Increase salary if employee moves to a country where living costs are higher?
An employee becomes a remote worker by moving to another country. Living costs there are higher. Do we increase her salary to accommodate for that?
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6 comments
| 5 points
| on HN
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1. If you really value the employee, and might lose them if you don't give them a raise, then give them a raise.
2. If the move was to a certain degree out of their hands (moving with a partner, etc), this would make me more likely to give them a raise.
3. If they moved of their own accord, then after committing to the move they ask for a raise because of living costs, this would leave a sour taste in my mouth - I don't like being painted into a corner.
a) always look at your profit margin
b) if you are a big company, will you be interested to offer it to other employees as well, as you are setting a precedent
c) check for tax implications
d) if the employee is irreplaceable, consider converting the engagement to consultant
If you genuinely value the employee, and genuinely want to keep them, and the increase is not rediculous, then it's a perfectly reasonable request - especially if they only seem to be asking for the same standard of living and not gaming you for more spending cash. If you don't increase their pay - will they leave? What about paying for insurance and expenses for remote workers. Laptops, pcs, etc.
If she didn't ask for a raise, then a 3rd option might be to give a "moving expense" bonus of some sort right now, and then reevaluate a raise at a later date, or whenever the next review/raise schedule is.