 9th May to discuss 'details' and remuneration.

This is the first time I've had this type of responsibility and I've not lived away 'on work' before.

Could anyone who has already done this offer any advice or guidance?

Things which have been discussed:

• I'll be living/staying in a 2-bed serviced flat paid for by the company. Second room for other managers who will be visiting.
• They're almost definitely providing a hire car.

Things which I've thought of:

• Who pays my day-to-day costs such as food, laundry, social travel (if I somehow make friends over there).
• I have a gym membership at home. Will they pay for an equal membership in Belfast or contribute towards one?
• How often will I be travelling each way. Will my partner be allowed to visit me and/or have a return flight paid for every so often?
• Additional pay for my time/effort/energy while there. Not just for the role itself but just "being away from home". There has been talk of an end of project bonus rather than additional pay during my time there, but I feel my preference is for increased pay for the project instead in case it runs over and also to help with my additional living costs.

[romeogolf]

StevieBee said:

Different companies will have different systems in place so these are questions you need to be discussing with your employer.

Sorry forgot to clarify that this is the first time we've opened a site 'overseas' as such and had to have an employee relocate like this. Usually they put you up overnight in a Premier Inn once a week and pay for your dinner/breakfast and mileage. As this is more 'permanent' they've not reached a final decision and it's potentially up for negotiation.

StevieBee said:

Given they are providing you accommodation and a car, it would be highly unlikely they'd pay for your social life as well - they don't pay for this at home after all.

Agreed that they should only pay for additional costs, but then if they agreed to pay "all" costs, I might negotiate a lower salary bump for the project, you know? Was really just looking for ideas of what others have experienced.

[romeogolf]

edc said:

You may want to check the BIK status of those additional benefits.

Yes, this is one of the reasons it will be a 2-bed flat rather than a 1-bed. Apparently this means it's not for my exclusive use and thus not liable for BIK.

Will be doing most negotiations on this with our finance director so he'll know the ins/outs

[romeogolf]

Cheers Schmunk, will ask about this.

[romeogolf]

Thanks for the replies - Definite food for thought and ideas to mull over.

Spooked that ClaphamGT3 knows my name... Oh, it's on my profile.

• In terms of sharing with someone it's not an issue. Visiting managers are likely to be "once every few weeks" rather than a permanent feature and that doesn't bother me too much.
• I will be involved in choosing the apartment. There have already been jokes about me and one of the senior team going flat-hunting and we've been nicknamed 'the odd couple'.

Other points raised are all things I will need to discuss, so thank you for bringing them up. A 10% salary uplift would be great - I really had no idea what to expect but 10% is a figure I'm comfortable with. Will see if they offer more to start with.

Will also need to discuss the per diem vs expenses issue and see what they suggest. I prefer the idea of a per diem as it gives me more control, but again it depends on the rate offered.

Thanks again

[romeogolf]

elanfan said:

Well? What happened?

I have a meeting on 9th May to discuss it all in detail! First visit this week was fine and was with senior managers so everything was expensed by them.

[romeogolf]

Long-overdue update. Apologies, haven't been online in a while due to so much going on.

+ Approval of 10% salary increase for duration of secondment
+ All expenses to be placed on company card (hotel accommodation, food, reasonable leisure (ie a cinema ticket, alcohol at a bar), car hire (and all fuel/parking).
+ A bonus equivalent to about 16% of my regular pay for successful completion of 4 objectives.

I'm happy with the package and about a month in everything is going really well.