short term assignment meaning

Short-Term Assignments: Key Considerations and Essential Information

By Tracy Langlois, CRP, GMS

Short-term work assignments have been steadily increasing over the years and certain factors like the pandemic have shined a light on vulnerabilities within numerous industries. For instance, the demand for travel nurses has never been higher, as certain staffing agencies need to fill voids and provide additional support at hospitals all over the US. Other companies are asking employees to train new hires at different locations or attend workshop programs and conferences out of state. Those working in media may need to spend days, weeks, or months in different locations covering news stories. HR representatives are focusing on talent mobility, which may require employees to take on short-term work assignments for specialized training and upward growth within a company.

No matter the industry or reason, employers are recognizing the value of short-term assignments, as well as the logistical steps required to smoothly transition their employees from point A to B. With that in mind, CapRelo put together an overview of short-term assignments, so your company knows what is needed to assist your employee during the hectic transition of a short-term assignment.

What is a Short-Term Assignment?

A temporary assignment is defined as a work stint lasting for one year or less. A short-term assignment can be a series of shorter rotational assignments or an assignment that requires an employee to stay in one place for the entire duration. Similar to temporary duty assignments in the military, short-term assignments are not permanent and are meant to carry out a specific purpose. Companies may send one employee or a whole team out on temporary assignments, depending on the industry and work goal.

What is the Purpose of a Short-Term Assignment?

There are plenty of different reasons why companies would send their staff out on short-term assignments. For instance, an employee may need to assist a branch that’s struggling to perform and help them to increase their sales numbers. It’s also not uncommon for staff to oversee different departments during a company merger, requiring temporary assignments to ensure company policies are being carried out consistently across the board. Perhaps limited resources have prevented staff at different locations from being properly cross-trained, necessitating the need for temporary work trips.

Whether three weeks or three months long, short-term assignments typically require companies to cover lodging, food, transportation, and other travel-related expenses with stipends.

Benefits and Challenges of Short-Term Assignments

While short-term assignments sound like a breeze, they can pose some serious challenges for both the employee and the company itself. International short-term assignments can pose tax and immigration issues if companies don’t comply with the laws and regulations in each country. Secondly, some countries have turbulent landscapes, which could potentially put staff at risk. Employees may also get stranded in the assignment country due to canceled flights or COVID-related concerns, further implicating the company when temporary assignments do not go according to plan.

On the flip side, a company can create a robust talent mobility strategy with initiatives that reward current and new hires willing to take on short-term assignments. For instance, paying employees during travel time can lead to higher retention rates. Companies can also train staff across locations to improve their skills, eliminating any consistency errors. A change of scenery might help employees to improve productivity as well, especially in locations that offer plenty of sunshine and warm weather for post-work relaxation.

Short-Term Assignment FAQs

• Are Short-Term Assignments International? Short-term assignments can be either domestic (within a country) or international (across country borders). Certain companies like Amazon, FedEx, and Apple are known for leading the way with the most corporate travel, requiring employees to rack up airline miles to fulfill their job duties.
• How Does the IRS Define Short-Term Assignments? The IRS defines short-term assignments as work in one location that can be reasonably completed in one year or less (and is). Employees typically file taxes with their home state. If a work assignment lasts for longer than a year then it is considered an indefinite assignment, prompting an employee’s tax home to change.
• What is Relocation Tax Assistance? Before 2018, any moving-related payments or reimbursements to employees were not included in their annual reportable wages. These expenses did not require withholding taxes and would have been paid by the employee and later deducted. The Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 changed the way payroll handled relocation expenses. Nowadays, employers can offer relocation tax assistance or tax gross-ups. A tax gross-up simply means that a company provides a larger payment sum to the employee to compensate for the taxes that will be withheld from their payment if that employee is relocating somewhere new.
• Do Family Members Join Employees on Short-Term Assignments? When it comes to temporary assignments, most companies do not assist families to join the employee in the new location if the assignment is expected to have a duration of six months or less. Assignments greater than six months may include company support for family accompaniment. Some companies will offer to pay for visits home after a certain amount of time has passed for employees who are not accompanied. This could be anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks after the start of the assignment but depends on the company’s unique policies.

How Can Companies Assist Employees?

Companies should have well-defined relocation policies in place before sending employees out on temporary assignments. The policy should include details on the relocation services and benefits which will be provided to employees and who will be assisting them with these services. It is important to note for international cases that proper immigration documentation is required before the start of the assignment. Letters of assignment (LOA)s should also be created for employee and company signature and should include specifics on the location and duration of the assignment and specific benefits. Companies should have a dedicated budget in place to assist with short-term assignment relocation expenditures; a comprehensive cost estimate including tax costs can be prepared in advance to ensure appropriate approvals can be obtained. A survey of HR professionals conducted in partnership with CapRelo found that 33% of participants stated their relocation policies have been updated to accommodate employees’ mental health and well-being, which is another factor that should be taken into consideration to help employees cope better with their new surroundings.

Do You Need a Relocation Program?

So, you’re ready to send your employees out on short-term assignments, but don’t know where to start? Whether you need help transferring one employee intra-country, or flying a whole team across the globe for specialized training, we can help.

At CapRelo , we provide relocation solutions for companies that need them, covering a host of services including cost estimate preparation, corporate housing, auto shipment, property management, travel services, immigration coordination, and much more.

Our team specializes in seamless transfer operations and sorts out all of the logistical steps before your employee’s short-term assignment so you can have peace of mind knowing that they are in the best of hands. Allow us to take one more thing off your plate and contact our highly qualified team at CapRelo today to get started.

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Taking Another Look at Short Term Assignments and Talent Mobility

Corporate Relocation , Domestic Relocation , Employee Relocation , Talent Mobility

The Covid pandemic has spurred companies and employees to reassess work models and locations, and to consider more flexible, cost-effective ways to achieve business objectives. While not new, short-term assignments can be an effective workaround to current obstacles to employee relocation —from reluctance to relocate to a frenzied real estate market and global restrictions.

Short-term assignments are a “lite” form of talent mobility, enabling businesses to achieve specific, finite project objectives with less expense and disruption. International short term assignments have a longer history, arising as a relatively inexpensive alternative to global relocation . Domestic short-term assignments became more popular over the past 15 years, as the U.S. recovered from the Great Recession.

Objective of Short-Term Assignments

Companies originally devised short-term assignments as a developmental opportunity for high potential, junior-level employees. The employee had the opportunity to meet and work with employees in a different company location, master new skills and hone leadership abilities. This opportunity can increase the employee’s job satisfaction and loyalty and help the company to retain a promising employee. Employees who shine in STAs can be candidates for promotion and future STAs or possibly a traditional global assignment.

