Sample Relocation Policy Review
Discover what every modern relocation policy should include.
Household Goods Moving Policy Review
Streamline processes and enhance employee satisfaction.
Household Goods Pricing Review
Uncover cost savings through past invoice analysis and benchmarking.
Full-Service Relocation Policy Review
Ensure your relocation program aligns with best practices and employee needs.
With nearly a century of experience supporting Fortune 500 companies and growing businesses alike, North American Van Lines helps you build a cost-optimized, people-first relocation policy at no cost to you. Get your free relocation policy review and move forward with confidence.
Our experience conducting hundreds of relocation policy reviews has shown that even small policy adjustments can dramatically improve cost control, employee satisfaction, and retention. That’s why understanding the why behind your relocation policy is just as important as perfecting the how.
The next section examines the increasing significance of relocation policies in today’s evolving workforce landscape.
The Importance of a Robust Relocation Policy in Today’s Competitive Market
Companies are on the move, and you might be too. Approximately 30% of Fortune 500 companies took significant actions related to their physical headquarters from 2018 to 2023. Corporate relocation doesn’t have to mean losing your top talent and disrupting your business.
Our 2024 Corporate Relocation Study found that 65% of workers are open to the idea of relocating. Yet just 54.3% of executives said employee satisfaction was their top priority in corporate relocation. Effective corporate relocation policies are strategic tools, and as the race for top talent intensifies, your decisions will impact both worker retention and talent acquisition.
Your corporate relocation policy also serves as an employee retention strategy, influencing every aspect of your business in a world where 51% of U.S. employees are actively seeking new opportunities. Execution is everything, starting with planning to succeed in a cut-throat market. So, how do these policies make a difference to your business?
Attract and Retain Top Talent
Don’t let your leading talent slip through your fingers. Ensure your team wants to join the next big step in your business’s growth.
Beyond locking down your team, your employee relocation policy is an opportunity to attract even more talent. According to one survey, 81% of companies offer relocation support, with 64% increasing their packages to attract and retain top talent.
Breed Loyalty and Satisfaction
Obey the Golden Rule and treat people as you would want to be treated.
Following relocation policy best practices and prioritizing your employees first increases the chances that they will be willing to relocate and continue working with your company. Moving is stressful, but you can help make it easier.
Control Costs and Maximize ROI
Strategic relocation enables businesses to reduce costs and become more agile; however, poor planning can lead to costs spiraling out of control. Expenses aren’t limited to the physical costs of new office space and moving expenses, but also include lost business hours, temporary reductions in efficiency, and a failure to identify and capitalize on new opportunities.
Policy optimization controls budgets and enables you to benefit from your relocation initiative fully
Streamline Your Relocation
Anyone who has gone through a business relocation before knows that unexpected problems can arise at any point.
High-performing relocation plans establish best practices and multiple contingencies to address any potential issues that may arise. Collaborating with a professional relocation agent to optimize your policy enables a smooth, disruption-free transition.
Strengthen Your Reputation
Reputations take years to build and can be broken in seconds. In today’s transparent job market, talent cares about how you treat your people just as much as how you treat your customers. Approximately 75% of job seekers will investigate a company’s reputation before deciding whether to apply.
Commit to an employee-first relocation experience by putting them front and center. Show your customers that you don’t just showcase values but truly live by them in the way you support your team.
How Our Free Policy Review Works: A Step-by-Step Guide
At North American Van Lines, we make every move go your way. Our complimentary corporate relocation policy review provides you with clear, expert-led insights, with no obligation. Whether you’re looking to optimize your costs or improve the employee experience, working with our experts provides clarity and value at every stage.
So, how does the policy review process work?
Step One – Initial Consultation
Schedule a call with Bobbi Maniglia, VP of Corporate Relocation and Mobility Services, with over 19 years of experience helping companies develop successful relocation policies and programs. She will review your existing policy and help ensure your program aligns with your primary business objectives.
