Employee relocation, commonly referred to as corporate relocation is when a business organization moves a long-term or permanent employee from one location to another. There are many reasons an organization would offer an employee a corporate relocation. It could be to fill an open position, to work on a new international/domestic project with another department, career development and advancement, and more. If you are an employee undergoing corporate relocation, this is the perfect article for you to grasp a general understanding of the key terminologies and concepts you will be hearing more often soon.
The following blog article will go over those key terms in categories that you will be hearing more often as you get closer to the part of signing the contract and the process of moving. The following will be going over key topics organized into categories which includes employee relocation package, employee relocation services for domestic and international, employee relocation negotiation, family support, group temporary relocation, moving household goods, moving companies, legal issues, economic factors, corporate relocation advantages, and disadvantages looking at both employees and the business, corporate relocation companies, a brief terminology glossary, and 10 frequently asked questions you can consider.
The purpose of this article is to serve as an employee corporate relocation 101 guide for things you need to and should know as you journey through the process.
Employee Relocation Package
An employee relocation package usually covers the employee’s reasonable moving and other work-related expenses to relieve the employee and in cases, even their family of the expensive financial burden of relocating. A corporation with a well-developed employee relocation package should put employee relocation anxieties and stresses at ease while incentivizing you to accept the employee relocation transfer in a way that will positively reflect the company’s image, reputation, brand, and human resource's role in recruiting top talent.
An average standard employee relocation package should include some features which include, a full pack and unpack service, excellent quality moving service with reasonable insurance coverage, home sale or lease/tenant/breaking penalty assistance, house-hunting trip, temporary relocation housing stay for at least 30 days, transportation, including auto moving to the destination, and other miscellaneous expenses coverage. Depending on your current corporation and human resources experience with corporate relocation, some features and services will differ.
Employee Relocation Services: Domestic & International
Employee relocation services should be outlined in your employee corporation relocation policy. And depending on if your corporate relocation is international or domestic, different, or similar services will be offered.
If you are relocating within the same country. The following may be services offered to you as part of your employee relocation services under the relocation policy. Which includes policy development, group move coordination, pet transportation, temporary housing, financial administration, tax gross-up calculations, departure, and destination counseling, lump sum, appraisal, and inventory management, closing, discard and donate services, house are tours and hunting, home sale, marketing, home purchase, renters, mortgage, and dual-career assistance, to list a few.
In the case of international corporate relocation, additional employee corporations and alternative services may be made available to you. Services which many includes a candidate assessment, pre-decisions cost estimates, dual-career assistance, home sale management, lease cancellation services, tenancy management, household goods moving, temporary living, language and cultural training, expense management and reimbursement in local currency, immigration and tax coordination, global compensation management, area orientation, and destination services, and ongoing assignment and repatriation support.
Corporate Relocation Package or Service Negotiation
Keep in mind that an employee relocation is a big change in your everyday lifestyle, routine, affects your salary, job performance, and those around you. If you want to negotiate some terms in your relocation plan, consider some of the following.
A few days off, before the relocation and after arriving at the destination
At least one house hunting trip domestically or internationally
Temporary home reimbursement for X number of days upon arrival
Payment for moving services such as packing, transportation, and unpacking
Storage, depending on the size of your new home space
A key take-away from package or service negotiation is to ensure you get the best and most out of your employee relocation package or service made available to you, even if it means discussing potential add-ons and changes with the human resources department or your employer.
Family Support
Whether it is a permanent or temporary corporate relocation, employees’ families (spouse and children) should be taken into consideration as they need plenty of support throughout the process. Organizations should not push back the stress of those employees whose partners or spouses may need help finding a new job, or children that need to find a good school and daycare in a safe neighborhood. Often, children are overlooked in this process as they may experience stress from the pressure of going to a new school and making new friendships in a time of transition. In international relocations, the different geographic regions, consider how will your organization support families while they integrate into the new culture, learn the languages, sign documents, find transportation, and enjoy new experiences.
A worthy corporation relocation plan should be competitive and comprehensive, including information on spousal and children support while allowing employee time to scout for a new school, find a day and elder care, and other essential services.
