What is a relocation support package?

A great relocation package covers your employee’s moving and other work-related expenses when relocating. By offering your talent a relocation package, you can provide comprehensive and holistic relocation assistance to relieve the employee and their family of the stress and burden of relocating. A great relocation package not only provides your employees with peace of mind but also reflects positively on your company’s reputation for attracting and retaining top talent. Your relocation support package should include…

1. Financial assistance to cover moving expenses

For your prospective employee, the costs associated with physically moving are numerous. These could include driver’s license fees, pet registration and licenses, cleaning services, utility hook-ups, and other move-related expenses such as storage costs for household goods before employees can move into their new home. A great relocation support package will help your international employee to organize and finance their move (e.g. hire a moving van), and locate and secure their accommodation (place a deposit on an apartment or secure short-term housing until their first paycheck).

2. Visa and work permit paperwork and sponsorship

As you will already have likely experienced, visa and work permit paperwork causes HR professionals a lot of headache. A great relocation support package will provide your international employee the information required to fill out the relevant paperwork, or go as far as providing legal assistance in the filing of these. It is best practice to sponsor your employee to make sure they meet the legal requirements to work for your company. At Localyze, we take the pain out of the legal processes. All paperwork is handled by us, through integrations with institutions and automated processes we can accelerate visa bureaucracy by 50% to make sure your employee has the right legal status from day 1.

3. Tax and social security assistance

Expatriate taxation and social security are complex and burdensome requirements for your international employee to solve alone. A great relocation support package should provide tax support for the duration of employment to relieve the employee of this concern. Take advantage of our partnership with compliance and social security experts. We have the answers to all challenges associated with compliance and taxes e.g. income tax status, social security, permanent establishment, pension, insurance, and so on

4. Travel admin and insurance

Medical and travel insurance is a must, especially when undertaking the relocation process amidst a pandemic! Medical and travel insurance will protect your international employees and your company against emergency expenses such as covid related costs or repatriation. Including this in the relocation support package ensures that appropriate cover is in place prior to your international employee’s start date. Great relocation support packages will cover medical and travel insurance to ensure your employees feel secure and looked after.

5. Housing support

As your international employee embarks on their new life they will likely need help apartment hunting. A great relocation package will offer free assistance in helping your talent find a rental property that suits their needs and will contribute to reimbursement costs of short-term rentals until permanent housing can be organized. To go the extra mile, your relocation support package can also contribute to the payment of a rental deposit which can be later deducted from your employee’s income following their first paycheck.

6. Arrival assistance 

A great relocation support package doesn’t end at plane tickets and work permit paperwork, instead it will help ease your international employee into life at their new location. This means helping them seamlessly adjust to their new life and integrating into your organization. Arrival assistance may include helping your employee open a bank account, set up their insurance, and mailing address. Language courses, phone contract help, and local restaurant or scenic recommendations will also go a long way in easing the transition of your international employee outside of work hours.

Looking for help with your relocation or immigration cases?

We are here to help. See how in our relocation and immigration sections or directly schedule a free consultation with us.