newbie question about expat package

[ulyssesx]

I am writing this from Canada.

My company is offering me to relocate to Singapore to manage our operations in Asia. (a 3 year term) I will be required to travel to China on a monthly basis. My family consist of me and my wife only as we have no kids. She currently holds a management position with an international IT solution company, and a respectful salary.

My company has no prior experience of relocating staff so there is no such thing as expat package available from the HR end. I have done some research by talking to a few others in my industry regarding expected compensation and came up with the following so far:

(1) 15% increase on my current salary with 5% increase every year after.
(2) Health benefit package for me and my wife, just like what i have now in Canada.
(3) Bonus to be paid in USD, based on financial performance of our Asia operations.
(4) Pension from HQ.
(5) maintain current seniority. (my 10th year with the company now)
(6) housing allowance (covers my monthly rent at Singapore)
(7) Local transportation allowance (we are not planning to own a car)
(8) One time moving expenses.
(9) 2 trips home a year for me and my wife.
(10) Compensation for loss of salary for my wife. (i am not too sure if we are allowed to ask for this but she is giving up a very well paid job to follow me to asia). she is going to look for job at Singapore but not sure how long it will take.

I have not presented to my boss (who happens to be the owner) but want to know if this is unreasonable, or if i am missing anything major.

Any inputs or comments are much appreciated.

[Mad Scientist]

Not sure on the expat package others will give their thoughts on this
Expenses in SG read this link

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... y+expenses

Go to the search button for average salaries in SG, just below the profile link
or look for careers forum
If you cannot get what you're looking for , post again we will see how best to help you

MS

[sundaymorningstaple]

I am writing this from Canada.

My company is offering me to relocate to Singapore to manage our operations in Asia. (a 3 year term) I will be required to travel to China on a monthly basis. My family consist of me and my wife only as we have no kids. She currently holds a management position with an international IT solution company, and a respectful salary.

My company has no prior experience of relocating staff so there is no such thing as expat package available from the HR end. I have done some research by talking to a few others in my industry regarding expected compensation and came up with the following so far:

(1) 15% increase on my current salary with 5% increase every year after.
(2) Health benefit package for me and my wife, just like what i have now in Canada.
(3) Bonus to be paid in USD, based on financial performance of our Asia operations.
(4) Pension from HQ.
(5) maintain current seniority. (my 10th year with the company now)
(6) housing allowance (covers my monthly rent at Singapore)
(7) Local transportation allowance (we are not planning to own a car)
(8) One time moving expenses.
(9) 2 trips home a year for me and my wife.
(10) Compensation for loss of salary for my wife. (i am not too sure if we are allowed to ask for this but she is giving up a very well paid job to follow me to asia). she is going to look for job at Singapore but not sure how long it will take.

I have not presented to my boss (who happens to be the owner) but want to know if this is unreasonable, or if i am missing anything major.

Any inputs or comments are much appreciated.

All the above looks good and not too far fetched if you can negotiate it. But, I wouldn't count on #10 though. Is she being forced to accompany you here? I've not heard of one that pays someone because their wife cannot find a job. That one might be a pipe dream. Not saying it hasn't been done but just that I've not come across one myself.

I would also wonder about the wisdom of paying your bonus in USD.

[ulyssesx]

I am getting paid in cdn now so usd is another 6 percent more at best. Also, no 10 is shooting for the moon request. Not expecting to even ask. Lastly, do companies generally cover the entirety of the flat rental cost?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Generally, if an allowance is given, the rental cost is normally covered. Possibly your cable & utilities as well (worth a try). Although in recent years, due to the wild fluctuation of the rental market, more and more companies are giving fixed allowances and you live wherever you want and can afford if over and above the allowance. Will depend on your dream condo living and a healthy dose of reality.

[Girl_Next_Door]

A suggested minor variation for item (9).

You might want to indicate business class tickets (if you are senior enough) and also state an equivalent value reimbursable for immediate family members (i.e. your parents/children). The reason is because they might be times when you are not going back to Canada, twice a year, and you might prefer to have the option to fly your immediate family members over to Singapore instead.

And yes, this happened in my bf's contract. In fact, he is allowed to use this amount to pay for flights and hotel accomodations. He flys back to Europe for business trip once every 3-4 months, so he never ever need to utilise his business class ticket to go home. Instead, he uses this money to claim for his personal travel, i.e. flight and hotels.

For item (7), you might want to request for a lump sum as an allowance instead of via reimbursement basis. Collecting taxi receipts and claiming it, can be quite tedious work.

As for rental, there are usually 3 ways
1) Company pay the entire amount, regardless how much is the rent. This obviously happen when you are extremely senior in the company.
2) Company pay $X amount, and if you decide to rent a place exceeding $X, you would need to pay the differences. If you rent a place lower than $X, you do not get to keep the differences.
3) Company incorporate $Y amount into your salary. As such, you can decide how much you want to pay for rent.