Group Temporary Relocation
In special circumstances, group moves to a temporary relocation may be the case if the organization is working on expanding or a new project. Group moves happen when the organization chooses to relocate to a new region where more than one employee and possibly their spouse or family is relocated as well. This allows the organization to keep a large portion of its current workforce while expanding its resources elsewhere. In the scenario of group temporary homes, you may be placed in a temporary home. This is where you and your fellow co-workers live close to each other, and for the organization, it means reduced costs and increased productivity. Relocating to short-term homes is cost-effective for both employees and employers compared to finding a permanent home to relocate for only a short period of time.
Moving Household Goods
In employee corporate relocations, employees and families may require moving into temporary short-term housing for the time being or while their permanent home is being prepared. The further away from the employee currently is from the relocation, the more expense, complications, and stress involved in the process Whether it is to the next city, region, province or, internationally. Throughout the process and the longer the travel time, furniture, appliances, boxes, and personal valuables such as a piano, glass table, vehicle, boat, or other bulky items, it becomes more at risk for being lost, damaged, or arriving late.
In which case may arise in more problems such as delays and hidden expenses. This is not meant to scare you, however, a note to hire a competitive and specialized third-party home relocation company that has experience in corporate relocation, crates for fragile items, and connections to a network of expert movers to ease your stress in this transition.
Moving Companies
Whether you are the organization hoping to organize home goods being moved from location A to location B or the employee looking for a reliable home moving service you can count on, this section will go through some scams and stress to look out for.
Call moving companies directly to ask them about their rates and time availability, making sure they are a reputable, licensed, and insured company. Be wary of quotes right on the phone as they are not definite, and experienced movers will have to really see your stuff, to know how much to charge, not just through the first phone call as they might lowball you to get the initial booking. These rates may be also never guaranteed.
Keep in mind that you have a budget and schedule you need to move with and a lot of paperwork and legal documents to keep track of. Making an endless number of phone calls and a too good to be true low-expense estimate should not be trusted enough to hire the moving company in the first place.
The best way to avoid scams and the hassle of coordinating a long-distance move with fragile personal valuables is to find the best movers in your city, recommended by your corporate relocation service, or one that is nationally known, with good reviews and ratings.
Legal Issues
Employee corporate relocation is more than moving people into new positions and their home goods. Human resources have competitive and extensive packages that also deal with the legal side of international or domestic paperwork, contracts, data privacy, and taxes.
It is essential to set up your location agreement, a contract between the employer and employee that outlines the responsibilities and limits of each party. Ensure that personal and private information shared by the employee to the company or human resource is secure and due diligence. And taxes revolving around the employee corporation relocation whether it is temporary or permanent is clearly understood.
Economic Factors
One big factor is if the employee in question is willing to and able to relocate. Many employees worry about the risk of not being able to sell their home, finding a new home in the new region can be a tremendously stressful process, worries about potential unemployment, or just hesitant about the opportunity.
The housing market has an impact on the economic factor, as regionally, homes can cost more or less than the employee’s current location. Some organizations will help employees cover the costs of temporary housing, or finding a new permanent home, however, that is not always the case. Finding a new home means working with a third party to sell the current home and understanding and working with new policies on real estate. Therefore, the economic factor is something many employees consider while considering corporate relocation.
Employee Corporate Relocation Advantages
Moving to a new corporate location in a new neighborhood, city, province, state, or country can be an exciting time and a major life decision. There are numerous factors to consider from expense to quality of life. The following will outline some advantages of a corporate relocation for the employee.
Relocating can mean job security
A career advancement opportunity
Stable financials
Increase the standard of living
Great for personal development and growth
Meeting new people
Experience new cultures, languages, and religions
Better environmental-climate/footprint
Employee Corporate Relocation Disadvantages
There are going to be challenging obstacles as well when it comes to relocating your home. Some you may have already thought about and some that may come as a surprise once you have relocated. There as cons to corporate relocation as well that will be shared in the following.
