Relocation benefits can be expensive. You've hired the perfect candidate to fill the role, and it's time to negotiate a relocation package with your new employee. Not only can moving be costly, but it can be stressful for your new hire as well. Depending on where he/she currently lives, some considerations included in your package may assist with selling their home, finding a new residence to purchase or rent, help with furniture removal and relocation. A pet relocation package, in some cases, isn't included in your benefits. Perhaps it is too costly for your organization or not considered necessary. Other times, your organization may not want to assume the liability of transporting an animal. Either way, any or all of the above may apply, in addition to reasons I may not have touched on here.
According to a 2017 study published by Petfood Industry.com, pet ownership has increased, particularly among millennials, from 79.7 million in 2015 to 84.6 million in 2017. Results from their research indicated that “85% believe pets are a good source of affection; 82% indicate that a pet can help them relax; 81% feel that owning a pet can be beneficial to their health and 81% feel unconditional love for their pet”.
Pet Transport can, in some cases, be expensive depending on where your employee is relocating from and to. In other cases, it is only a small percentage of the overall cost of their move. So, why are offering these benefits essential?
For starters, “90% of pet owners consider their pet part of the family.” (A survey published in Scientific American Mind). Even more, pets are one of the most important aspects of someone's entire relocation! Several years ago, one of my customers was moving her dog from the United States to Australia and told me that, should her new company not cover all or part of her entire international pet relocation cost, she would not even consider accepting her new assignment. She could not bear the thought of needing to leave her pet behind due to financial and time constraints.
Pets are, after all, a great source of stress relief in a time when most employees are already overwhelmed with uprooting themselves from one place to another. Still yet, most do not have the time or knowledge to navigate through import regulations for international moves, which may include obtaining import permits, booking quarantine, working with the USDA, obtaining official health certificates, and arranging a pet-friendly airline to transport their pet from point A to point B. What a daunting task encountering possible problems along the way.
When you provide pet relocation assistance, your employee can rely on the expertise of someone else to handle all of the moving pieces to get their pet safely to its new home from start to finish. It’s one less thing the pet owner needs to worry about, and this may result in higher job productivity and satisfaction. What’s more, this is advantageous both to the employee and your organization, so why not consider offering this valuable benefit going into 2019.
