Should a nurse practitioner receive reimbursement for relocation expenses? And the answer to this is yes. If you are moving across the state, out of state, and across the country, you’re moving a significant distance, you should absolutely receive relocation, either expenses or reimbursement. Now, normally this is in an amount anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000, it kind of just depends on your contract, but that’s normally kind of the range. You rarely see it go below 10,000, just because it’s so expensive to move especially today, with all the gas prices and everything, it is going to be difficult to move under $10,000 if you’re moving really anything. That’s something to keep in mind. But normally on contracts, I always see 10,000 or above, anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000. And then next, it’s normally structured in a couple of different ways.
The first way that I see is probably the most common. It’s structured almost like a bonus. They may call it a relocation bonus, or they may just say relocation expenses, but they just give it all to you in a lump sum. They’ll structure it like a $10,000 bonus, they’ll give that to you. But the thing to remember, if it’s structured in this way, it’s considered income and it’s taxed as income. So, you won’t receive the full 10,000, taxes will be taken off of the top. That’s one thing that you really want to remember, especially if there’s some type of payback provision. Normally, you have to pay back the full amount or it’s prorated depending on how long you’ve been with the practice. You want to look out for that. If you must pay back the full amount you want to consider, you didn’t receive the full amount because taxes were taken off of it.
That’s something you might want to negotiate in the terms of your agreement. The second way I see is direct reimbursement to the companies. If you find a moving company that you feel comfortable with, you’ll let your future employer know, and they will directly pay that company. Now, even if they are directly reimbursing with the company, there’s still typically some type of payback provision. And it will say, you’ll have to pay back the full amount if you terminate your agreement for any reason within one to two years. So again, look out for that. And then the last way that’s probably the rarest, but you would pay the moving companies yourself and then they would reimburse you, meaning, your employer if you get them the receipts. Other blogs of interest include:
- Does a Nurse Practitioner Repay a Bonus if the Contract is Terminated?
- How Much Paid Time Off Should a Nurse Practitioner Get?
And anytime you’re doing this sort of reimbursement directly to the company or directly to you, there is normally a cap on this. So again, it’s normally still 10,000 to 20,000. And then there’s always some type of payback provision if you terminate your agreement within a short period. So, you also want to look to see if that is prorated or if you must pay the full amount. The other thing you want to take into consideration is sometimes it defines what’s considered a moving expense. I’ve seen anywhere from, well, of course, a moving company, airline tickets, shipping your car or your personal property or storage during your move. All those things can be considered relocation or moving expenses. You just want to check out your employment agreement, read it very carefully. If you cannot get clarity from the words on your actual contract, reach out to your future employer. I always recommend via email, so that it’s in writing, and ask them to define some of those terms for you.
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