Moving is expensive
You must consider your spouse, children, family, and friends
Find the right schools and daycare centers
Find new housing in an unfamiliar region
Different paperwork for immigration, and licensing
Difficulty integrating into the new work environment
Business Corporation Relocation Advantages
The following will look at the pros as to why your business should relocate. Looking at some different advantages to the organization include factors such as:
Accessibility to a better upcoming neighborhood, region, or country
Diversely trained and employable professionals
Increasing your target audience and demographic
Saving money and space as your business grows
Can be a better location than your current home office
Business Corporation Relocation Disadvantages
The following business corporation advantages are to list some disadvantages. This section will look at a number of cons to business corporate relocation. Which includes:
Disrupting business everyday operations
Loss of current customers and clients
Initial and unexpected moving expenses in the process
Family, friends, and loved ones to consider
Corporate Relocation Companies
Managing an employee’s local, domestic, or international corporate relocation should not be as difficult as this article made it seem with the help of corporate relocation companies. There are numerous to choose from, with a range in rates, packages, services, ongoing support, connection to networks, and reviews. We recommend going onto a search engine to find the right corporate relocation organization near you to call for more information on how they can help you and your employees go through the process of corporate relocation with as much stress-free and ease as possible.
Key Terms
The following will not be an in-depth glossary looking to define every important key term in the corporate relocation dictionary, however, serve as a guide to look further into topics that you want to learn more about.
Important key terms can include, appliance services, origin, booking, and designation agent, final travel, gross-up, household goods, hyperlocal information, intrastate, interstate, lump sum (miscellaneous allowance or move strip), moving coordinator or consultant, relocation package, relocation services, reimbursement plan, relocation management company, relocation management software, short-term housing, store in transit, survey, tariffs, third-party service, and weight ticket.
10 Questions to Ask
How will this move impact or improve my current financial situation?
How far away will I be from family and friends?
How will this move impact my family? Spouse? Children?
Will we be able to afford to live in a “good” neighborhood? Close to schools? Transportation? Health care?
Will this corporate relocation positively impact my current career goals and future opportunities?
Will I like my new position?
What are the next steps if I own a home or signed a lease?
What is the quality of life at the destination?
What are some challenges that may occur throughout the transition?
Who will I be able to contact for support? Mental health?
Avalon Suites Yorkville
On the topic of employee corporate relocation and short-term temporary living, Avalon Suites offer fully furnished suites with 2x the living space than a hotel room and amenities found at home and all for yourself is the perfect temporary housing solution even for a professional business traveler. Here at Avalon Suites, we offer a wide range of suites ranging from a comfortable Economy Suite for 1 to a Presidential 2-bedroom accommodation there is one best suited for your relocation housing needs.
Avalon premium luxury suites offer a fully equipped kitchen, filled with cooking utensils; pots, pans, boards, dishes, cups, cutlery, and equipment such as a fridge, freezer, microwave, and dishwasher all in one suite. Even more, each Avalon Suites has an in-suite washer and dryer, allowing you to feel just at home being able to do your own laundry without the hassle of housekeeping and additional services. Every suite also has access to internet and wife services, smart televisions for your cable, Netflix, Prime, or YouTube viewing, complimentary coffee, tea, and bathroom necessities. Additionally, Avalon Suites have an in-building fitness center and gym, and conference room safely available to be booked, alongside 24/7 concierge services.
Located in the heart of Yorkville intersecting Yorkville Avenue and Avenue Road, Toronto, not only will you get sweeping views of the city, however, you are located minutes to premium dining experiences, shopping departments, tourist destinations, and a Wholefoods supermarket for your in-suite cooking needs.
Check out our blog for even more information.
Contact us at 416.731.1372 to learn more about our suites and to book!
I had a fantastic experience with Toronto Movers. The team was not only efficient but also demonstrated a high level of professionalism. They took the time to address all my concerns, making the relocation process smooth and stress-free.
Before moving to a new place it is better to contact two to three relocation companies. By doing this you can easily come to know which company is reliable and affordable and then you can them hire for the relocation project. I also have chosen a cross country moving company in the same manner.