Short-term assignments also can be an effective way for more experienced employees to share their expertise with other parts of the organization. A company might deploy a manager to oversee the opening of a new company location, lead a merger or acquisition or bring specific IT or other technical expertise to another company location. In these examples, permanent relocation might not be necessary, but a brief business trip wouldn’t be enough.

Tax Implications of Short Term Assignment Jobs

The IRS treats short-term assignments more like business travel than relocation expenses . Relocation expenses are employee benefits and must be reported on the relocating employee’s W-2 for the year. Most companies gross many of these expenses up to cover the tax obligation, creating another expense for the company.

The IRS definition of a short-term assignment is very precise: the company must expect it to last for less than one year and it must actually last for less than one year. In this case, the IRS considers travel, lodging and certain other expenses to be business expenses that are deductible for the employer and not W-2 benefits to the employee.

Assignments can change in scope or length once underway, and this can influence the tax treatment. The minute an employer determines the assignment is going to extend longer than a year, the reimbursed expenses from that point forward become a taxable benefit to the employee. This applies whether the company reimburses the employee directly or pays expenses on his/her behalf.

So short-term assignments can last longer than a year (this is particularly common with rotational assignments), but the company will sacrifice some of the cost-savings of shorter-length assignments. The scope of work will be one consideration in deciding whether a short-term assignment or relocation makes better business sense.

Learn More About Short Term Assignments

Within the mobility arena, short-term developmental assignments are gaining traction with companies looking to support business growth and employee development while controlling costs. This creative strategy allows businesses to deploy talent where needed without making the financial commitment inherent in a permanent domestic relocation or a long-term international assignment, but not without careful consideration. Download the Short Term Assignments White Paper

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July 18, 2022

Short-term Assignments Can Give High-Potential Employees a Reason to Stay

Counter the “great resignation” by offering short-term assignments to your high-potential employees and build engagement.

Short-term assignments, whether in the same country or abroad, have been a major trend in relocation over the last few years and we believe this trend will continue in the years to come. Short-term assignments, which are typically less than 12 months, can be a way to attract and retain talent by offering interesting challenges as the employee gains new skills, experiences, and builds a network of colleagues.

While there are clear benefits to utilizing this policy type – especially instead of a long-term assignment that can be quite costly – corporations must maintain compliance with respect to payroll, taxation, and immigration if the assignment is overseas.

In the U.S., a short-term assignment must have a clear start and end date and must be less than 12 months to claim some expenses tax-free for the employer, and in many cases, international short-term assignments can avoid host country taxes if there is a totalization agreement between the home and host country and the employee spends less than 183 days there.

Whether it’s for finite projects, developmental job positions, new business or branch openings, there are many reasons and benefits for sending an employee on a short-term assignment. Instead of tradeoffs, we often see synergy across different priorities, such as when productivity is maintained, headcount is not increased, and high-potential employees are given an opportunity to build leadership qualities.

Benefits of Short-Term Assignments

A short-term assignment costs less than permanently relocating an employee Short-term assignments can be more cost-effective than a long-term assignment (typically 1 to 3 years) or permanently relocating the employee. In fact, it allows company initiatives to proceed without the costs of selling a house and asking members of an assignee’s family to relocate with them.

A short-term move is less stressful on employees than a permanent move Unlike long-term assignments or permanent relocation, employees do not typically move with their families during a short-term assignment. Whereas this eliminates some added challenges that could arise from searching for adequate housing, enrolling children in a new school, or a spouse looking for employment, we recognize that living apart from family can be stressful and therefore recommend regular home leave to ensure a successful assignment.

Short-term assignments are great opportunities for employees to grow Short-term assignments can give your staff opportunities to learn additional skills and gain new perspectives, helping to create a more diverse and inclusive organization. Knowledge sharing upon their return to the origin location is a bonus to going on short-term assignment, benefiting the employee, colleagues, and the company.

Most short-term assignments range between 3 and 12 months; assignments that are shorter tend to be considered Extended Business Travel with some different considerations to keep in mind. There are employers that allow accompanying family members on an assignment that is less than 1 year; other organizations consider any assignment under 2 years as short-term.

Setting up your Employee for a Successful Short-Term Assignment

While the needs of employees will vary, it’s important for companies to have a standard program that allows some flexibility. Setting clear expectations and communicating those to the employee helps achieve success.

Here’s our key advice for employers to consider when creating a short-term assignment policy.

Help employees find short-term housing Short-term rental agreements with corporate housing specialty companies are often the best option because they are fully furnished and typically offer a variety of amenities to help renters feel at home.

Some of these organizations own properties while others source properties and fill with furniture, and if your organization frequently sends people to the same location, they can set up rotational agreements whereby the accommodations are maintained for your organization and employees can rotate in and out as necessary. This can eliminate the hassle of searching for new housing each time an employee is relocated for a short time. Alternative housing options can include extended-stay hotels or vacation-type rentals such as Airbnb.

Cover all host-location expenses A short-term assignee retains their home property while on assignment, therefore, the employer assumes responsibility for most expenses, including but not limited to housing, utilities, parking fees, as well as travel expenses in the host location and for home leave visits.

In addition, most employers will provide an allowance to offset the cost of meals and incidentals, sometimes in the form of a cost of living adjustment (COLA) or per diem.* This decision is typically based on the expected duration of the assignment.

Provide benefits that will help employees adjust Family separation during a short-term assignment is one of the most common challenges for employees, making the power of continued connection critical. Therefore, taking home leave on a regularly scheduled basis throughout the duration of the assignment promotes closeness, and many companies allow family members to visit the host location in lieu of the employee travelling home. We also suggest offering self-directed online cross-cultural training if the assignment is overseas.

Offer resources to help employees acclimate Whether the assignment is in-country or abroad, Sterling Lexicon recommends providing at least a ½ day orientation tour to ensure your valued employee feels comfortable in the host location.

Employees will appreciate knowing how to navigate in the host location, knowing the location of medical facilities, and knowing how to go about their daily life in a different environment helps people adapt more quickly.

Choose the right relocation management company (RMC) for your relocation and assignment needs Whether relocating permanently or going on a short-term assignment, the right counseling can help mitigate worry while providing an exceptional employee experience. The right RMC can help develop equitable policies and should have an extensive supplier network to identify appropriate corporate housing within budgetary requirements, Destination Services Providers to manage an orientation to the host location, and online tools to support their stay. Additionally, an RMC like Sterling Lexicon can manage the entire expense process from start to assignment completion.

*There are distinct differences between a per diem and COLA, and are usually applied to different global mobility policy types:

Per Diem: a per day payment structure that is designed specifically for employees on assignment lasting from 1 month to 1 year. A per diem is intended to provide a fixed daily living allowance that is equitable to all assignees in the same host location, regardless of salary level or home country.

