Additional Compensation for Overseas Assignments

Missy

We have service repair employees that frequently need to travel internationally to repair our equipment. Some repairs are covered by our warranty and others are paid for by our customers. Recently, several of our service engineers have asked if they can receive additional pay for these assignments.

I'm looking for information on how other companies handle this situation and would welcome any recommendations.

Thanks!

System

Your question made me think of that Range Rover commercial where a guy begs "Take me with you!" Going to another country sound like fun to me, since I've never been on a business trip more exotic than Missouri.

When figuring compensation, I guess I'd consider how frequent and how lengthy the trips were, and how much of a burden they were. Are we talking about Siberia in January, or Costa Rica? Do all employees in this job classification travel internationally? Are their jobs more of a burden than working in the U.S.? That's my two cents.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Missy

Brazil seems to be pretty popular, but they don't get very excited about China, Maylasia or India, for some reason. We build industrial equipment, so they aren't exactly living the high life anywhere they have to go.

Any of our service engineers could be asked to go overseas based on their availability and knowledge of the product in question. Trips can range from a few days to a few weeks, based on the problem.