Introduction
Moving to another country is always full of various kinds of difficulties. These include questions about the very process of moving, arranging a home in a new place, and acclimatization in a cultural and linguistic environment. Relocating to such a unique country like Japan can easily surprise an unprepared person. That is why the HR department of Bright, Incorporated prepared this orientation booklet, including as much helpful information as possible. The points covered in this part relate to the interaction of the company and the employee during the relocation.
Compensation Package
One of the most critical issues that worries an expatriate when moving to another country is the salary. The company assures the employee that current annual income will be converted into the Japanese currency, yen, and at the most favorable rate. Given an average yearly salary of 70,000 $ and an approximate current dollar/yen rate, the monthly income is equal to the amount of 635,833 yen (“Average civil engineer salary,” 2020). This number is not fixed relative to worker earnings in the United States. Bright, Incorporated will ensure that our colleagues are not affected by potential changes in the currency course and will provide adjustments if the rate changes by more than 10 percent. The company also offers another option in the form of payments in US dollars.
The compensation package covers many different benefits and means of support. These include relocation allowances, housing assistance, and education allowances. Most of these benefits will be discussed later; however, there is a new recently introduced type of help called spouse allowance. According to Dowling, Festing, and Engle (2017), many multinational companies in the United States have lately been paying more attention to expatriates’ spouses, trying to help them get started and find a new job. Since the company understands that relocation undermines the family budget by drastically reducing income, Bright, Incorporated provides a one-time payment of 7,000 $ or 760,000 yen as a makeup for a spouse’s lost revenue. However, the help of the company does not end with this method.
Relocation Allowances
Bright, Incorporate understands that the relocation process is not easy from both a practical and financial point of view. That is why the company provides its employees with relocation allowances. This help, firstly, consists of payments for the transportation of the basic set of things. The company goes towards our invited specialists and provides a container for shipping their goods, depending on the size of their family.
A worker who has a spouse and two or more children can rely on a forty-foot container, i.e., 60 cubic meters of space for transporting things. However, the employee should pay attention to the list of prohibited items, consisting of narcotics, firearms and explosive devices, medicines containing Pseudoephedrine, obscene materials (“All you need to know about relocating,” 2020, para. 15). The list is not fully presented here, but the company notes that the transportation of any prohibited items is a violation of the company rules and will be perceived accordingly.
Bright, Incorporate works with many different relocation companies to provide the highest quality service to its engineers. Thus, the company offers the basic package for moving to Japan, including transportation of things, assistance in arranging at a new location, as well as several additional services. These services, however, are not included in the cost of relocation allowance but can be provided separately at the request of the worker.
These services include providing information about Japan in general, consultations on the use of public transport and social services (“Relocation services,” 2020). The main goal of Bright, Incorporate, is to create comfortable conditions for employees to live and work.
Tax Offsets
Speaking of income, it is worth remembering such an essential thing as tax offsets. Fortunately for our professionals, taxes in Japan are usually lower than those in the USA. Besides, thanks to a tax treaty between the United States and Japan, the taxpayer can choose the country where he will pay taxes (“Simple tax Guide for Americans in Japan,” 2020). The taxation process is complex and consists of many parts. It is strongly recommended for an our colleagues to seek the assistance of specialists for additional instructions on this subject. However, the main provisions and tax deduction rates have been taken into account and are given in this paper.
There is not much in common between the tax systems of the USA and Japan. However, the tax year is identical in both countries and is the interval between January 1st and December 31st. Tax returns must be submitted until March 15th (“Simple tax Guide for Americans in Japan,” 2020).
The company demands the employee to pay attention that this deadline in Japan comes earlier than in the USA. There are also several deadlines for tax prepayments, which work every year after the first year in which expatriate arrives in the country. These prepayment deadlines are July 31st and November 30th, respectively. Finally, the company notes that for our invited specialists with an annual income of 70,000 $, the tax deduction will be 23%, excluding Inhabitants Tax, which usually is 10% (“Simple tax Guide for Americans in Japan, 2020). These are the main points regarding the tax offsets that a person moving to Japan needs to know.
