If you are being lured to Malaysia for work there is a good chance that your employer is prepared to offer a suitable remuneration package to compensate you for the translocation. Your employer will naturally pay airfares and removal expenses (with insurance). If, however, you have been recruited locally, your package may differ quite substantially to those expats headhunted from abroad, with salary and conditions closer to local standards.
Some international companies may consider Malaysia a hardship posting for whatever reason. While sipping your gin and tonic at the club, after a round of golf and while watching the latest Wall Street indices on CNN, you may wonder whether they got this wrong. The payment of hardship allowances is a legacy from 10 – 20 years ago when living in Malaysia did involve some hardship. Today the enormous investment in infrastructure including hospitals, roads, modern shopping malls, schools and many fully equipped apartment complexes means there is little hardship for expatriates. Even the humidity which runs around 80% most of the year, is not too oppressive and is offset by air-conditioned offices, homes and cars. Surveys conducted by The Expat magazine reveal that the vast majority of expatriates love living here and apart from Malaysian driving habits find little to complain about. For this reason larger multinationals have stopped paying any hardship allowance.
Many expats receive education allowances for their kids, paid return trips home each year for all the family, a maid allowance, car or car allowance, additional insurance coverage etc.Those who come here seeking employment without a firm offer will most likely receive very little of this should they be able to obtain employment.
Get everything in writing so that both parties clearly understand what they are getting into. Normally a contract is drawn up and signed by both parties. This is a standard procedure for international companies and most leading Malaysian companies. It may be worthwhile having a lawyer check this if you are unsure and should your employer be a Malaysian company it is advisable that you seek the advice of a Malaysian lawyer familiar with local work practice.
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Please feel to get in touch with us at [email protected], if you’d like to get an idea of whether your package is a good one.
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