Bobbi Maniglia
Bobbi.Maniglia@northAmerican.com
(800) 213-49
Some of the areas we’ll concentrate on include:
- Your current program
- Corporate culture
- Budgetary objectives
- Alignment with industry best practices
- Employee movement trends
Step Two – Policy Analysis
Your relocation policy review includes evaluating your current policy against compliance standards, industry benchmarks, and cost-efficiency indicators. Our reviews cover various policy types, including:
● Sample Relocation Policy - Learn what should be included in your relocation policy, ensuring you have covered all the necessary bases for a watertight plan.
● Household Goods Pricing - Our team reviews your existing moving policy by reviewing previous invoices to identify potential cost savings, ensuring estimates align with actual expenses.
● Household Goods Moving Policy - We focus on your household goods moving policy, zeroing in on the processes and providing recommendations to remove inefficiencies and improve the overall experience for employees.
● Full Relocation Policy - Our experts go through your policy with a fine-toothed comb, focusing not just on the big picture but also on the advanced benefits relevant to your company, including spousal support, cultural training, and real estate sale support.
Regardless of which service you choose, we’ll focus on pinpointing areas where your structure might be outdated, any gaps in your service coverage, or unclear language that may cause confusion or conflict in the future. Policy reviews are compared against existing best practices to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Simultaneously, we leverage our on-the-ground experience to identify employee experience and cost-saving opportunities that you may have overlooked.
Step Three – Customized Recommendations
Problems require solutions. At North American Van Lines, we take a pragmatic approach to policy reviews by providing straightforward roadmaps for improving your existing relocation program. Some of the areas we focus on include cost-saving opportunities, employee-focused benefits, and strategic alignment. For this, we build our recommendations using the specifics of your organization, including:
- Talent strategies
- Company culture
- Ethics and values
Step Four – Implementation Support
Our job isn’t to find problems and make suggestions. We’re your mobility partner, guiding you as you embark upon your policy rollout. Your dedicated relocation consultant is always available to provide practical guidance on negotiating specific pitfalls. We’ll provide ongoing support to ensure you’re never left on your own. Whether you are experiencing issues coordinating your internal teams or dealing with third-party vendors, it’s our job to guarantee a smooth transition.
Step Five – Post-Implementation Review
Let’s verify that your policy rollout has had the expected impact. After implementing relocation policy best practices, we monitor the effects to determine whether your relocation policy has hit key benchmarks. Some of the key metrics we examine include:
- Cost-efficiency
- Total spend
- Employee satisfaction rates
- Business disruption
- Policy compliance
As your business evolves, we help you manage that change, preparing you for your employee relocations and the initial weeks and months that follow.
Real-World Results: See How We’ve Helped Companies Optimize Their Relocation Programs
Our corporate relocation services are based on bespoke recommendations developed through a comprehensive review of our ground-up approach to employee relocation. Discover how we’ve delivered tangible value to our past clients by deploying relocation policy best practices as their specialist mobility partner below:
Downloadable Relocation Policy Template: A Starting Point for Success
Getting started with your policy is challenging. After all, where do you begin with moving your entire business operation? Our free sample relocation policies provide structure, covering all the bases, whether you’re in the earliest stages of migration or have an established move date. Some of the advantages of using a sample corporate relocation policy include:
- Customize your policy according to your size and needs.
- Align with industry standards and best practices.
- Prevent compliance risks.
- Lay the groundwork for optimizing costs.
- Save time on planning your implementation.
We offer templates and policy types to help you plan your future move. Download a sample relocation policy now or contact us to discuss which template best suits your needs.
Key Elements of a Winning Relocation Policy: What to Include and Why
Relocation policies encompass more than just budgeting for the costs of your move and coordinating logistics. These documents go beyond the obvious and incorporate crucial metrics, such as employee retention, future talent acquisition, satisfaction rates, and overall operational efficiency. Structure and flexibility are the two constants within all relocation policies. Begin crafting your ready-to-go policy by incorporating these elements into your relocation policy template.
