expatriot assignment compensationWhere can I find information on compensation packages for foreign work assignments? I work in Latin America about half of the year, and half in the US. After the last 31/2 months of being away from home, I am thinking that my skills and flexibility are under-compensated. I would appreciate any and all input. I don' t think there is a single source for compensation packages for foreign work assignments - particularly when we don' t what the job is, where it is, or what you' re you' re being paid - no offense intended. No offense taken; I was keeping it short in the hope of finding a place where I could research the issue on my own. The work is agricultural research. I have a BS degree in agronomy, an MBA, am bilingual, and have 30 years experience. The advantage of working in South America is that we can continue our investigations year-round (like an endless summer). The position involves long hours, high stress, and requires a high degree of flexibility to be able to live abroad for months at a time. I have a staff of four professionals and many seasonal workers while in country (Chile). The compensation is $60,000 base salary plus bonus and benefits, but the total still falls short of the $100,000-120,000 desired. Of course my expenses (lodging, meals and incidental expenses) are covered when out of the US. Thank you in advance for any comments you care to make. Are factoring those lodging, meals and incidentials into your compensation? Even if you have to pay for full time US lodging so that the foreign lodging is a wash, they' re paying for your meals and incidentals. That should have a serious impact on your bottom line. You also have tax breaks do you not? I know what you' re saying, but my housing expenses in the US are actually higher ( I have to have a housesitter) when I am away, and I usually bring my daughters to Chile for the Christmas holidays. These are good negotiating points when compensation discussions come up. Do you think there should be some kind of hassle factor to compensate for the inconvenience and stress of leaving home for so long? Most people would not be able to offer an employer this level of flexibility. I don' t want to leave the impression that this isn' t an excellent job for me. It is exciting, interesting, different each day, and allows me to interact with some very good people. The country itself is beautiful. Thank you very much for your interest. If you don' t feel you' re being paid enough, I don' t think hassle factor is the way to go about getting more, especially since you seem to want to stay in this job. You can sit down with your boss at review time and show a list of what you' ve done that is over and above what anyone else has ever done and thus show that you deserve more. If I' m understanding the job correctly however, there may not be a lot of leeway since I' m assuming that since this is a research job it probably isn' t for a private company? If it is academic or governmental, there just isn' t going to be a lot of room for raises. If it is a private company that you' re working for, you might do better. I don' t know how short of your desired amount your bonus has you, but no one is going to bring your base up 40K. That just won' t be happening. If you want to stay in this job, you need to be VERY reasonable about requests. I agree with Tess. If I were you, I' d prepare a comprehensive list of not only job responsibilities, but more importantly achievements - goals met, objectives reached, all that sort of thing. Once completed, I' d polite ask for a performance and salary review, taking two copies of my list with me - one for you and one for whomever you meeting with, so you' ll both be looking at the same information. If you' re asked what sort of increase you have in mind, I think you might be able to say you were anticipating an increase in the 10% to 20% range and see what happens, but asking for more than that is probably unreasonable. Thanks for your response. It' s great to have the input. I am in the private sector, not government, NGO or university. The merit raise is a separate issue, the basis for any salary negotiation. However, there has to be some differential for foreign assignments, and this is what I am trying to find. All government agencies compensate for this, and I am sure the private sector does as well, although I have not found what that factor might be. U.S. foreign service postings allow for family to join the employee, certain travel allowances, and other perks for the employee. The housing and M&IE per diems for each country are posted on the state department website, and are at very comfortable levels that would allow me to save significant amounts (my expenses usually run 50% of U.S. per diems). Think of your own reaction when asked by your employer to spend half your time abroad. I am sure you would want some financial recognition for being away from family and friends, right? This is the question. I wish to be at the $100,000 level including the bonus- sorry I wasn' t clear about that. Still, a 20-30% raise is my target; part of that would be merit-based, and the rest would be the differential (which has not been addressed at all). What do you think? I will let you know how it goes in the next month or two. Thank you for the reply, and I agree with the salary negotiation advice. One uses that each and every time there is a salary review. What you seem to be saying is that you would not ask for additional compensation from an employer simply for a foreign assignment; instead you would include the additional language, cross-cultural, and scientific skills required in that assignment in your list of achievements, and forget about mentioning any personal stress or quality of life issues. You are absolutely right; it sounds like whining to the listener when you explain that being away from not only family and friends but your daily mail, your doctor, dentist, CPA, butcher, baker, etc. is a hassle. They probably don' t want to hear it. Thank goodness for online bill-paying and banking, or things would really be a mess at home. Last but certainly not least are my two daughters, one in college and one (finally) in the workforce who still rely on their (widowed) dad for various forms of support. Still, I know that large companies compensate for the "whine factor". I just don' t know how much. There is not one other person in our very small organization that would take the assignment, with or without significant incentive. I feel they are the poorer for it; I derive a lot of satisfaction from being here, whatever the reward. Here are some things to consider in your negotiation. Expatriate assignments are not usually short term so what you really have is a job that requires travel. I know that this sounds odd, but there is a distinction, even though you are staying on assignment for months it is not really an expat assignment. So here is what I would be asking for under the circumstances;
I don't know how your bonus structure is set up, but I don't think you can reasonably look for a increase in overall compensation of 40%. You could try to negotiate "assignment" pay as an increase during the time you are away. | |
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