What is included in Relocation Reimbursement?
So the new firm I am joining is going to reimburse my relocation expenses instead of giving me a relocation bonus. In this case, what have you seen in terms of what can be expensed? Can I reimburse anything and treat it as if it were a bonus? Or am I only limited to shipping my old stuff and not for purchase of new items?
I have never seen purchases of new items covered for relocation (guess it depends what you mean, are you talking about buying a new couch or something?), not sure how you are thinking of justifying that. It is relocation, so the costs of moving you (comfortably) from point A to point B. I’ve covered this in other posts but:
junior roles:
1) cost of movers (including packing up your stuff, unpacking it at new location, etc)
2) cost of hotel for a weekend to scope out the area
3) cost of any car registrations, license fees, etc
4) assistance with rental agency and associated costs
more senior roles:
1) cost of temporary housing as you relocate (I.e. as you shop for a new home) usually 1-3 months
2) cover expenses related to selling current property (if you own one). Things like realtor fees and closing costs on the other end
3) only seen for very senior roles, but covering losses (up to a certain amount) on selling your current home.
Yes - i was thinking purchase of new items. Reason being that since it will be paid out as a lump sum amount, it will be taxable. As such, i was thinking of buying new vs moving used items
Definitely not in the “spirit” of the reimbursement policies and I imagine it won’t be looked at in a good way. I can see you getting crap for that (or worse), but did your firm give you guidance or documentation on how this will work? If they did, make sure you understand and follow this, that’s the most important thing
My rule of thumb with this is to put yourself in the shoes of the owner of the firm (or your MD, or even your colleagues). How would you view this policy? And what is it trying to accomplish? As I noted, these policies are normally meant to help you transition to a new location so that accepting the job isn’t a burden on you, not so that you can end up with your apartment looking like the west elm catalogue. So if your MD asked you what you did with this, would you feel comfortable explaining? If you are running the shop and saw someone submit receipts for a new couch and TV, what would you think?
Firms give separate signing bonuses for you to enjoy, but these policies are pretty targeted. It is very hard to explain to someone that since they offered to move you, that you decided to buy all new stuff and charge them for it. I realize the cost MAY be the same (you leave all your old crap behind and just buy new), but I doubt it, and it will probably be viewed as taking advantage of this (they are just trying to have you have the same life/stuff you have now in a different location for their new job)
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