Advice on moving abroad for work

[Mummy578485]

I've asked for a temporary transfer to one of our offices abroad which had been agreed. It involves a promotion and a moderate salary increase. The renumeration package includes flights and sending belongings.

We're at the stage now of drawing up the final contract. I'm going to make I sure I have continuity of service and health care and I was wondering if there's anything else I could be asking or checking in my contact? As the transfer is my request I probably don't have a huge amount of leverage (I already negotiated the higher salary), but my managers are very reasonable.

Sounds exciting op but as said above do make sure you know all the costs. Have you looked at the 'living overseas' forum on here? (it's in the home and garden section). Also british expats is a good resource britishexpats.com/forum/. I think schools could be an issue - most people seem to get fee allowances. We moved to another country so i can't help with specifics.

Rental income you will have to pay tax on in uk www.gov.uk/tax-uk-income-live-abroad/rent

Schools are not an issue for us yet, toddler is too young and we plan to move back before he starts. Childcare does look expensive and we're not planning on getting a helper, DH will be a SAHD.

Taytotots

Thanks for the link

One more thing.....I feel like Columbo 😂......when working out your return dates consider the U.K. tax year implications.
From the .gov website:
When you move in or out of the UK, the tax year is usually split into 2 - a non-resident part and a resident part. This means you only pay UK tax on foreign income based on the time you were living here. You will not get split-year treatment if you live abroad for less than a full tax year before returning to the UK
That could mean you have an income tax bill in the U.K. if you don’t time it right.

Judashascomeintosomemoney

That's really good advice re preserving non resident status - I'll ask to have no more than 30 working days in the UK written into my contract.

Another thing to consider is your UK pension. You and your employer will not be able to pay into it while in Singapore, will they compensate you for this in another way?

@Asiama I didn't know that, why is that? - I've got it on my list as a question to ask.

As you will not be paying UK NI, no contributions will be made towards your state pension. Nothing the employer can do but something to be aware of.

If you have a company pension plan, you will need to be on the UK payroll for contributions to continue. As you will be paid in SGD you will not be on the UK payroll. In the past I have seen employees receive the equivalent as a cash allowance but I suspect that since the move was instigated by you, they may not be open to this.

Another two things I have thought of. As a foreigner you can't pay into the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Are they willing to give you the equivalent of the employer contribution as a cash allowance, if they won't give you the UK pension equivalent? Are they going to cover healthcare, dental and vision for both you and family members?

As you will not be paying UK NI, no contributions will be made towards your state pension. Nothing the employer can do but something to be aware of
This is correct BUT you can contact HMRC and arrange to pay UK NI even though you won’t be liable for UK income tax. This is what DH did to ensure his state pension remained fully intact.

You may be able to cover your state pension as Judas describes but what about your company pension? As said above, you won’t be able to pay into a UK company pension. They may pay into the Singapore equivalent (if there is one) but you may then be left with a small Singapore occupational pension and I don’t know how easy it might be to transfer that back to the U.K. when you return.

Good point @ChessieFL. In my experience it is unheard of for employers in SG to offer occupational pensions so while it's likely the small pension issue won't exist, you still have the issue around the UK pension.

OP, Singapore is fantastic and if my employer offered me the opportunity, I would take it! I'm not trying to put you off, just trying to point out things to consider so you go in with your eyes open.

Thanks, pensions, NI contributions, these are things I hadn't considered so I'm going to ask more questions. But I'm not put off! Rent is so expensive, I doubt we're going to save any money over there and financially we will probably be worse off while we are there. But this is still a career up and an experience that would be hard to come by externally, so I'm definitely going to grab it!

National insurance contributions here so you don't lose 3 years
Relocation expenses
Healthcare
Education
Pension

Can I ask for a bit more advice? I've asked for a kind of break clause, so that if we are not happy after a certain length of time, I can return to the UK office, and this had already been agreed. In that case if I came home early, is it reasonable to ask to return to a similar role as the Singapore one with the same or higher salary (the position may not exist in the UK office)? Or is it more reasonable to go back to my old role at the same salary?

I would ask for the higher role and expect they will offer you the current role, if anything. It's a big commitment to keep your current role open for you to return, so anything above that might be a no from them.

Sorry one more thought. How long is the break clause for? If it's eg a year I would at minimum expect to return back to current role, and current salary plus 2%, assuming you and your UK peers are eligible to receive annual salary increases.

And don't forget your dh's ni contributions.

Yes one year. I would get a salary increase while out there. And yes they have already filled my position! To come back to the same role would be a demotion, and if I was to keep my promotion then they would have to create a new position. But it's a rapidly expanding company so there no telling what will happen in the next year. It's hard to ask for any certainties when they don't have any.

Good point re DH.

But he's only been working for 3 years so I'm not sure he's too fussed.

What are they guaranteeing you when you come back in 3 years?

I'm going to ask for written guarantees that I have an equivalent or better salary and position when I come back at the end of my term there.

I'm just not sure what to ask for if I come back early at my own instigation. If I did well out there but wanted to come back for personal reasons or any reason unrelated to my performance, I would be disappointed to be demoted to my original position and would probably think about moving on tbh.

”I'm going to ask for written guarantees that I have an equivalent or better salary and position when I come back at the end of my term there.”

Have they agreed to that?! I would expect that to be heavily caveated tbh, particularly as this move is at your own request.