(单词翻译:单击)
Deborah Manzoori left behind a career as alicensed insolvency practitioner last September to follow her husband, achartered engineer who designs jet engines, on a two-year placement to India.
去年9月,黛博拉·曼祖里(Deborah Manzoori)放弃了破产执行人的工作,跟随着担任喷气式发动机工程师的丈夫来到了印度。他们要在那里居住两年时间。
But when the 46-year-old Brit landed inBangalore, India with her husband and 9-year old daughter, she realised thatshe wasn’t just giving up her job; as a trailing spouse she was also givingup some independence and, potentially, her sense of safety.
但当这位46岁的英国人与丈夫和9岁的女儿一起降落在印度班加罗尔时,她意识到自己放弃的不只是工作;作为一名随迁配偶,她还放弃了一些独立性,甚至安全感。
The family was advised by her husband’scompany to hire a personal chauffeur as driving in Bangalore can be dangerous.“Driving is on the left, but in reality it's on the right, in the centre oranywhere in between and in any direction you please,” Manzoori explained. “In additionWesterners have been attacked at crash sites …and women, inparticular, are vulnerable.”
丈夫的公司建议这家人聘请一名私人司机,因为在班加罗尔开车是件很危险的事情。“本来应该在路的左边行驶,但实际上有在路右边的,有在路中间的,还有随心所欲乱开一气的。”曼祖里解释道,“不仅如此,还发生过两车相撞后殴打西方人的事件,而女性尤其容易受到伤害。”
Manzoori said not being able to pop out inthe car at any time to go to the shops, the cinema or for any other reason canbe frustrating. “We have to wait for the driver and… everything has to be planned in advance.”
曼祖里表示,不能随时开车出门逛街、看电影或干其他事情,是一件令人极为沮丧的事情。“我们必须等待司机……干任何事情都要提前规划。”
She said she has adjusted to her newlifestyle after seven months, “but I still don't like it”.
她表示,经过7个月的时间,她已经适应了新的生活,“但我依然不喜欢这种生活”。
Many expats who relocate for work to thedeveloping world are given hefty compensation packages to make up for lifestyledifferences or difficulties — whether physical, psychological, or financial —that they may encounter during the course of their assignment abroad.Sometimes, a personal restriction is because of a societal sensitivity —particularly for women —in cultures where status is an important consideration, butequality may not be.
很多外派到发展中国家工作的人都可以获得高额津贴,以便弥补他们出国工作后,在生活上遭遇的变化或困难——无论是身体上、心理上还是财务上。有时候,之所以感觉遭到人身限制,是因为那些重视地位而不看重平等的文化所营造的社会敏感性——对女性尤其如此。
Companies often avoid terms such as“hardship allowance,” “danger pay” or “hazard pay” because of perceivednegative connotations or legal ramifications. And some critics of the practicequestion whether putting a figure on danger and discomfort is advisable or evenethical. Yet experts say that to draw top talent to important but difficult ordangerous locales (think compensating for the threat of terrorism in Turkey oreven smog in polluted cities such as Beijing), the practice is necessary.
企业往往都忌讳使用“辛劳津贴”、“风险津贴”和“危险津贴”这样的词汇,因为这会产生负面影响,还有可能引发法律问题。而一些批评人士也担心,用金钱来衡量危险和不安是否明智?是否有违伦理?但专家表示,为了派遣顶尖人才前往艰苦或危险的地方工作(例如为在土耳其遭受恐怖主义威胁或在北京这样的城市面临雾霾侵害的人提供补贴),这种措施很有必要。
Those who can stomach the potentialchallenges of a hardship posting often find that they can make up to 40% moremoney than for a similar job elsewhere, according to Mercer’s 2015 report onhardship assignments. That figure can be even higher in areas of extremehardship. Mercer found that 73% of companies worldwide have no cap on theamount of money paid as a hardship allowance.
美世咨询发布的2015年艰苦环境工作报告显示,如果能够忍受艰苦环境中蕴含的种种挑战,往往就能获得比其他地方的类似工作高出40%的薪水。如果工作环境极端艰苦,这一数字还会进一步提升。美世咨询发现,全球有73%的公司没有对“辛劳津贴”设置金额上限。
Employees relocating from Europe are themostly likely to receive a hardship allowance with 90% of companies offeringone in most cases, according to the study. Their counterparts in Latin America,meanwhile, are the least likely with just 50% of companies open to the idea.