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA): a payment structure that is designed to protect assignees from the increased costs of goods and services at the host location by supplementing their salaries. The calculation also takes into account the longer-term nature of living and working in a host location while reflecting the expatriate’s spending patterns. Data providers offer multiple index options and the ability to customize according to company policies.

Leah Johnson

Leah Johnson is Sterling Lexicon’s Director, Client Solutions, and has worked in the global mobility industry for more than 20 years. She has held management positions in business development, operations, account management, and consulting, and had the opportunity to live and work in Tokyo and Hong Kong for six years. She initiated destination services in Hong Kong for a relocation management company and directed global mobility for Goldman Sachs in the APAC region. She graduated from Colgate University, earned an MBA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and maintains a Senior Certified Professional (SCP) certification from SHRM.

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International Short-Term Assignments

International short-term assignments are a useful global mobility tool, that provide companies with a resource to support critical strategic needs while mitigating mobility program costs. Short-term assignments may also be used in a developmental capacity providing high potential employees an opportunity to grow in their career. Short-term assignments commonly range from 3 to 12 months in duration.

One of the biggest challenges of global mobility is compliance with applicable immigration, tax, employment, and permanent establishment laws. Laws that change quickly and vary from country to country can take companies by surprise. A carefully crafted short-term assignment program and comprehensive policy can help avoid potential hazards. Having a consistent program with clearly defined parameters will allow the focus to remain on compliance.

Program Development

As with all mobility programs, short-term assignments can be structured as a single policy applicable to all, tiered based on factors such as business need or job level, or as a structured core/flex program. When developing a short-term assignment program, whether for the first time or revising an existing policy, these initial steps are recommended:

• Consider the overall company culture, mobility philosophy, business objectives of the international short-term assignment program, and common assignment objectives.
• Identify employee job levels and demographics.
• Reflect on the importance of the employee experience as well as how the assignment policy can support DEI initiatives.
• Determine the most common assignment durations and locations, if possible, to estimate the anticipated cost of the benefits under consideration.

These initial steps will, in turn, help the company determine the desired parameters of the program. A common example of how a company’s overall company culture influences mobility policy can be seen in eligibility of family members under a short-term assignment. Some companies may decide that short-term assignees may not be accompanied by families and reflect that in policy eligibility language. Some companies will not support families going on the assignment, but do not expressly reject families from accompanying at their own expense. While others with a more family focused culture will allow accompaniment and provide some supporting benefits.

Assignment duration is also a key factor in short-term assignment program design. These assignments can have varying ranges from as short as 30 days or up to 18 months. They are most commonly defined as longer than 90 days or up to one year. However, knowing company intentions regarding durations helps in determining parameters and components. For example, if assignments are typically shorter in duration, the policy may not include parameters for home leave. If the assignments are typically the full year, the company may decide to include a home leave. If there is a possibility that the assignment may extend beyond 1 year, the company should be prepared to address whether benefits change or the employee transitions to another type of mobility policy. If short-term assignments are a new phenomenon and assignment durations are unknown at the time of program development, it will be important to revisit the policy as the assignment program matures.

A brief description of the components commonly found in international short-term assignment programs follows. It is important to note that note every component has to be included in order to have a successful program, and regional variances/culture may also dictate which components are included. There may also be variations on the inclusions and descriptions below as these descriptions are based on an unaccompanied employee. 

International Short Term Assignment Program Components

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Make the Most of a Short-Term Assignment

Short-term assignments, transfers, or rotation programs can have big advantages: You’re exposed to new geographies, functions, cultures, and people. But these temporary positions often come with little or no training, so it’s your responsibility to get up to speed fast. Here are three ways to make sure you’re getting the most from a short-term assignment: […]

Short-term assignments, transfers, or rotation programs can have big advantages: You’re exposed to new geographies, functions, cultures, and people. But these temporary positions often come with little or no training, so it’s your responsibility to get up to speed fast. Here are three ways to make sure you’re getting the most from a short-term assignment:

Source: Adapted from “Maximize Your Learning in Short-Term Assignments,” by John Coleman

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Short-term assignments 2022 report: 10 takeaways

Short-term assignments (STAs) continue to be a popular option for global mobility and are quickly evolving into an ED&I Mobility vehicle. These opportunities have the potential to allow more diverse employee populations to gain experiences that will enhance career paths and diversify an organization’s leadership pipeline. This makes it more important than ever to ensure STA policy lines up with typical practices.

• 68% of policies are from EMEA-based companies. This predominance reflects the use of STAs globa­lly. Given the geography of the EMEA region (vs North America), STAs are a realistic option for many reasons that companies transfer employees (e.g., skill development, filling a position gap, etc.).
• Half of the policies specify that STAs are unaccompanied, typically attributed to the limited assignment duration, which most commonly ranges from three (62%) – twelve (83%) months.
• Immigration assistance (addressed in 89% of STA and LTA policies).
• Travel to the host location (87% of STA policies vs 92% of LTA policies).
• Cultural training (61% STA vs 67% LTA).
• Language training (61% STA vs 78% LTA). Just as in LTA policy, the use of cultural and language training typically requires approval.
• 90% of policies address health insurance for short-term assignees. It is becoming common to provide an international program for short-term assignees, as stated in 41% of policies (55% use this approach for LTAs).
• 34% of STA policies address settling-in assistance, compared to 46% of LTA policies. Assistance typically focuses on single assignees who are in country for a limited duration that might require: assistance with establishing a bank account, locating shopping facilities, public transportation, local services, religious institutions, and social opportunities.
• Home leave is addressed in 84% of STA policies (vs 90% of LTA policies). The major difference is the timing of the trips. For STAs, the most common frequency is one trip every three months (33%). Though many policies vary frequency based on assignment circumstances such as duration, accompaniment status, or distance between the home and host country.

• STA policy rarely includes the shipment of household goods; rather, most (52%) assist with an air shipment of personal effects or excess baggage charges only (30%).
• Few (23%) provide a pre-move trip. P­­rimarily because most (72%) provide furnished accommodations rather than have the employee find their own housing.
• Fewer (47%) provide temporary living for STAs than the 98% that address it in LTA policies.
• It is not as common to provide a hardship allowance for STAs (32%) as it is for LTAs (53%).
• Use of a relocation allowance is not as common for STAs as it is for LTAs: 47% vs. 84%, respectively.
• Most companies (63%) retain employees on their home country compensation and provide a per diem or reimbursement for daily living expenses while on an STA.

The lower cost profile of short-term assignments – due to single status, shorter duration, simpler support – continues to contribute to the popularity of this move type. For companies reviewing their STA policies, it can be very beneficial to see what the typical practices are and how they differ from their LTA counterparts.

