Working abroad

[beaker]

Hi, I've got an opportunity to work in Sydney for between 1-6 months. I'm hoping to be there for 1 month initially, returning to the UK then later doing the remaining contract.

How should I go about charging for flights and accomodation? Should I? They might expect me to pay for this myself as I'm an Aussie anyway (although haven't got a place to crash in Sydney). Or should I just bump up my daily rate to cover the difference?

[oracleslave]

Is the position advertised as inclusive of expenses?

[TheFaQQer]

Bump up your rate and go home.

[beaker]

Is the position advertised as inclusive of expenses?

No, they've just given me the daily rate so far. Just wanted to understand how you guys usually approach this type of situation

[Keldin]

Have they advertised and looked outside Australia for someone? In that case they're expecting someone to have flight and accomodation costs.
Negotiate a better deal just as you would any other.
Tell them you need x rate because there's flights and accomodation to consider or ask them if they will be providing some or all of that. I've been offered accomodation before for an overseas gig.

K

[beaker]

Have they advertised and looked outside Australia for someone? In that case they're expecting someone to have flight and accomodation costs.
Negotiate a better deal just as you would any other.
Tell them you need x rate because there's flights and accomodation to consider or ask them if they will be providing some or all of that. I've been offered accomodation before for an overseas gig.

K

Thanks. It's actually a UK based company who wants someone with London experience to help open the Australian office. I assume they'd prefer to hire an Aussie with London experience to avoid any visa and cultural issues.

Just spoke to the agent and they'd like me to be there for 6 months straight, which would count me out of renewing my visa here. So I have some decisions to make then!

[Keldin]

Just spoke to the agent and they'd like me to be there for 6 months straight, which would count me out of renewing my visa here. So I have some decisions to make then!

Why would it stop you renewing your visa here? What visa are you on?

They should be expecting to pay well then since they need to offer you more money than you would make here to cover extra expenses or even if it were the same for you after expenses there's the inconvenience of being away from home (if London is home) or the hassles and expnse of moving and/or putting stuff in storage.

[beaker]

Why would it stop you renewing your visa here? What visa are you on?

They should be expecting to pay well then since they need to offer you more money than you would make here to cover extra expenses or even if it were the same for you after expenses there's the inconvenience of being away from home (if London is home) or the hassles and expnse of moving and/or putting stuff in storage.

I'm on a highly skilled (yeah right ) migrant visa - HSMP. I did some research and I've found out if I want to apply for permanent residency (after 5 years here continuously) and I am out of the UK for more than 3 months at a time then the 5 years will start again when I return. So I could do the 6 month contract and keep the years I've spent here counting toward my 5 years so long as I came back once or twice in between. I could however do this contract and renew my current visa here for another 3 years as I understand it.

Anyway thanks for the advice - if they aren't offering accomodation and travel expenses I'll need to bump up my rate to cover this.

Just on this, can I claim expenses for 6 months worth of accomodation and flights there and back?

[XLMonkey]

Normal practice for an overseas assignment would be for you to charge a daily rate plus travel AND accommodation expenses in the destination country. This is particularly the case here as there is no realistic prospect of you returning at the weekends, but you would need to retain your UK address and incur those costs as well.

In this case, I don't know what the agent/client expects, but I would advise you to start from this position and then see what their view is.

You might want to enquire what the client companies policy is for overseas secondments - normally they are willing to follow the same line as they would use for one of their own staff (which is usually to pay both travel and accommodation expenses for the duration of the secondment).

If you do decide to go for an all-inclusive daily rate, then you can claim all of the travel, and most of the accommodation expenses back without incurring a tax liability. However, you would be well advised to check the HMRC website, which has some pretty detailed guidance on overseas travel and subsistence.

[beaker]

Thanks XLMonkey. By the way are you an Excel Monkey or an Xtra Large Monkey?