From the very start of the home buying process until it finally comes time to move into a new house, the moving process can be one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. Between taking the time to tour potential listings and packing up all of their belongings, homebuyers may begin to feel exhausted and distracted from the other priorities in their lives.
Naturally, employee productivity and efficiency may suffer if they’re in the midst of relocating. While your employee is undergoing the moving process, it’s important to have an employee relocation policy to ensure that their duties are covered and there is no lost time. These are some strategies that employers can use to ensure a smooth employee relocation.
Relocation Policy for Employees Moving Houses
The moving process can be a long one, and if employee productivity is suffering as a result, it’s in your best interest as an employer to assist them through this process as much as possible. Luckily, there are a couple of ways that employers may be able to assist.
Employee relocation policy
There are a number of different benefits that could be included with an employee relocation package, largely depending on the financial burden that the company is willing to take. At a very minimum, employers can help their employees find available houses for sale. They can do this by providing a list of resources such as home search tools, helpful articles on the home buying process, or even recommendations on trusted realtors. Employers may also work out discounts or partially cover the costs of professional movers and packers, car rentals, or other transportation costs.
A more robust employee relocation package could cost significantly more, but is sure to make the process as easy as possible for your employees. These services may include covering part of their closing costs and realtor fees, providing temporary housing, helping spouses find work in a new city, or even paying employees a lump sum to reimburse some of their moving expenses.
Flexible work policy
An alternative to employee relocation packages is a flexible work policy, which allows employees to take proper time to move and not have to worry about missing work. Rather than sticking to a rigid hourly schedule, allowing employees to flex their time and take breaks can be extremely helpful during the house-hunting process. Sometimes all they need is an hour or two to sneak away and tour potential listings, which is made easier by flex hours instead of using up personal days.
A flexible work policy can be taken one step further by allotting a certain number of personal days specifically for relocation purposes. The main benefit is that it will help employees who need to move, but don’t have enough vacation time to use. However, it’s also beneficial because not all employees will need to use these days, so you don’t need to award them additional time off.
Managing Absences of Relocating Employees
When it comes time for employees to begin the process of moving, meaning that they likely need to take time off of work, it’s imperative that you properly manage their requests for time off. Sometimes plans can change abruptly throughout the moving process, so it’s important to schedule time off in a quick and easy fashion. Keeping both the employee and the manager on the same page is vital to ensure a smooth transition. Using leave management software that places the focus on absence management makes managing time off requests simple and effective.
There are several benefits to using a service like actiPLANS for leave management. If your company wants to implement a paid time off policy with specific designation for relocation, you can set that as one of the status types, making it easier for managers to know what type of day is being used. The calendar view also helps to make sure that the request is easy to view and that other schedules can be taken into consideration. Finally, the instant notifications make sure that time off requests are processed in a timely manner, easing the stress on behalf of both the employee and the manager.
Allocating Part-Time Work for Relocating Employees
Prior to employees taking several days off of work to actually commence in the process of moving into their new home, they may need to do some part-time work as they house hunt and begin to pack up their belongings. Rather than taking off an entire day, part-time work will allow the employee to still contribute to their organization and stay involved with work throughout the moving process. However, this time must be properly allocated and tracked.
Precise scheduling of part-time work, down to the number of hours and the scheduling of those hours, will allow managers to redistribute responsibilities to other employees properly. Using a calendar view can allow managers to improve productivity by seeing when their employees are working and planning meetings properly around these absences. The last thing you want is a lack of communication and coverage on specific tasks. Tracking this part-time work will also make things easier for payroll and human resource employees responsible for paychecks and time-off policies.
Help Employees Move Houses with Relocation Policy
A proper employee relocation policy for employee relocation helps both the employee and manager in several ways. It can ensure that the employee can make it through the moving process with less stress, while helping the manager keep up a consistent output from the entirety of their workforce. Flexibility, support, and adaptability are integral to any successful employee relocation policy.