Five common myths about short-term assignments

Myth #1: an sta is pretty much the same as an lta – just shorter..

Fact: The differences between these two assignment types are notable and significant. Long-term assignments are typically investments in the future. Their considerable use of resources (people and money) makes them worthwhile for business-building initiatives such as leadership training, market expansion, management roles where local candidates are not available and new product development. These are all goals that require a long term to complete. Short-term assignments are better suited to initiatives that can be completed in under a year. Global exposure, filling a job gap, short-term projects and skill building are examples of realistic STA assignment objectives.

Myth #2: Employees on short-term assignments need less support than those on long-term assignments.

Fact: Replace “less” with “some of the same but also different” and you would be correct! For example, short-term assignees need assistance with some of the same things as long-term assignees (immigration and tax compliance, travel, arranging housing, becoming familiar with the assignment location, etc.). But they also need different things, given that most short-term assignees remain on home-country compensation and retain many home-country expenses. For example, they need a per diem to cover daily living costs in the host location. Since many STAs are single-status, employees may have left immediate family in the home location. Therefore, trips home are a greater need for STAs than they are for LTAs.

Myth #3: It sounds like an STA is really just a glorified business trip.

Fact: Aside from the primary distinction that a business trip is typically no more than a month and an STA is typically 3-12 months, the business objectives are different, too. This is a key issue.

Myth #4: Short-term assignees don’t need the same cultural or language training as long-term assignees.

Fact: The fact that short-term assignees need to quickly get up and running, live in the local area and succeed in the business environment often dictates that they require the same or similar training as long-term assignees. Of course, there are times when a short-term assignee is needed for work that is primarily solitary and does not require local language skills. In this case, more condensed training may be sufficient.

Myth #5: We should be more concerned about the challenges of long-term vs. short-term assignments, given their bigger goals, longer time in the host country and greater cost to the company.  

Fact: STAs may impact a more diverse pool of employees than LTAs do. Companies may not recognize the challenges different demographics may encounter on STAs as they do for LTAs. For example, an employee may turn down an LTA because a same-sex partner cannot accompany but that employee may undertake an STA single-status. However, that employee still needs to be successful in the local environment. Similar ED&I considerations may be necessary for many populations (women, younger employees, older employees, etc.). It is important to address the same factors for these employees on STAs as one would if they were embarking on an LTA.

To benchmark your STA policy and discover more emerging trends, download our 2022 expert report here .  

If you have any questions regarding this article or would like to find out more about other services, please contact Lisa Johnson (Global Practice Leader, Consulting Services) at [email protected] .

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This article was updated on September 3, 2018.

Short-term work assignments — typically less than a year — offer a wide array of benefits for both businesses and employees. It's no wonder such assignments have been increasing. According to Mercer , "Companies are using a more varied range of assignments in order to respond to evolving business needs and changing patterns in the global workforce." These short-term work assignments allow businesses to mobilize skills and grow their organization while developing employees at the same time.

Here, we'll examine some of the benefits and risks.

• The organization fills a skills gap by relocating an employee where their capabilities are needed. Also, the employee can train others and help close the skills gap.
• The organization increases productivity and avoids adding to its headcount by not having to hire from the outside.
• The reassigned employee gains invaluable experience. They expand their network and learn how the business operates in a different place. Even more, the challenges of adapting to a new location will draw out leadership qualities. In fact, many businesses explicitly use short-term assignments as a development tool for employees with high leadership potential.
• The employee's morale increases after being recognized for their expertise.
• The organization attracts candidates who are adventurous and eager for a challenge.
• The employee has to adapt to a new city, state or country. They also have to adapt to a new team and space, which will take patience and emotional intelligence. It's here HR can help by supporting integration.
• The employee may be left with unclear goals. This can be avoided by laying out organizational and individual goals in advance. HR and the employee can discuss how to track these along the way.
• The organization must deal with any compliance complexities that come up. However, HR simply needs to integrate the employee into its labor-related compliance system. While reassignments will likely increase compliance risks, having the right systems in place to accommodate reassigned employees will best manage and mitigate those risks.

Clear communication between HR and reassigned employees will be a critical success factor. HR systems must be in place that support the needs of short-term assignments, in terms of tracking employee performance, facilitating a smooth transition and ensuring compliance needs are met no matter where the assignment occurs.

Having a powerful technology platform in place to accommodate employee reassignments, such as time and labor management (TLM) systems as well as other vital HCM systems, will serve as a firm foundation upon which you can build success for any reassignment.

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Pros and Cons of International Expat Assignment 

Are you trying to work out if a short-term international assignment is for you you may be considering applying for an opportunity or you may have an offer of an overseas role on the table, either way there’s a lot to think about. making the decision to work overseas, even in the short-term, has the potential to have long-term repercussions for your life and career., what is a short-term international assignment [sia].

A short-term international assignment is the deployment of an employee overseas to complete a task usually within a period of three months to a year.

Short-term international assignments became popular early in the millennium as a means of addressing recruitment gaps, talent shortages and focusing on strategic global projects. Their popularity grew during the financial crises as a less expensive form of global mobility.

In the post-Covid world, SIAs are a means of offering increased flexibility to employees who want to gain some international experience without committing to the traditional three to five years overseas.

Like every decision in life, there are positives and potentially some challenges when it comes to moving abroad for work.

What are the pros of a short-term  international assignment?

Opportunity to work overseas, increased experience of global marketplace, leadership potential, improved network.

Working overseas will enable you to broaden your network. While completing a short-term expat assignment you are likely to work with:

·         Global mobility team

·         Human Resources/People Department

·         Senior Management

·         Colleagues at all levels in your new office

·         A new range of stakeholders

·         Customers in a different market

Opportunity to travel 

Opportunity to learn a new language.

Depending on where your short-term assignment is based it may provide an opportunity to learn a new language. You do not necessarily need to be fluent in a language for it to have positive benefits for your career.

Attempting to speak another language allows you to engage with colleagues in your short-term home in a more meaningful and immediate way. It has also been shown to have cognitive benefits too. People who speak more than one language have improved:

·         Critical thinking skills

·         Problem solving skills   

·         Memory

Spouse can retain their career

Children can stay in their current school, what are the cons of a short-term international assignment.

Of course, any kind of change has potential negative side effects to be aware of too. What these are will depend on your circumstances, but some potential downsides may include:

1. Potential for interrupted career progression

Moving overseas may mean you are ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Depending on your company, not being around every day and difference in time zones may mean the good work you are doing is not as visible to centralised management. This isn’t always a difficulty, but it might be something to be aware of depending on your business. 

2. Pressure to deliver 

As a short-term assignee, you are likely to be under pressure to hit the ground running and achieve a lot in a short period of time. You are unlikely to have the luxury of spending the first few months settling in. There may be pressure on you to make changes quickly before you have had a chance to build relationships or get colleagues at a local level on board.

