Job offer including relocation questions

[TheMinel]

Hi all,

I'd like to hear from whoever has had experiences with multinational companies offering a job which needs a full permanent relocation.

A very well known (huge) multinational technology company has offered me a job in another EU country which would entail a permanent relocation for me and my wife (and dog!).

I was unofficially offered the job (I am not currently employed by them, just to clarify) about a month ago, and I still haven't received the formal contract of employment or full details about the relocation.

The reasons they gave me for this is that the country boss where I'll be employed is on holiday and will be for " a few weeks", and it took this long to get everything approved, prior to this.

As of today, I have a letter of intent outlining position, salary, location and some benefits. I was also told that their global mobility team will make contact too, and have been given some details about what they cover.

• Shipment of household goods
• Tax gross up
• Settling-in allowance
• flights to destination
• temp. accomodation if needed
• destination country tax consult of 1 hour
• visa&immigration
• destination services (2 day homefinding, 1 day settling in)

I am in a situation where we have a house and 3 cars to sell, and the above currently doesn't really answer my many questions, i.e. what if my house takes months and months to sell, are they going to pay me accomodation in the new country indefinitely until it sells? If not, surely I'm not going to be able to pay 2 mortgages or rent+mortgage, so how does this work?

Also, what is tax gross up?

I actually come from said country in the first place, but my wife doesn't speak the language, surely they should pay for her to learn it?


Also, seeing what I have currently, should I hand my notice in just yet? I'm inclined NOT to do so until I have both contract of employment and relocation documents detailing every single thing covered, in my hands.

The operations guys are eager for me to start, but all this bureocracy is going to end up slowing the process down, imo!

Thoughts?

[fido]

I wouldn't worry about the cars - it's the house that's going to be the dealbreaker.

Been offered relocation twice and i decided not to both times .. regrets, i've had a few .. but i would definitely stipulate they either a) shift your house & pay for accomodation in your location e.g. 3-6 months or b) pay your mortgage whilst the house is waiting to be sold.

[TheMinel]

fido said:

I wouldn't worry about the cars - it's the house that's going to be the dealbreaker.

Been offered relocation twice and i decided not to both times .. regrets, i've had a few .. but i would definitely stipulate they either a) shift your house & pay for accomodation in your location e.g. 3-6 months or b) pay your mortgage whilst the house is waiting to be sold.

completely agree! seen the times we're in, last thing I want to do is be stuck with 2 mortgages to pay in 2 different countries!!

Also, about the cars... I do worry as the last thing I want to do is give away my beloved 350Z TT at a stupid price! In the country where we'll most likely be going it'll never be road legal so I could just use it on the track, but I built it as a road car Stupid homologation laws

Edited by TheMinel on Monday 16th August 15:36

[Jerry Can]

surely you want to keep your house in the UK? If you ever want to come back. Also, looking at the terms they are giving you 2 days to find a house.... they must be thinking that you will be renting in your new country? Its not unusual for an ex pat package to include rented accomodation.

In summary I'd be looking to rent your existing property, it will be quicker to sort out, and then rent abroad with a contribution from the company.

You can get some jolly decent rented property for the rent you'll make on your own home.

All this is of course if you are not actually moving back to your country of origin.

[curlie467]

A friend moved abroad recently and the company she works for paid her 95% of her properties value upfront, then they pay her first six months rent upfront and finally, they will pay her rent for the next 3 years on quarterly basis provided she stays in the job for that 3 years.
Pretty good deal to me and you really need to approach the right department of that company and see what they will do for you, if they want you then they may well help.

[AJS-]

Definitely don't hand your notice in until you have a signed and sealed contract that you are happy with! There's many things that can change, and if the country manager hasn't seen the final contract then that is a huge potential risk.

[worsy]

Tax gross up

Probably infers they will meet tax liability where any part(s) of relocation assistance is taxable benefit.