Benefits
In addition to the standard package and moving benefits, Bright, Incorporate provides its workers with a number of additional bonuses designed to make their life in Japan easier. The first is a health insurance system designed to protect the employee’s family. The life and health of our professionals are significant for the company, which is why Bright, Incorporate advises its employees and provides them with support in finding an insurance company. Foreign residents who plan to stay in Japan for more than three months can join the National Health Insurance (NHI) program (“Health insurance in Japan for foreigners,” 2020). Within two weeks after arriving in the country, the expatriate must enroll in a health insurance plan. Although there are no penalties for not doing it, Bright, Incorporate highly recommends this program.
The second bonus, which is actively promoted by the company, is assistance in finding and paying for language courses. Life in Japan without a knowledge of the language at least at the basic level cannot be complete, since many of its inhabitants, for example, medical workers, may not know English. The HR department of Bright, Incorporate provides support in finding Japanese courses, as the company has numerous contacts with language centers. Moreover, our colleagues are provided with allowances of 40,000 yen to pay for training for one course of study. This figure is calculated based on the cost of courses of partner language centers. Thus, the cost of an evening class course in Tokyo can reach 83,000 yen (“Evening Japanese classes,” 2020). Accordingly, Bright, Incorporate pays the employee almost half of the training.
Housing Assistance
The most pressing issue is acquiring or renting a house in a new country. Fortunately for Bright, Incorporate specialists, finding a home for foreigners in Japan is not a big deal, even in a crowded city like Tokyo. One of the most challenging tasks is not to rent a house itself, but to find a person or company that will serve as a guarantor. In other countries, such a person is called a co-signer, and his role is to accept responsibility for you and your actions (“Everything you need to know about finding a new home,” 2020). Because Bright, Incorporate already has both a Tokyo office and a particular circle of connections, this task becomes simple and easy. Engineers of the company receive support both in concluding contracts and in finding housing.
Although directly finding housing is not a problem for employees, Tokyo is considered the most expensive city in terms of rent. The average rent for a two-bedroom unit can reach approximately 200,000 yen per month, and for a three-bedroom unit – up to 300,000 yen (“Everything you need to know about finding a new home,” 2020). This amount of money can be quite impressive and intimidating for a new expatriate. That is why Bright, Incorporate helps its workers with paying for housing. These allowances are calculated as a percentage of the cost of renting a house and amount to 60 percent, but cannot exceed 150,000 yen. Thus, our professionals have the opportunity to rent a comfortable home for the whole family without risk for the budget.
Family Assistance
For the Bright, Incorporated, the comfort of their workers’ families means a lot. As already mentioned, the goal of the company is to provide the employee’s family with pleasant living conditions in a new country. An essential factor in this matter is the support of the employee’s children in a new place. Relocation is always a challenge and a stressful event for children. Therefore, the company helps by providing all the necessary support. First, the company reminds that it will be essential to create a resident card for children, as well as for spouse (Kanagy, 2020). This visa is obtained at a Japanese consulate outside of Japan and is required to enter the country.
One of the central issues related to the relocation of children to another country is their education. Fortunately for our colleagues, public school tuition is free, so people who move to Japan can find schools for their children without any additional ordeals (“Japanese schools,” 2020). At the request of the employee, the company can provide a one-time allowance of 30,000 yen to facilitate the purchase of school uniforms and supplies. This allowance is paid only the first time when a child first enters a school. Nevertheless, Bright, Incorporate is committed to helping the specialists find the right school, as an adjustment in a new country is undoubtedly difficult.
Conclusion
Bright, Incorporate provides a wide range of types of support, assistance, and benefits to ensure both the satisfying relocation of employees to Tokyo and their comfortable living. The company hopes that this orientation booklet answered all possible questions. However, if there are any controversial issues, the HR department is always ready to listen and sort out a particular problem individually.
References
Average civil engineer salary. (2020). Web.
Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, Sr., A.D. (2017). International human resource management (7th ed.). Andover, United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Evening Japanese classes. (2020). Web.
Everything you need to know about finding a new home. (2020). Web.
Health insurance in Japan for foreigners. (2020). Web.
Japanese schools. (2020). Web.
Kanagy, R. (2020). Moving to Japan with children. Web.
Relocation services. (2020). Web.
Simple tax Guide for Americans in Japan. (2020). Web.