3. Culture shock

The risk of culture shock is even higher with short-term assignees because you may not have the same time to adjust as your long-term counterparts. Comprehensive pre-departure training is important, so you have as much information as possible about life in your temporary home. 

4. Expat loneliness

If you decide leaving family in your home country is the best option then there is a chance you may suffer from expat loneliness while you are away. Building new and maintaining existing relationships while overseas is really important. If you feel lonely , check whether your international health insurance has an expat assistance programme that provides you with access to a trained professional for assistance. 

5. Maintaining relationships at home

Your relationships with friends and family at home are important. Leaving may prove difficult but technology makes it easier than ever to stay in touch. 

6. Relationship issues

If you decide to take the assignment, your partner may have to remain at home for work or family commitments. This can impact your relationship . While you struggle with a new role in a new country, they are left carrying the emotional load at home and often completing all the tasks you used to help with. 

7. Repatriation

Do not underestimate the challenge of returning home once your assignment is complete . Particularly if you settled well and enjoyed the work. Changes may have happened in your home office that mean:

• You are not returning to the same role you left

• Goals and objectives may have changed since

• You may have to readjust your ways of working once again 

Agreeing to an international assignment is a big decision for a range of professional and personal reasons. We hope this will help you to work out what yours are so you can make the right decision for your circumstances. 

If you do decide to accept an assignment, don’t forget you will need international health insurance to access private healthcare should you need it while you are away.

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Types of Global Mobility Assignment (A Guide!)

Anne morris.

• 19 September 2019

IN THIS SECTION

To achieve the flexibility and agility required to respond to changing business demands while operating within a cost-effective and compliant infrastructure, organisations should explore different types of global mobility assignments.

With a varied global mobility portfolio, organisations can optimise the return and value of its mobility activity by ensuring the most appropriate and cost-effective type of assignment is utilised for any given need, such as duration of assignment (short term, long term, permanent?), location (developed or emerging nation?) and overall strategic aim of the assignment (overseas expansion, talent development?).

Types of Global Mobility: Business travel

Business travel involves short-term trips, typically enabling individual employees to carry out specific business-related activities, such as attending conferences and meetings, negotiating contracts and networking, in a different country for a brief period.

Compared with other mobility types, business trips may be less costly and less administratively onerous where employees travel without a work permit. However, for many organisations, the volume of business travel is such that as a whole, it acts as the biggest drain on mobility budgets.

Since business travel tends to occur without triggering any organisational global mobility procedure or support, it can be challenging for organisations to have an accurate understanding of the total financial outlay. This is further complicated by expenses, with reimbursement processes for globally mobile employees creating an additional lawyer of cost and budget management.

Business travel also presents a range of immigration and tax compliance risks for both the employer and employee.

Local immigration laws constantly change and current trends in global immigration policy are seeing a move towards more stringent monitoring and management of business travellers. Where employees travel without first checking against local immigration rules, any reliance on a visa not specifically designed for business purposes, or travelling without express, prior work permission for the intended activity, could see the employee detained at the border at the discretion of the immigration officials.

Employees who travel extensively on business could also become ‘accidental expats’ by involuntarily or unknowingly triggering legal or tax rules that re-classify them as resident in the host country.

In response, employers are advised to support their travelling employees through ongoing training and explore technology solutions to improve data collection and storage in relation to monitoring business travellers’ movements and managing the associated compliance with immigration and tax regulations.

Types of Global Mobility: Short-term assignments

Short-term overseas assignments can be a flexible approach to developing talent within your organisation, by offering key employees highly valuable international exposure and experience, with potential career progression into managerial, executive and leadership roles on their return.

Short-term assignments can also enable employees to gain first-hand insight and industry knowledge to bring back and use to improve performance and operations in their home workplace.

There are however various inherent risks of short-term assignments, including seeking the relevant immigration approvals, which can become onerous and costly given the short-term nature of the assignment.

You will also need to ensure that the employee is aware of the relevant legal and cultural differences to enable them to maximise their time on assignment, and avoid any adverse impact on the success of the assignment or falling foul of the law.

Types of Global Mobility: Long-term assignments

Long-term overseas assignments can support longer-term business growth objectives either by establishing a foothold in a new regional market or driving growth efficiency programmes through existing operations.

Deploying existing employees can also be a more effective alternative to recruiting overseas in achieving the commercial objective, where knowledge of the organisation is critical and timescales are challenging.

One of the main challenges in long-term assignments however is controlling costs and ensuring their commercial viability.

In particular, you will need to factor in relocation costs for both the employee and their family, operational costs of providing ongoing support for supporting the assignee and ensuring the compensation package is at a level, which offers an attractive financial incentive that will motivate the employee. When assessing the value and return on investment of a long-term overseas assignment, you will also need to consider the cost of repatriation at the end of the assignment.

Failure to sufficiently invest in the assignment, either from the outset or throughout the lifecycle, especially any failure to offer sufficient personal support for a long-term assignee during their time abroad, can result in expatriate failure , early repatriation and employee attrition.

As an employer you have a moral responsibility and a duty of care, not to mention a vested financial interest, not only to ensure the personal safety of an employee but also their overall wellbeing and happiness.

Indeed, ensuring that you maintain a supportive, open and communicative working relationship throughout a long-term assignment can mean the difference between retaining the services of an employee either during or at the end of the assignment, and losing their global talent to a competitor.

Types of Global Mobility: Permanent relocations

For employers, permanent relocation is increasingly being seen as a cost and resource-intensive option, which may be too rigid and long term for the organisation’s requirement.

Administering the move and preparing the employee and their family for relocation is a financial commitment from initial orientation, destination and arrival services onwards.

Pre-travel training for the employee and their family will also be essential, for example, to overcome any language or cultural barriers.

It does however provide a more secure alternative to hiring someone local who cannot offer the organisational insight and knowledge necessary to drive forward a specific business aim, such as a regional reorganisation programme or expansion strategy.

Importantly, local visa rules may restrict and determine the availability of a permanent relocation as an option for global mobility. This means this type of global mobility is generally not suited to anything other than to fill skills gaps and to manage operations. If you are looking, for example, to transfer expertise or develop new talent within your company or organisation, either short-term or long-term assignments or even frequent business travel, are likely to be viable options from an immigration perspective.

Managing a global mobility portfolio

Global mobility can offer many advantages but also carries risks , depending on the type of global mobility assignment involved.

Importantly, travel and work rights between the EU and the UK are likely to be overhauled following Brexit, and organisations will need to quickly adapt to maintain a legally compliant global mobility programme involving employee movement into, out of and through Europe.