Eligibility Criteria
Provide clear criteria for who is eligible for any relocation benefits your company offers. Many companies don’t offer a standard employee relocation package, instead opting for tiered benefits based on various factors. Examples include:
- Employment status
- Job type
- Seniority
- Relocation distances
Clarity prevents conflicts later and guarantees that everybody knows where they stand. It also makes it easier for you to budget the cost of your relocation expenses accurately.
Covered Expenses
Outline which expenses you will cover as part of your move. This manages expectations and simplifies administration. Expenses most companies commonly cover include:
- Household goods shipment
- Travel expenses
- Temporary housing
- Home-finding excursions
- Mortgage support
- Lease cancellation fees
- Miscellaneous expense allowances
Relocation expense reimbursement is also commonly tiered, just like overall packages. It’s an approach that adds flexibility and lends itself to cost control.
Reimbursement Policy
How will your employees be able to reclaim their moving costs? Your policy should provide a step-by-step process for how your team can go about getting their money back later. A common framework for reimbursement includes:
- Pre-approval of expenses from a designated figure or department.
- Submission of itemized receipts.
- Minimum/maximum processing times.
- Reimbursement receipt.
You may also choose between different reimbursement models. For example, companies may opt for lump-sum payments over reimbursements to offer greater employee control at the expense of cost transparency. Note that providing lump sums must be done carefully, as it could inadvertently leave your employees with out-of-pocket costs; therefore, proceed with caution if using this model.
Tax Implications
U.S. tax reform in 2018 altered how relocation benefits paid by employers are taxed. Unfortunately, these benefits are now classified as taxable income, meaning your team could be left out of pocket if you mishandle this.
Companies have responded by making gross-up payments to cover the extra tax, along with tax assistance counselling to educate and guide employees on how to handle these newly taxable benefits. Include how you’ll handle these issues within your policy.
Policy Duration/Time Limits
Set expectations and draw a clear line in the sand by including a specific time limit for providing relocation benefits and how long the policy will remain active. Key dates may consist of the benefit eligibility period, expenses submission deadline, and temporary housing limits.
Home Sale Assistance
Businesses that choose to provide home ownership support must clearly define the forms of assistance they will offer. Employees who own their own homes are often stressed by relocations, presenting an ideal opportunity to support them. Two of the most common forms of assistance include:
Buyer Value Option (BVO) – Your employee takes charge of marketing and selling the home. However, the company then buys it at the buyer’s agreed-upon price to reduce taxes.
Guaranteed Buyout (GBO) – Your employee’s home goes on the market, and if it doesn’t sell at a fair market price within a set time, the employer or a relocation firm agrees to purchase the property.
Saying goodbye to a family home is an emotional time for many of your high performers. Please don’t make them think twice about relocating by providing the proper assistance needed to handle their real estate.
Other Relocation Benefits
Demand has far outstripped supply when it comes to sourcing top-rated industry talent, forcing businesses to get creative. It’s why firms are opting for more tailored forms of support during relocations. Examples include:
- School search assistance
- Pet relocation services
- Cultural training
- Area orientation tours
- Spousal career support
Detail how these aspects of your relocation package for employees will work if you’re planning to offer any non-conventional options to support your team.
Termination Clauses
Any good corporate migration policy must include clauses that protect you. If your employee leaves soon after relocating, you shouldn’t be left out of pocket. That’s why you must have contingencies in place for what to do if employees are fired or resign soon after you have paid to relocate them.
It may include a prorated repayment clause, where employees must repay a specific percentage of their repayment package if they leave the organization within a specified period. Likewise, you must have clear exceptions to termination clauses, such as if an employee is forced to leave due to health issues.
Navigating Global Mobility: A Guide to International Relocations
International relocation presents unique challenges that necessitate global mobility solutions. Whether you’re moving to a country with lower tax rates, to cut costs, or to benefit from new geographic markets, these moves require specialist intervention to navigate the additional challenges.
