Reply to: Working abroad

[Durkin32]

Also forgot to menetion i also billed for flying time to Israel ad back... it was a about 7 hours each way from Dublin ( via Heathrow) ... as it was for work purposes... and they paid up too..

[Durkin32]

Hopefully this may help..

I was contracting for an Israeli telecoms company and was asked to spend 3 months in Tel-Aviv ( late 2000 before the intifida started. Great town during peace time) ....so what i did was asked to be treated like a permanent employee for expenses purposes.. i.e. I would require per-diem / hotel and car rental as granted to a permie employee along with my rate.
Spoke to HR on the client site and they agreed... Then told this to the agent ( at least they wouldn't get a cut of any proposed increase in my rate ) and the agent passed the money on to me. I was then able to wrote off all these as expenses on my company account along with a tax break as i working out of my resident country for over 90 days continuous but still remaining a tax resident in Ireland .. so it was worth it..
The only draw-back was ( didn't think this through) that i did have to wait until after my 3 months were completed for my expenses to be reimbursed, so credit card was thoroughly burned paying my hotel bills... but that was the only solution I could think of…

[Burrow01]

Am I better off trying to negotiate accomodation and travel expenses with the agent or direct with the client? Arguably it doesn't affect the agent as there's nothing in it for them, as opposed to if I increased my rate.

If you negotiate the accom and travel with the agency they will only pass it on to the client. But your contract will be with the agency, and so they would be the correct people to agree the terms with.

Pete

[beaker]

Am I better off trying to negotiate accomodation and travel expenses with the agent or direct with the client? Arguably it doesn't affect the agent as there's nothing in it for them, as opposed to if I increased my rate.

[XLMonkey]

You might manage to get a better rate out of the agency because of high expenses (by convincing him that you wont take the job otherwise), but the client is unlikely to be moved, IME. Expenses are your problem, not his, he's "employing" a consultant to sove his problems, not to create them.

tim

If they were recruiting in Australia, I would agree. However, the OP's situation is different - the client specifically wants someone from the UK to go to Australia. Effectively, this is making the travel part of the requirement.

[tim123]

Normal practice for an overseas assignment would be for you to charge a daily rate plus travel AND accommodation expenses in the destination country.

Not in my world it's not.

The daily rate is the daily rate and your Xs come out of that. If you have high expenses you get to keep less and if you have low expenses you will get to keep more.

You might manage to get a better rate out of the agency because of high expenses (by convincing him that you wont take the job otherwise), but the client is unlikely to be moved, IME. Expenses are your problem, not his, he's "employing" a consultant to sove his problems, not to create them.

tim

[beaker]

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

[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]

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?

[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]

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]

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]

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

[TheFaQQer]

Bump up your rate and go home.

[oracleslave]

Is the position advertised as inclusive of expenses?