[TheMinel]

Jerry Can said:

surely you want to keep your house in the UK? If you ever want to come back. Also, looking at the terms they are giving you 2 days to find a house.... they must be thinking that you will be renting in your new country? Its not unusual for an ex pat package to include rented accomodation.

In summary I'd be looking to rent your existing property, it will be quicker to sort out, and then rent abroad with a contribution from the company.

You can get some jolly decent rented property for the rent you'll make on your own home.

All this is of course if you are not actually moving back to your country of origin.

Wasn't really planning on keeping the Uk property tbh (unless they will pay me rent indefinitely!) And yes the 2 days to find a house needs clarifying too... surely that's going to be only good for rented obviously!

[TheMinel]

curlie467 said:

A friend moved abroad recently and the company she works for paid her 95% of her properties value upfront, then they pay her first six months rent upfront and finally, they will pay her rent for the next 3 years on quarterly basis provided she stays in the job for that 3 years.
Pretty good deal to me and you really need to approach the right department of that company and see what they will do for you, if they want you then they may well help.

wow! that is a VERY good deal! Considering the size and profits of this company, I may as well definitely push for something similar!

[TheMinel]

worsy said:

Tax gross up

Probably infers they will meet tax liability where any part(s) of relocation assistance is taxable benefit.

thanks, that makes sense.

[TheMinel]

AJS- said:

Definitely don't hand your notice in until you have a signed and sealed contract that you are happy with! There's many things that can change, and if the country manager hasn't seen the final contract then that is a huge potential risk.

agreed, although I think he won't have much of a say to it, as I'll report to someone else in another country (and different cost centre most likely). I think he needs to be involved as the contract itself is with the terms of the country I'll be moving to.

[Bonefish Blues]

TheMinel said:

curlie467 said:

A friend moved abroad recently and the company she works for paid her 95% of her properties value upfront, then they pay her first six months rent upfront and finally, they will pay her rent for the next 3 years on quarterly basis provided she stays in the job for that 3 years.
Pretty good deal to me and you really need to approach the right department of that company and see what they will do for you, if they want you then they may well help.

wow! that is a VERY good deal! Considering the size and profits of this company, I may as well definitely push for something similar!

There's all sorts of arrangements re this - from the "sell yer own house" through to "we'll buy it off you at market value, via a loan bridged by the relocation company".

Depends on how badly they want you to move! Have a chat with someone like Team Relocation based in Birmingham regarding options if you want an inside view.

[F i F]

Our lot first of all assume that the ex-pat pays for and maintains a home in the home country regardless of the actual circumstances. There is also an assumed principle that there should be non exposure to double costs, i.e you are not expected to maintain two homes at your own expense. Thus the housing costsin the host country are fully met.

Also if the spouse has a job in the home country there is remuneration to support them until such time as they find some employment as an ex pat, which may of course never actually happen. This includes funding the spouse pension.

However the devil is in the detail, as always, some host country managers are notoriously cheap. So be warned, I've found some to be especially tricky in this respect, some managers thinking it a feather in their cap if they screw over the ex-pat as it reduces their costs.

If your outfit is based in a particular country, I'd counsel that you speak to ex-pats FROM that nation as ime they tend to be the ones most clued up on the group system and what is available.

[The jiffle king]

I moved 15 months ago to Spain with my work. Some key questions to ask:

- Am I employed by the local country or the HQ country
- Where will my pension sit and who administers the scheme?
- What is the relocation allowence? how is it made up
- At the end of the work, who pays for me to move back?
- where do my employment T&C's sit?
- Can I rent out my house and will they pay for empty periods?
- The salary will be based on UK or host country (index related)

Language - Most companies support you in learning the language and your wife/children
Schools - Will they help with schooling for the children? International schools can be expensive and where I live in Barcelona, the kids are taught in Catalan not Spanish
Support for spouse getting a job? any given?