Alongside the usual hurdles associated with domestic relocation, global corporate relocations require policy sections to deal with:
- Visa Compliance – Visa application timelines, work authorizations, and compliance regulations.
- Cultural Integration – Reduce culture shock, ease adaptation, and gain support with learning local languages.
- Cross-Border Tax – Tax equalization, tax protection, Social Security coordination, and tax authority compliance.
- Family and Education Support – Local school enrolment, healthcare providers, and support networks for spouses/partners.
International locations raise a whole host of economic and social issues that could result in employees dropping out of the process entirely. Managing these risks through your relocation policy puts minds at ease and maximizes ROI at every turn.
Relocation as a Strategic Tool for Total Rewards Management
Total rewards programs encompass your entire compensation and benefits package, including both monetary and non-monetary rewards. They’re a massive driving force behind your business, and organizations that have them are 12 times more likely to achieve successful business outcomes.
Corporate relocation is a prime opportunity to enhance your total rewards program and support your long-term performance goals. Whether it’s for boosting employee experience or employee engagement, robust relocation packages:
- Alleviate stress
- Boost talent retention
- Invest in employee well-being
- Support career advancement opportunities
It all translates to accelerated adjustment in new locations and more productivity. Help your employees hit the ground running when they arrive because the top candidates in your industry aren’t just looking at salary. They’re looking at how they’ll be treated, and that’s why your policy is such an effective future talent acquisition tool. Adding relocation benefits to your total rewards ecosystem supports your workforce and differentiates your brand. It’s a massive green flag for your existing employees and talent you might be headhunting in the future.
We’ll help you leverage this employee experience tool within your relocation policy framework, as total rewards and relocation are a one-time opportunity to establish your company as a brand for career development.
Addressing Common Relocation Headaches: Challenges and Practical Solutions
All corporate relocation programs begin with the best of intentions, but life happens, and problems arise. Most programs lack the resiliency and flexibility needed to cope, which is how the corporate relocation process can turn into a complete mess. One of the core relocation policy best practices is adaptability. That’s why our relocation specialists at North American Van Lines are best placed to anticipate challenges and provide out-of-the-box solutions ready for deployment.
Some of the challenges you might face during your move include:
- Corporate Relocation Challenge
- How We Tackle the Problem
- Unclear/Outdated Policies
Our specialists identify the gaps in your policy and provide tailored guidance based on our experience, market trends, and recognized best practices to help update your policy.
Inconsistent Employee Relocation Support
Prevent accusations of favoritism and insufficient support by standardizing your eligibility criteria and outlining tiers that ensure fairness, so everyone knows where they stand.
Budget-Busting Expenses
Utilize our cost forecasting and modeling tools to anticipate unexpected expenses before they arise.
Employee Confusion
Avoid the risk of low satisfaction during moves by centralizing coordination. We’ll review your documentation and ensure that your corporate relocation services simplify the process, focusing on employee wellness and satisfaction.
Compliance Risks
Whether it’s a legal issue or a tax problem, our relocation experts understand the jurisdiction you’re moving to. We’ll provide tailored compliance guidance to help you avoid problems later.
Limited Resources
Not every company has the resources or wants to dedicate the resources to an in-house relocation process. Our team offers end-to-end relocation services to reduce the strain on your HR department and deliver the seamless move your employees expect.
Partner With NAVL for Seamless Corporate Relocations
Corporate relocation is complex, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right business mobility partner by your side, we simplify the process with pragmatic solutions that help your brand achieve its goals.
At North American Van Lines, we bring decades of experience to the corporate relocation industry. Our mobility team personalizes your move, ensuring it’s smooth, efficient, and cost-effective.
It all starts with a policy review, but we support you every step of the way, with ongoing support for an authentic end-to-end relocation service. Contact us today to schedule your free relocation policy review, and let’s get started.