Relocating an Employee Within the United States

MAKING THE DECISION TO RELOCATE

Before employees decide whether to accept a relocation offer, they’ll need to have an idea of what the new location will be like.

There are 2 ways to go about this:

• collect data
• take a trip to the new location

Collecting Data

There are many sources of information available for areas across the United States.

Here is a short list:

• Travel agencies, including AAA (American Automobile Association), can be helpful as the employee begins to gather information about their prospective new location.
• The local library or bookstore may have articles or books devoted to the new area.
• Many communities, school districts, and chambers of commerce have websites that have useful information.
• There are websites that offer useful information on everything from the local crime rate to the quality of the school system.

A Visit

The best way for a family to get a feel for a new area is to visit the area. Most companies provide the transferring family (or at least the employee and spouse) with a trip to the new location.

The trip usually pays for itself through:

• lower costs in after-arrival hotel expenses because the transferring family will already have a plan for where they want to live.
• a shorter settling-in process

Remember: The smaller the amount of time between the sale of the current home, the employee move, and the availability of new housing, the quicker the employee can concentrate on the new job.