The Office of the Vice President and Comptroller announces improvements to relocation assistance options offered to eligible newly hired or transferred employees.
The new policies and procedures will be effective for relocation assistance documented in signed offer letters dated January 1, 2020 or later.
These enhancements are a direct result of feedback provided by the University of Illinois System's academic and business communities. They were developed by assessing the current policy environment at our peer institutions and represent the best way to address our competitive disadvantages in recruiting future employees, while also reducing the administrative burden for employees with fiscal responsibilities. These changes have undergone extensive review and revision over the past year and reflect a system-wide consensus to offer colleges and departments the greatest amount of flexibility when determining their hiring needs.
Highlights of the updates include;
- Increasing the total relocation assistance payment cap from $7500 to $15,000
- Expanding the forms of relocation assistance to either;
- a one-time moving payment to the employee, or
- reimbursement for expenses incurred when relocating, with the option to process direct payments to our contracted moving vendor
- Requiring that units document in a signed offer letter the total dollar amount and form of the relocation assistance being offered
- Prohibiting gross-up payments
- Removing the list of pre-approved relocation expenses for reimbursement
- Outlining processing and payment timelines, along with tax withholding information
The updated policies and procedures will be published in the policy manual after January 1, 2020. You may view the complete text of the new policies and procedures by downloading, 8.11 Relocation Assistance .
University Payroll and Benefits (UPB) has created a job aid to assist units with processing one-time moving payments to the employee. You may view the job aid by downloading, Initiate a Relocation Assistance One-Time Moving Payment – Prior Underpayment Adjustment (PUA).
The new policies 8.11 Relocation Assistance and related policies, 8.11.1 Relocation Assistance One-Time Moving Payment to the Employee and 8.11.2 Relocation Assistance Reimbursements and Direct Payments to Moving Vendors replace existing employee relocation assistance policies, 8 - Moving Reimbursements for Faculty, Administrators, and Academic Professional Staff and 8.6.8 Pay Professional Movers for Employee Moving Expenses in Section 8 of the Business and Financial Policies and Procedures Manual.
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