Has your company recently offered you an opportunity to move abroad for an extended period? You’ll want to keep reading.

Accepting a chance to live and work in another country is a major decision for both you and your family. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you understand what to expect and what may or may not be included in your relocation benefits.

What type of relocation have you been offered?

Employers have a variety of relocation tools in their HR toolbox, so you want to be sure you understand the type you are being offered. It may be a temporary assignment, in which case you will be placed in the host location for a pre-determined amount of time. Short-term assignments are generally less than three years, while long-term assignments can continue much longer.

You also may be offered a permanent transfer. In those situations, the intent is to move you to a host location where you will settle permanently.

Employers typically have specific policies to address the unique situations involved in each type of relocation.

What are the most common types of relocation policies?

As businesses look for ways to reduce costs and operate more efficiently, it’s not surprising that relocation benefits are under the microscope. As a result, they are adopting new approaches to their relocation policies.

Increasingly, we’re seeing clients transition from what are called managed cap policies to lump sum policies with reduced services. The lump sums vary based on the level of employee. As you might expect, more senior employees may qualify for more services while those earlier in their careers generally receive less.

Over the past several years, we’ve also seen an uptick in companies transitioning to a core-flex policy to decrease costs while giving the employee more flexibility over their benefits. In fact, research shows that 88% of companies are moving to core-flex policies as an alternative to traditional models.

A core-flex policy lets employees personalize benefits within set guidelines. The “core” relocation benefits are ones the company pays for all relocating employees. These are typically things like travel costs, household goods transportation, and other benefits that your company may consider critical. The “flex” benefits are optional services that can be added depending on your unique needs, such as spousal and family support, home sale and purchase assistance, pet care and transportation, administrative and tax support, immigration services, language and cultural support. Within your budget of dollars or points, you can choose how to spend your flex funds.

While core-flex policies have been most commonly used in permanent transfers, they are growing in popularity in assignment-based policies both domestically and internationally. More than two years ago, we predicted this move as companies look to balance flexibility with affordability. As our own Mark Woelfel wrote back then,

“While core-flex continues to be utilized widely in cross-border moves, US domestic programs are starting to utilize them as well for lower-level moves. Some policy benefits are increasingly being utilized to help offset the property market challenges, such as mortgage interest differential allowances (MIDAs), housing differential payments, and cost of living adjustments for high-cost locations. Programs that do not include home sale benefits are also looking to add buyer value options to help offset company costs through gross-up savings.”

What are the key components of an employee relocation policy?

While every employer and policy is different, these are some common benefits your policy may cover:

• The transfer of your household goods.
• Your final one-way travel (and if an assignment, your return travel home).
• Temporary housing for when you arrive in the new location, or perhaps a stipend to assist with those costs.
• If you are provided travel allowances, you may be allowed to return home while there.
• Tax, immigration and insurance support, and the points of contacts within your company that manages each of those. It’s likely that you will have a new insurance contact when moving to a new county. And you will typically receive counseling on taxes before and after your move.
• A home-finding trip to travel out and prepare for your new location.
• Support for your home sale or lease cancellation if you are a renter.
• Assistance with a rental. Some companies provide paid rental assistance; others provide access to rental resources or a rental agent. Some provide a lump sum and you can decide if you want to use that money to hire a rental agent.
• Home-buying assistance. If your company works with CapRelo, we’ll assign you a fully vetted and qualified real estate agent to guide you through the entire home purchase process.
• Destination services. These are hugely important in helping you to settle in, and navigate setting up life in your new location. Think: driver’s licenses, Social Security and taxes, bank accounts, schools, churches, clubs – in general, how to create life in the new location.

At what point in the conversation are employees given the relocation policy?

If you are a new hire relocating as part of your new job, this conversation likely was part of your hiring process. If you are current employee, you may already have accessed the company’s relocation policy through the company website or shared site.

In either situation, our clients encourage their transferees to talk with CapRelo. This is your opportunity to get answers to your relocation questions, talk through concerns and make sure you fully understand the relocation policy details. As a longtime CapRelo consultant, I highly recommend employees take advantage of those opportunities. No matter your questions or concerns, there’s a good chance we have addressed them with other transferees.

Can my dog come with me? I just bought a house, can I talk to a mortgage provider? Can my kids come with me? You name it, we’ve heard it. Those are questions that an employee might not be comfortable discussing with HR; with CapRelo, we keep those conversations confidential so you can make sure you are making the right decisions in a comfortable, safe space.

How does a relocation policy cover moving expenses?

One of the great benefits of working with a relocation management company like CapRelo is that not only do we have trusted and fully vetted movers, but we also handle all the details including payment. At CapRelo we have a network of varied mover types, from large van lines to large container shipments, so no matter the move needs and size, we have the right partner to accommodate them.

Payment is handled through our direct bill relationships with our preferred movers, so you don’t have to hassle with paying bills and waiting for reimbursement. We arrange for the movers to pack your things for you and unload them in your new location. We also ensure that your goods are covered by insurance through the move, and assist with any claims or issues that might arise during the move.

How can CapRelo help me make sense of my relocation policy?

Moving to an unfamiliar location can be scary. And while there’s an abundance of information online, it can be overwhelming to determine what is accurate information you actually need. It is critical to have someone walking alongside you through the process who you can trust. Someone who can tell you what information matters, what you need to know. Who you can count on to know not only your company’s relocation policy inside out, but who also has extensive experience in global mobility management and in your destination.

That is the value that CapRelo brings to each and every transferee we work with. Moving people just like you to new locations around the world is what we do every day. They count on us to help them better understand what lies ahead, to ask the right questions and to help them plan.