[liveAdream]

OH has been offered a job with a big IT company in Auckland.

The offer includes nothing but an annual salary. This is despite further clarification has been sought.

Is this the norm?

Is health care/insurance normally part of company benefits, particularly from an established enterprise?

What are the typical fringe benefits one may expect from NZ companies?

[neilw71]

That is not "weird" for NZ - more the norm.

Health Insurance is not often offered, but many companies will have a deal with the likes of Southern Cross to enable you to get insurance at reduced cost.

If you need this offer to get in, then take it and work for the 3 months that you have to while settling in and looking around for a better deal - many do this :)

Neil

[benhila]

Hi,

Ben accepted an IT job in the Ministry of Health, Wellington. The offer includes relocation costs and first month’s accommodation in addition to the annual salary. Perhaps not great compared to most UK packages, but it shows that there may be some room for negotiation!

Hila

[liveAdream]

Thanks for the reply.

What would you do under our situation as below?

We do not need a job to get in. In fact a soon-to-start job make our move more awkward. Not least will we have to compress our run-down schedule significantly. With the housing downturn, a house sale (with depressed price and may take a long time) is probably ruled out. Another feature of a job sponsored visa is that it will be subjected section 18A which we have to apply to immigration to remove later.

It is a shock that an established company has no policy to help new employees transition into NZ and settle down before starting the job, given that local knowledge is king. It is like they want our contribution but are not there to contribute. We feel such policy lacks sensitivity.

We believe the only scope to negotiate is the salary. The company now offers a small contribution to relocation. It equates roughly to a round-trip ticket for one person (not enough for two one-way tickets).

Oriana

[JandM]

The prevailing culture in the UK is that your pay, that's all, is what you get from your employment - extras are a rarity. As many of NZ's structures have grown out of Britain's, it doesn't surprise me to see Neil saying above that this is 'more the norm' there too. From your surprised reaction, I guess you're from some other background?

[peebles16]

OH doesn't work in IT but for a non-profit public organisation in NZ. Our relocation included his flight and 3 weeks accomodation for us all and we thought it was okay.. We negotiated a bit on salary and annual leave with mixed success, I suppose the key is you just have to give it a go :yes

All the best
Karen

[Pip]

from what I've gathered, my impressions are that public and government organisations tend to be more likely to help with relocation/resettlements costs for immigrants but I think its quite normal for private NZ firms to just offer salary (and possibly bonus). I've certainly not seen the package of salary/healthcare/pensions/other benefits which I found to be quite common to the UK across most companies.

just my own observations to date..(and on OH's who works in IT, although in CHC rather than Auckland)

[wiki]

We didn't get a relocation allowance, but we could have got a week's accommodation if we hadn't had family to stay with.
However, my job comes with medical, pension and performance bonus: a lot of companies offer, but not all.

I'm in the media, rather than IT, and I was lead to believe by the IT crowd I know that their industry is a lot more generous than mine!

[Cardy]

Hi my job might be unusual but i got a car ,free health insurance ,discounted mortgage,free share options and a very large bonus for acheiving my kpis(which i am doing at th moment)I work for a plumbing and pipelines company as a depot manager and i actually have a better package than i had in england,although it took me 5 jobs to find it and they werent all as good.
have also been told i have a pay review in june.
Think i might stay with this one:D

[Familyofmonkeys]

OH works in IT. He got basic salary, bonus, subsidised health insurance (not free), free phone/computer etc (standard IT company stuff). For relocation assistance we got a months accomodation in a serviced apartment for whole family (5 of us), plus a hire car and parking space for 2 weeks and a few courtesey things like airport pickup service, restaurant meals provided for our first day and a food hamper etc. Without all the extras it would have been fairly tricky with all the kids.

[wiki]

Should have said our medical insurance is through Southern Cross: free for me, and subsidised for OH (and would be for kids if we had them)

I'm paid fortnightly so OH's medical insurance is just under $10 a fortnight deducted from my wages - which seemed like a bargain to us when mine's free any way :)

[cappuccino]

Be very wary of small businesses - they are often purely profit driven and screw their employees where possible!

Ok, I can only talk from my personal experience here - I only receive a straight (crap) salary, no benefits of any kind, no relocation expenses, holiday to be taken after 12 months service, no paid sick leave in first 6 months, no compassionate leave in first 6 months, unfair Kiwisaver practices, expectation of keeping employee tied to job for up to 2 years if they go on an expensive training course (at the company's request) and the most hourly working week I have ever experienced!

I missed the biggest clue regarding this company when I heard just before I accepted the job that 6 people had left the Wellington branch and 4 had left the Auckland branch. I subsequently found out why!!

[gonzo]

Have to agree with Cappuccino,

My previous employer a very well known NZ company albeit with a small staff was an atrocious employer, worked all the hours under the sun, had to travel at the drop of a hat mainly in my own time whatever my personal circumstances were, dictated when holidays were to be taken, reneged on bonus agreements and only paid sick pay when it was earned as per a formula. As an early adopter of Kiwisaver which they trumpeted in the press they then paid no salary increase. The monthly Friday drinks (compulsory) was another opportunity to bombard staff with pro company propaganda. Needless to say staff turnover was inordinately high. The company notes in its annual report the difficulty it faced recruiting and keeping appropriate staff. I do feel there is a 1950's Britain attitude to employees prevailing in NZ which includes doffing ones cap to the boss.

Well out of it now!!