What is a reasonable relocation allowance?

[Paul Slezak]

Hello,

I am single and moving to Hong Kong with my company. If there are any single Aussies who have moved across with work, I would like to know what is deemed a decent "relocation allowance". I am not taking furniture with me. I have been offered $5,000 AUD, however I am not sure if this is standard. Any ideas, hints or suggestions?

Much appreciated!

Paul

[coolgirl]

I came from the Philippines (a lot nearer than Australia is to HK) and got more than that.. I think you can nego a bit higher...

[KnowItAll]

Usually equivalent of a month or two salary to make sure misc expenses are taken care of -- utility deposits, small appliances etc.

Your major expense will be housing deposit and agency commissions ( 3.5 months rent + stamp duty on lease signing ) if the company is not taking care of that seperately.

[PDLM]

When I came on an internal transfer several years ago the deal was that shipping costs for my possessions were paid directly by the company (which was also renting my property for me) and in addition I got one month's salary to cover incidental expenses. You should get and keep receipts for everything that could conceivably be classified as such an expense (curtains, initial cleaning, small items of furniture, etc) so that you can subsequently get that one month payment treated as reimbursement of actual expenses necessarily incurred and thus not taxable.

[Beth Danae]

I would agree, you should likely be compensated more.. The fact that you aren't shipping anything shouldn't come in to play as generally companies provide a flat amount and it is yours to use as you see fit...

Though, that said, this is a negotiation and requires that you've assessed the situation well before countering... Do they have someone who'd relocate for less? How much are you needed in HK? Details of your salary, work history, etc.. That all matters in guessing whether they'd up it for you.

[larac]

I would say you should be looking for double what they are offering now. If you can't negotiate more then you should try and get them to pay your rent deposits and allow you to repay them over time ie: it could be an advance on your salary. Unless your bank account is looking very healthy you will find it hard to come up with the sizeable deposit needed.