There are hundreds of questions and they will probably put in place a Cartus or similar agency to support you through all of this

[TheMinel]

Bonefish Blues said:

Depends on how badly they want you to move! Have a chat with someone like Team Relocation based in Birmingham regarding options if you want an inside view.

thanks for that!! I'll contact them

[TheMinel]

The jiffle king said:

I moved 15 months ago to Spain with my work. Some key questions to ask:

- Am I employed by the local country or the HQ country
- Where will my pension sit and who administers the scheme?
- What is the relocation allowence? how is it made up
- At the end of the work, who pays for me to move back?
- where do my employment T&C's sit?
- Can I rent out my house and will they pay for empty periods?
- The salary will be based on UK or host country (index related)

Language - Most companies support you in learning the language and your wife/children
Schools - Will they help with schooling for the children? International schools can be expensive and where I live in Barcelona, the kids are taught in Catalan not Spanish
Support for spouse getting a job? any given?

There are hundreds of questions and they will probably put in place a Cartus or similar agency to support you through all of this

all very good qustions, thankfully some are already answered. Mine will be a permanent move, the contract will be the Country's own but lots of questions are still unanswered especially in the relocation area, which are pretty critical indeed!!

[TheMinel]

F i F said:

Our lot first of all assume that the ex-pat pays for and maintains a home in the home country regardless of the actual circumstances. There is also an assumed principle that there should be non exposure to double costs, i.e you are not expected to maintain two homes at your own expense. Thus the housing costsin the host country are fully met.

Also if the spouse has a job in the home country there is remuneration to support them until such time as they find some employment as an ex pat, which may of course never actually happen. This includes funding the spouse pension.

However the devil is in the detail, as always, some host country managers are notoriously cheap. So be warned, I've found some to be especially tricky in this respect, some managers thinking it a feather in their cap if they screw over the ex-pat as it reduces their costs.

If your outfit is based in a particular country, I'd counsel that you speak to ex-pats FROM that nation as ime they tend to be the ones most clued up on the group system and what is available.

ahah I wouldn't be an ex-pat per se as I come from the country I'd be looking to move to, but point taken indeed! My wife would be though, as she's british.

My wife does have a decent job here in the UK so some sort of provision will have to be made by my future employer about this!

[F i F]

Your position is slightly different in that in our system most people eventually come back to the "home" country and the system caters for that. Also whilst permanent relocations are not unknown it's been found beneficial to start people off on temporary assignments, with a time limit of five years and an eventual move back to the "home" country usually after a second assignment.

If at some point things become more permanent then the rules change slightly so that any assistance with the accommodation in the "home" country, eg help / advice in letting or whatever, is gradually withdrawn and the employee is left to their own devices. In all cases decisions relating to accommodation left behind are the employee responsibility.

Accommodation in the new country is always picked to be comparable to the peer group.

It's a tricky one, for example we've had people who have not liked the rental market, bought into the local housing market as perhaps they've been able to afford something quite grand, UK prices being what they are. Only to find after a couple of years or so something isn't working, usually marriage/partner related, and then we can have a right old shambles to sort out with a lot of unhappiness all round, hence temporary assignment first even if permanent relocation was always the intention.

HTH

[The jiffle king]

Some other things which I missed, but are quite important
- Keep open some bank accounts in current country (It's difficult to set one up when you do not live there)
- If UK, change any ISA's before you go as it can be a lengthy process when in new location
- Think about tax returns before you box up any paperwork...it's painful!!
- get a good relocation allowence which they cannot cut (preferably one which is not paid into your salary as you lose tax on it, but one which you can treat as expenses)
- Sell your car early and get them to rent you a car

T-J-K

[TheMinel]

The jiffle king said:

Some other things which I missed, but are quite important
- Keep open some bank accounts in current country (It's difficult to set one up when you do not live there)
- If UK, change any ISA's before you go as it can be a lengthy process when in new location
- Think about tax returns before you box up any paperwork...it's painful!!
- get a good relocation allowence which they cannot cut (preferably one which is not paid into your salary as you lose tax on it, but one which you can treat as expenses)
- Sell your car early and get them to rent you a car

T-J-K

some new things I hadn't considered there, thanks!!