When assessing the benefits and risks of the different types of global mobility, there are various ways that you can help to maximise the potential success of an overseas assignment. In particular, by planning ahead, giving assignees sufficient support, training and time to prepare for their trip, both practically and mentally, will be critical factors in the overall programme outcome .

More and more, employers are segmenting their expatriation policy, not just by assignment duration (long-term versus short-term) but also by expatriate assignment purpose (strategic assignment versus developmental moves or moves requested by the employees themselves) to achieve better alignment between the mobility programs and the business/talent needs of the organisation.

Policy segmentation is a way to address the limitations of the one-size-fits-all types of policies, reconcile the cost control versus international expansion dilemma in a context of budget constraint by shifting budget from less essential moves to assignment that are critical to the business, present options to management to understand the cost and business implications of sending expatriates, manage effectively exceptions into well-defined framework and process as opposed to one-to-one ad-hoc deals and reconcile talent management and reward.

Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.

She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.

Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator , and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals

• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ UK Visa Supporting Documents Checklist 2024
• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ Overcoming a UK Visa Refusal: Tips & Steps
• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ MAC Publishes Report into UK Graduate Route
• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ UK Visa Guide: Requirements & Process 2024

About DavidsonMorris

As employer solutions lawyers, DavidsonMorris offers a complete and cost-effective capability to meet employers’ needs across UK immigration and employment law, HR and global mobility .

Led by Anne Morris, one of the UK’s preeminent immigration lawyers, and with rankings in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners , we’re a multi-disciplinary team helping organisations to meet their people objectives, while reducing legal risk and nurturing workforce relations.

Legal Disclaimer

The matters contained in this article are intended to be for general information purposes only. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law, and should not be treated as such. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct at the time of writing, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.

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Mobility Basics: Common international assignment allowances

When calculating remuneration packages for globally mobile employees, many companies include additional allowances in recognition of the assignment that the employee is about to undertake.

The assignment allowances that companies most commonly provide are mobility allowances and location allowances. They are usually calculated as a percentage of home gross salary but paid net.

Location allowances , sometimes called hardship allowances, are paid in recognition of the challenges assignees and their families face when adapting to a new environment. Allowances vary by location in line with the degree of adaptation that is required for a move, and typically reach up to 30%.

It is worth noting that COLA is not considered an assignment allowance. The term COLA stands for ‘Cost of Living Adjustment’ and accounts for the difference in living costs between the assignee’s home and host locations. The purpose of COLA is to maintain assignees’ home country purchasing power while on assignment in the host country, and the amount can be positive or negative – it is a differential rather than an allowance.

Why do companies pay assignment allowances?

Companies have different reasons for paying assignment allowances. The intention may be to compensate assignees, to incentivise them, or to contribute towards monetary costs.

Compensation

Just over 60% of companies who pay location allowances do so as a means of compensating assignees for the difficulties they may face when adjusting to life in the host location. This is certainly the purpose for which ECA’s Location Ratings system is designed. In contrast, only 30% of companies who pay a mobility allowance do so with a view to compensating assignees and their families for the general impact of uprooting and relocating overseas. 

54% of companies view their mobility allowances as a means of motivating employees to accept assignments. Providing a financial incentive can be an essential recruitment tool: more than half the participants in ECA’s Managing Mobility Survey cited “compensation considered insufficient” as a concern for potential assignees, leading to difficulties with recruitment. 

On the other hand, location allowances are not specifically designed to act as an incentive for employees to accept assignments in less desirable locations, but about a third of companies do use them this way. 

Covering costs

Only 11% of companies intend mobility allowances to cover the assignees’ miscellaneous expenditure associated with relocating. Presumably this is because most companies provide a dedicated one-off relocation allowance or ‘settling-in’ allowance to assignees at the start of their assignment for this very purpose. Even fewer companies (just 3%) provide location allowances to cover expenditure on practical measures taken to improve life in the host location, e.g. the purchase of air purifiers. Location allowances are in no way designed to reflect the monetary costs of such measures, so it is more appropriate for companies to pay for these separately.

Essentially, the different motivations for providing assignment allowances come to the same thing. Companies pay these allowances to ensure that the package being offered is attractive enough to promote mobility and overcome a candidate’s concerns about temporarily relocating abroad.

When are assignment allowances provided?

When applying the home-based approach.

Mobility allowances are paid to assignees by around two-thirds of companies applying the home-based approach . Location allowance systems are even more prevalent; some 78% of these companies have such a system in place. 

This is not surprising, given that one of the main reasons companies apply the home-based approach is to ensure that the assignee does not suffer financially regardless of which location they are assigned to. In the absence of a financial incentive such as a mobility allowance, employees may not be eager to relocate. Similarly, if location allowances are not provided, assignees may avoid locations that are perceived to be challenging to adapt to.

When applying the host-based approach

Paying mobility and location allowances as part of a host-based salary system may initially seem counter-intuitive, as a common reason to use this approach is to ensure equity of pay between assignees and their host-country peers (who would not receive such payments). Yet location allowances are provided by 43% of companies applying the host-based approach and mobility allowances by just over a third. 

Companies can have different motivations behind applying the host-based approach, however. Topping up a local salary with allowances may be justifiable when the main aim is to promote equity between assignees from different countries working in the same location, or to encourage mobility from high-salary to low-salary countries. 

For short-term assignments

Many companies perceive that ‘hardship’, or difficulty adapting to conditions in a particular host location, has an impact regardless of the length of the assignment. It is therefore not uncommon for location allowances to be paid to short-term assignees – nearly 50% of companies do so. 

However, relocating on a short-term basis is generally seen to bring less disruption to the assignee and their family than a long-term assignment, particularly as home accommodation arrangements are usually unaffected and dependants are rarely uprooted. Therefore, only a quarter of companies always pay short-term assignees a mobility allowance. 

Assignment allowances are used to incentivise mobility and compensate assignees for the costs and challenges of relocating. Mobility allowances are usually intended as an incentive to relocate, whereas location allowances are designed as compensation for the difficulties an employee may experience when trying to adapt to a new location. Both these allowances are typical elements of the home-based approach, but also feature (less commonly) in other remuneration approaches. 

ECA’s Location Ratings ensure your assignees are appropriately compensated for the differences in adjusting to life in a new country using an objective scoring system that creates equity across your mobile population. Our Location Allowance Calculator provides detailed point-to-point breakdowns of the scoring and a downloadable matrix of allowances for 480 locations.

Many statistics in this report come from our Expatriate Salary Management Survey , which examines trends and best practice in international assignment pay and policy. The next survey opens in April – take part to get a free copy of the results!

Our experienced consultants can provide expert advice about different remuneration models , enabling you to choose the model that best fits your mobility strategy and assignee population. For more information, please get in touch!

