rental subsidy
Re: rental subsidy
Of course if you have exact values they can be helpful and even without proper exacts you still can have a rough idea.
Re: rental subsidy
Does anyone know whether you're provided with accommodation for the first month of a new assignment, or whether you are supposed to find your own and pay for it out of the settling-in grant?
Re: rental subsidy
You must contact your duty station and enquire about the induction process, they may not find the accommodation for you but they certainly will help you finding one.
Re: rental subsidy
I thought it was as 'simple' as the UNDP rental subsidy calculator makes it out to be but apparently it's a lot more complicated. Many of my colleagues told me to 'forget it' (a lot of them scoffed when I brought it up). I was told that 'almost nobody' gets it as they make it really hard for you to qualify for one. I'm newly arrived at my duty station myself and was hoping the rental subsidy could helped eased the already high rent (the rent in the area is just exceptionally high and that's just the reality) but I was told by the HR to think about the subsidy later. Apparently I have to sit down with HR and have them explained exactly what my threshold is and see if and how much I qualify for a subsidy. Maybe it's different across agencies?
Re: rental subsidy
This may depend on the agency but I'd check with them to be sure. I was under the impression that the hotel that they booked me in would be paid for but apparently it wasn't and I thought I would receive the settling-in grant almost immediately (like literally the very day I arrived to office) but I'm nearly over 2 weeks in and I still haven't gotten it (worse, they rerouted it to my home bank account which I will receive in my home currency instead and not in USD) but I did get the DSA separately about a week later in check in USD. So when I mentioned to my colleagues that I was staying at the hotel, everyone told me to get out of there ASAP because it was so expensive AND because I'm supposed to pay it out of my DSA. This really stressed me out on top of having to deal with the admin side of my arrival but more than that, I didn't have enough money on me. I had just enough in one card to pay for 4 nights. For a brief moment, I was literally 'stranded and homeless' with my luggage at the office and nowhere to go. And the whole accommodation thing is a NIGHTMARE. I moved into an Airbnb and have been staying for nearly 2 weeks now and will for at least another because I was told finding a place typically takes 1-3 months in my duty station. It is a very stressful situation to be in. You would think with how strict the UNDSS is with staff accommodation that they had a whole system in place- maybe engage with 1 landlord or a building and house staff members there for both temporary and permanent, beef up security if you need to (like you would in a UN compound) and throw in a shuttle bus for good measure but the irony is they don't much care about where you're living temporarily before you get your permanent accommodation. But this is different across agencies. I interned at another one and they had a dedicated list of apartments both staff and interns can stay at a reduced rate and more relaxed rules with tenancy. It makes so much sense because the landlord(s) would always enjoy a steady stream of business and staff is assured of their reliability.
Re: rental subsidy
what do you mean? they didnt specify max rental subsidy in the contract? are you in new york? sounds like a nightmare....mdr wrote: ↑22 Feb 2019, 21:22I thought it was as 'simple' as the UNDP rental subsidy calculator makes it out to be but apparently it's a lot more complicated. Many of my colleagues told me to 'forget it' (a lot of them scoffed when I brought it up). I was told that 'almost nobody' gets it as they make it really hard for you to qualify for one. I'm newly arrived at my duty station myself and was hoping the rental subsidy could helped eased the already high rent (the rent in the area is just exceptionally high and that's just the reality) but I was told by the HR to think about the subsidy later. Apparently I have to sit down with HR and have them explained exactly what my threshold is and see if and how much I qualify for a subsidy. Maybe it's different across agencies?
Re: rental subsidy
It's not in my contract although it was stated in my offer letter. And even though the handbook (from the intranet) of my organization reference the UNDP rental calculator, I (and all the other international staff) still need to sit down with HR and let her do the calculations. I'll update here once I find out. I was told to prioritize the apartment search first then worry about the subsidy later. And no, I'm not in New York but I will say I'm somewhere in Africa. And yes, nightmare is exactly what the apartment hunting feels like. Finding a place in my duty station is not as easy as Bangkok (Thailand) for example where you can just go on Facebook or walk around the city and much, much cheaper. Many of my colleagues have taken between 1-3 months to find a place.