What a relocation policy should cover — and what silently costs you money

A relocation policy is not a benefits document. It is the list of decisions you do not want to make twice, under time pressure, with an employee already packing.

The nine line items

1. Who is eligible and at what level. Intern, senior hire, executive — different packages, written down, not negotiated per case.
2. Visa and permit costs. Government fees, legal fees, translations, apostilles, medical certificates — itemised separately, because they vary by route.
3. Tax advice and filing support. The line nobody budgets for, and the one that produces the surprise bill eight months later.
4. Temporary housing. A cap in nights and a cap in euros, plus who chooses the apartment.
5. Shipment or a cash allowance. Pick one. Both is how a policy doubles in cost without anyone noticing.
6. Family. Partner and children, school search support, and whether the partner's permit is included.
7. Failed move. What happens on a refusal: who pays for the return and what is repayable.
8. Repayment clause. If the employee leaves within N months, what is repaid and on what schedule.
9. Who owns the case. One named person inside the company, one outside. Not a shared inbox.

Where the money silently goes

• Unbounded temporary housing. Without a night cap, a slow permit becomes three months of serviced apartment.
• Duplicate vendor fees. Two providers doing overlapping work because nobody mapped who owns what.
• Restarts. A case filed with the wrong document set is refused or withdrawn, and everything is paid twice — fees, translations, legal work.

Questions to ask before signing a provider contract

1. What is the price per case, and what is explicitly outside it?
2. If the case is refused, do we pay again for the refiling?
3. Which documents do you verify, and which do you assume are correct?
4. Who is our contact, and what is the written response time?
5. Can you show the last three cases on this route with the timeline each took?

Keep it to one page

A policy nobody reads protects nobody. One page, nine items, one owner — that is the version that actually gets applied when a hire needs to move in three weeks.