The Mercer Mobility Exchange website and its divisional websites may be translated for your convenience using translation software powered by Google Translate, a free online language translation service that can translate text and web pages into different languages. Reasonable efforts have been made to verify the reliability of the translation service, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace human translators. Mercer does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Some pages may not be accurately translated due to the limitations of the translation software. Text in images, PDF files, Word documents or other document types cannot be translated. The official text is the English version of the website. Any discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or enforcement purposes. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of the information contained in the translated website, please refer to the English version of the website which is the official version

Short-term assignments

Short-term international assignments usually last between 3 and 12 months, and allow companies to transfer skills, knowledge and resources quickly and cost effectively, providing a quick response to business needs.

However, living costs for short-term assignees are different from other categories of mobile workers. Mercer’s technology and data solutions can help you handle the related issues with efficiency and ease.

Short Term Travel Cost Report

Forecast the cost of short-term assignments, commuter assignments or extended business travels with ease and accuracy. The report accounts for the costs of airfares, accommodation, car rental as well as per diem allowances, providing data in up to 3 currencies.

Per Diem Allowance Calculator 2.0

Determine fair and cost-efficient per diem rates suitable for short-term assignees and business travelers.

Alternative International Assignments (AIA) Survey

Benchmark your policies with our latest data gathered from 200+ multinational organizations worldwide. The survey explores the use of international assignments other than long-term expatriate assignments: short-term assignments , permanent moves /  one-way transfers , and commuter assignments .

Contact your consultant or  use our form  to discuss available options and order data.

Assignment segmentation As managing a globally mobile workforce grows more complicated, assignment policy segmentation offers more flexibility and a broader range of solutions.

Business travel allowances Looking for daily allowances for business travellers?

More tech solutions See what other tools Mercer offers that streamline the work of building assignment compensation packages.

Get the latest global mobility news, event invitations, and articles from Mercer. sign up now

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Pros and Cons of Different Assignment Structures for Mobility Programs

As companies adjust to the new reality of work and reassess their mobility programs, there is an opportunity for them to examine the costs associated with running their mobility programs and explore innovative solutions. We are witnessing a renewed interest in mobility as companies seek to adopt the best structure for their business and employees. While non-traditional forms such as remote and hybrid work are becoming more prevalent, there is also renewed interest in both short and long-term assignments. 

This innovation has already been reflected in the evolution of new mobility policies supporting employees working from outside of their usual office locations, including “ Work from Anywhere ” or “Virtual Assignment” policies. Many companies have also increased their use of non-traditional assignment types such as business travelers or short-term rotations.

Download part one of our "Future of Mobility Survey: Remote Work" to discover how HR and mobility managers are creating policies that tackle the unique challenges posed by a remote workforce.

Based on these evolving trends, it may be easy for organizations to overlook the use of more traditional mobility arrangements to support their business growth and talent management goals. However, long-term assignments, short-term assignments, and permanent transfers each have attributes that warrant consideration when determining the most appropriate way to meet the objectives for your company and employees.

As mobility programs continue to evolve, it is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of traditional assignment types and permanent transfers. Let's take a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of these options.

Traditional assignment types – long-term and short-term assignments

One of the most commonly used relocation types is an “assignment.” An assignment is the relocation of an employee from one country to another for a specific period of time. A long-term assignment will generally exceed one year, where a short-term assignment will generally be shorter than one year. Below we have outlined some of the benefits and drawbacks for these assignment types.

Benefits and drawbacks of long-term assignments

Long-term or expatriate assignments have long been a popular option for companies who need to transfer or obtain expertise, set up new entities/markets, or provide career development opportunities, especially for future global leaders within the organization. Here, the longer-term nature of the assignment lends itself to building better long-term relationships and in-depth knowledge that can be invaluable to your organization.

From an employee perspective, another benefit of a long-term assignment is the possibility of remaining on their Home country payroll. In this way, employees can often:

• Receive compensation in their Home country currency, avoiding the need to convert Host country currency in order to pay Home country expenses such as student loans or mortgages.
• Participate in the Home country benefit plans. For example, a US citizen/resident employee on a 3-year assignment to the UK can continue contributing to the Home country 401(k), flexible spending plans, and will remain covered by Home country incentive compensation plans.
• Continue participation in Home country social security. In this way, there will be no break in the required time period to meet the coverage requirement for receiving the social security payments upon retirement. For employees at a later stage in their career, continued participation in Home country social security may be a deal-breaker.

Despite these benefits, a major drawback of the long-term assignment is often cost. Assignments can be more expensive to the company due to several factors, including:

• Providing additional allowances and benefits for the assignee. Common examples of these additional compensation elements include cost-of-living adjustments, hardship allowances, Host country housing, and moving expenses.
• Meeting additional compliance requirements. Employees may now have Home and Host country tax filings. And your organization may have Home and Host country reporting and withholding obligations, including related administration expenses such as the cost of establishing and running a shadow payroll.
• Implementing a tax reimbursement policy for your assignee. Tax equalization remains the most common policy for long-term assignments.
• Handling on-going costs incurred for immigration, tax planning, budgeting, internal administration, etc.
• Failing to benefit from the expertise gained by your assignees by not retaining them as employees or finding a suitable position to use their new skills upon repatriation.

It is important to note that proper planning and policies can help to reduce or eliminate many of these drawbacks.

As many factors, including employment, tax, and immigration law, and the availability of bilateral tax and social security agreements can impact the tax and payroll requirements for an assignment, it is important to consult with your mobility tax and legal advisors to make sure the long-term assignment is structured in an appropriate way.

Benefits and drawbacks of short-term assignments

Short-term assignments may allow companies to achieve several of the same benefits as longer-term scenarios, while also addressing several of the challenges. Benefits to the company of using short-term international assignments include:

• Like long-term assignments, an employee on a short-term assignment will often continue to receive compensation in the Home country payroll, seeing the same benefits as described above.
• The company may be able to offer a more modest compensation and allowance package to the employee, helping to reduce the overall tax and assignment costs to the company.
• For US tax purposes, certain reimbursements such as temporary lodging and per diems may be paid tax-free for certain temporary assignments of one year or less. Other countries may have similar rules for temporary assignments.
• Depending on the availability of income tax treaties and social security agreements, Host country taxes may be avoided or limited. For example, an employee on a 5-month assignment from the US to the UK may be able to avoid UK income tax if they will spend less than 183 days in the UK during a 12-month period, remain on the US payroll, and have their compensation expenses continue to be borne by the US entity. The availability of a social security totalization agreement would also provide for the ability to continue on US rather than UK social security through obtainment of a certificate of coverage from the US Social Security Administration.
• Short-term international assignments could result in a larger pool of potential employees for the international assignment program.

