Having a company relocation policy is an easy way to manage your employees when the time for relocation comes. Whether you are transferring them to another city or country, employee relocation is usually a huge step in their lives, and it needs to be handled cautiously. You also do not want it to affect your organization’s bottom line, do you? 

A Complete Guide to Employee Relocation

An employee relocation package is support you offer your employees during relocation. It is meant to cover the costs of relocation and any work-related expenditure. Even though the employment law does not mandate an employer to have an employee relocation policy, implementing it shows how much you care and wish your employees well when relocation happens.  It’s a no brainer that relocation can also be stressful for you as an employer. Therefore, seeking an employee relocation services company can help you manage the relocation successfully. Simply ensure that you adhere to the company relocation employee rights. 

What’s Included in Employee Relocation Package

Corporate relocation is inevitable in instances where your business has branches in different parts of the country or in other countries. At times you may want to relocate a certain good employee to another city or country. In this case, you need to think of a relocation package and what you can offer because it is your responsibility as an employer to ensure that the employee will have a smooth transition. When you offer an employee a promotion in another city or you want to transfer them and the employee requires to relocate, many employers offer a relocation package. Employers are not under any obligation to offer this package though, but by not offering it, you might end up losing a very important employee. A relocation package shows the employee just how valuable they are to the company and may just take the offer with minimal resistance, just so they can continue working at your company. There are several surveys online that might help you determine how much you can give to a relocation package for employees. What is important to note is that employees will appreciate any kind of support you provide to their relocation and settlement. For employees, it is not easy to tell just how much you can get in a relocation package or what it entails until you get the actual relocation. Here are some common relocation package options to consider:

1. Transportation and moving costs- some companies offer to reimburse an employee’s travel expenses to the new location. This may include the airfare, train tickets and cost of gas. Other companies include expenses of cross country movers and other moving-related expenses that may be incurred. There are also those companies that will hire professional movers for a full package that involves packing, moving and unpacking of your belongings.
2. Orientation trip- an employer can also offer to pay for your orientation trip, where you travel to your new location to get yourself acquainted with the area. You can also go beforehand to investigate on accommodation options. The kinds of expenses included in such a package will be meals, airfare, hotel reservations and transportation on the ground.
3. Spousal support- if the employee is married, there are companies that offer spousal support in their executive relocation package. This may include helping the spouse find a job or establish a business in the new location.
4. Lease break/home sale costs- an employer can also offer to take care of any expenses that relate to purchasing of a new home and selling of the current home. This includes costs associated with breaking a lease too.

How to build a relocation package for your employees?

Companies differ greatly in the kinds of relocation package options they take for their employees. In order to build one, you need to:

• Determine the type of relocation expense reimbursement you want to use. Once this is determined, decide on ways to disburse the money. It can be in a lump sum, where the employee uses the money for relocation expenses and pockets the remainder; it can also be in a capped allowance, which limits the amount of money the employee can use for relocation. The employer pays for the expenses and takes back the remainder. You can also use a core/flex program, which is basically a combination of the above payment plans.
• You can also engage a relocation technology company in order to take the burden off your shoulders as an employer and also make it easy for your employee. The relocation technology company will take care of everything, including looking for a place for the employee to move to, flying the employee to his new location and moving his entire family and household plus anything else the employee might need. There are relocation management softwares that you can use too.

Conclusion

If relocating an employee is something you are seriously thinking about, or it is something your company is planning to do, it may be time to think about building an employee relocation package. There is a lot that is involved in the successful relocation of an employee, which may wear you down physically, emotionally and  financially if you do not have a plan at hand.