Despite these additional benefits, the shorter duration of the assignment may ultimately not provide enough time to allow the organization and assignee to accomplish all the objectives of the assignment. Additionally, the employee may not have enough time to fully “settle in” and develop relationships with the Host country office and clients.

Short-term assignments, as compared to a long-term or expatriate assignment, typically (but not always) result in a lower tax and assignment cost to the company. However, it is important to consider factors that may lead to additional cost, such as:

• Depending on location and the scenario, paying an employee under the expatriate policy may be less costly than providing a per diem and reimbursement of expenses.
• Administering a short-term international assignment may take more time than a long-term assignment. This could happen due to the length of the short-term assignment changing and requiring more constant support by the program administrator and/or tax services provider (e.g., monitoring the assignment).
• There are certain exclusions (e.g., Foreign Earned Income, Housing) and foreign tax credits available on a qualifying employee’s US federal individual income tax return that help alleviate double taxation that might occur as a result of an international assignment. These exclusions and credits may result in a lower tax cost to the company if the assignment is just over one year, rather than short-term.
• An employee on an expatriate assignment will often break state residency during the assignment period; an employee on a short-term international assignment generally will not break state residency. Thus, the state tax cost for the company will often be higher for the short-term international assignment.

Benefits and drawbacks of permanent transfers

Another commonly used relocation type is a permanent transfer or “transfer.” A transfer is a one-way relocation of an employee to a Host country for an indefinite period. In a typical transfer scenario, the individual will become an employee of the Host country entity, with Host country payroll and benefits.

Transferees will typically receive less company support than assignees. For example, instead of receiving allowances designed to keep an individual in a neutral purchasing position in comparison to their Home location (i.e., through provision of housing, cost-of-living, and other allowances), a transferee may receive a local pay package with limited or no allowances. Instead of tax equalization, they may only receive limited tax compliance assistance such as tax return preparation in the Home and Host countries for the year of transfer. Due to reduced support, transfer cases may initially have lower overall costs for the company than assignments.

Permanent transfers are often considered in scenarios where specific skills are needed/not available in the Host location, where the cost of an assignment is considered too high, or for employee-initiated moves . Because of the transfer to local payroll, administrative costs and complexities may also be reduced as the Host country entity would handle any reporting or withholding obligations. In addition, the risk of creating a taxable presence for the Home country entity (e.g., permanent establishment) is also reduced as the individual has severed employment ties in the Home country. However, despite these potential benefits, a transferred employee will likely receive compensation in Host country currency, and Host country benefits may differ from Home country benefits. Transferees are generally not eligible to contribute to Home country retirement/benefit plans such as the 401(k) plan for US employees, or contribute to Home country social security, which may be a significant drawback for those that are at senior or executive level or those approaching retirement. Additionally, employees take on exchange rate risk, potential cost-of-living issues, and potentially higher taxes.

From a talent management perspective, it may also be more difficult or costly to later relocate an employee who has been transferred rather than assigned to a location. A transferee will now be tied to a pay package and cost-of-living in the Host location, which will create a new point of reference for future moves.

What is the best relocation type for your company?

As has been shown, the type of relocation best suited for a given employee and your organization will be based on many factors. Key questions to consider include:

• Why is the employee moving? Is the move initiated by the individual or needed by the organization?
• What are the organizational goals relating to the move? Is the timeline for the proposed relocation reasonable to achieve these objectives?
• Does the employee’s career and personal goals align with the proposed scenario?
• Does the scenario support the longer-term career development objectives for the employee—e.g., will there be ongoing support to make sure the investment in the employee is not lost due to not having an appropriate repatriation plan?

Effective management of cross-border assignments can help firms that are trying to grow their business in key global markets while simultaneously reducing costs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, hence, every assignment type and policy should be closely reviewed by the company based on the specific assignment objectives.

If you have questions about different assignment structures or how they could impact your global mobility program, schedule a free consultation  with our team. We are happy to discuss your specific situation.

Author: Mark Tirpak

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Maple Grove, MN 55311

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short-term assignment

Meanings of short-term and assignment.

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(Definition of short-term and assignment from the Cambridge English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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to fasten the belt that keeps you in your seat in a car or a plane

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• Definition of short-term
• Definition of assignment
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Short term mobility and relocation packages

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Where are you moving to * Please select Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo Democratic Republic Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador East Timor Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea North Korea South Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal The Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian State* Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru The Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome & Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Relocation packages designed to support your short-term international assignment policies

What is the definition of a short-term assignment.

A short-term assignment (STA) is typically defined as an employee international assignment of more than 30 days and up to 12 months.

A short-term assignment does not normally include a change of residence and does not always include the relocating employee being accompanied by their partners or family. It may also be part of a group move project. They are popular because they enable employers to complete smaller specific projects, fill temporary skills gaps and are commonly used as developmental opportunities for staff as part of a company’s broader talent programme.

We have developed a short-term relocation package to support this requirement.

Expert relocation coordination and cost management

We provide management of your short-term assignments through coordinating a range of services which provide a high level of support for your relocating employees, as well as managing costs.

Relocation package core services to support an assignment of 1-12 months

• Immigration coordination • Temporary accommodation booking with negotiation of lower rates • Mini international move service • Settling-in support • Expense processing

Recommended flexible options

• On-assignment support

Rotational and group move projects

If your relocating employee is working on a rotational assignment basis, then we can manage their experience so that they have the same Relocation Manager supporting them throughout.

If your short-term assignments are part of a group project, we can provide a project management team and group move programme to support your relocating employees. This can include creating cost efficiencies by group booking accommodation together.

Developmental assignments and graduate move options

If your short-term assignments are part of a developmental programme or a graduate move scheme, we can consult with you to optimise the programmes and the packages to provide the most economical and highest level of support available.

Global Mobility Consulting Services

• Policy benchmarking and development • Data sourcing for CoLA and Relocation Costs • Assignment cost estimates calculations • Letters of assignment

Ensure your shot-term assignments are effective and compliant with Gerson Relocation

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Very pleasent and helpful. Nothing too much trouble.

Mr M H moved from London, UK to Toronto, Canada

Very helpful and patient even when things got packed that we had to get out again!

Mr M E moved from Enfield, UK to Dorset, UK

Thanks to Graham, Nick and the entire crew!

Mr C D M  moved from UK to Singapore

Friendly and helpful crew.

Ms T W moved from USA to Cambridgeshire, UK

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Example sentences short-term assignments

There are both long (12 months and over) and short - term assignments .

They may also include short - term assignments to the faculty of a seminary located outside the diocese's territory.

This has created a different type of expatriate where commuter and short - term assignments are becoming more common and often used by organizations to supplement traditional expatriation.

Definition of 'assignment' assignment

Definition of 'short-term' short-term

Cobuild collocations short-term assignments.

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