该研究发现,从欧洲调往其他地方的员工最有可能获得辛劳津贴,90%的公司多数情况下都会提供这种津贴。与此同时,拉丁美洲提供辛劳津贴的概率最低,只有50%的公司有这种想法。
“This is where a lot of business opportunities are increasing — theyneed to incentivise,” said Sebastian Reiche, an associate professor of managingpeople in organisations at the IESE Business School in Barcelona. Theseincentives, he added, tackle a variety of concerns and are unique to theconditions of each overseas placement.
“这里蕴含的商业机会正在增多——他们需要物质奖励。”巴塞罗那IESE商学院组织员工管理副教授塞巴斯蒂安·雷切(Sebastian Reiche)说。他补充道,这些激励可以缓解很多担忧,而且需要针对具体的海外环境制定专门的计划。
What’s a hardship?
什么是辛劳?
Not all danger or hardship allowances arelabelled as such, but they aren’t hard to spot.
并非所有的风险或辛劳津贴都会如此标榜,但其实不难分辨。
The Manzooris’ compensation packageincluded help finding accommodation in a gated community, school fees to sendtheir daughter to an international school, and the personal chauffeur. Butthere was no explicit mention of the gated community or chauffeur being part ofa hardship package.
曼祖里的薪酬待遇包括帮助他们在封闭式社区寻找住处、送女儿去国际学校就读的学费和私人司机。但却并没有明确提到封闭式社区和私人司机是辛劳津贴的一部分。
While some intergovernmental agencies andNGOs still use those terms —including the UN and USAID —many privatecompanies simply don’t label the additional allowances as anything other than what theyare.
虽然某些政府间机构和非政府组织(NGO)仍在使用这些说法——包括联合国和美国国际开发署——但很多私人公司并不会明确说明这种额外津贴的属性。
“Global mobility managers may call it whatever they want,”Reichesaid, “but it’s essentially a way to make it acceptable that you’ll havecertain sacrifices as a part of your work or for you and your family.”
“国际流动性经理可能给它起任何名字,”雷切说,“但本质上都是为了让人们或者他们的家人愿意为了工作而做出一些牺牲。”
It’s essentially a wayto make it acceptable that you’ll have certain sacrifices as a part of your work or for you andyour family.
本质上是为了让人们或者他们的家人愿意为了工作而做出一些牺牲。
Factors that can lead to additionalallowances for expats run the gamut from the economic (like regionalinstability, lack of public services and sanitation) to the geographical (likeextreme weather, pollution and remoteness) or the cultural (like restrictedpersonal freedom and religious tolerance).
从经济(例如地区不稳定、缺乏公共服务和卫生设施)到地理(例如极端天气、污染和地处偏远)再到文化(例如个人自由和宗教宽容受限),促使雇主为外派人员提供额外津贴的因素多种多样。
Companies may similarly provide additionalinsurances (beyond health insurance) to address security threats, such askidnappings, pandemics, terrorism or civil unrest. These may include a kidnapand ransom insurance, war risk insurance or an insurance to cover burglary andother household effects, depending on the particulars of the assignee’sdestination.
企业也可能提供额外的保险(除了医疗保险外)来解决安全威胁,例如绑架、流行病、恐怖主义和国内动乱。这可能包括绑架和勒索保险、战争风险保险或涵盖盗窃及其他家居用品的保险,具体情况取决于员工被派往的地方。
Slagin Parakatil, who manages the qualityof living reports for HR consulting firm Mercer, said the list of concerns isconstantly changing.
美世咨询生活质量报告主管斯拉金·帕拉卡迪尔(Slagin Parakatil)表示,人们担忧的问题一直在不断变化。
“In a case like Brazil, where people are concerned by Zika virus,companies will most likely put some policies around that to repatriate womenwho are pregnant … but we haven’t seen any specific companies increase hardshipallowance for this just yet,” he explained. “For the Ebolaoutbreak in West Africa there was definitely a decrease in the hardship andthat affected our recommendations for allowances because it impacted the entirepopulation.”
“在巴西这样的地方,人们都很担心寨卡病毒,所以企业可能出台一些政策,将怀孕的女性遣返回国……但我们还没有看到任何企业针对此事增加辛劳津贴。”他解释道,“埃博拉病毒在西非的爆发肯定会增加在那里工作的艰苦程度,而由于这会对那里的所有人产生影响,所以也会影响我们的津贴建议。”
Getaways to get away
休闲度假
Allowances for hardship postings don’t justinvolve traditional on-the-ground incentives like cars and safe housing.
辛劳津贴不仅包括汽车和安全住所等传统激励因素。
Human resources consultant ECAInternational found in its report on the benefits for mobile employees thatmany assignees experiencing adverse living or working conditions – perhapsworking in an isolated oil field or near a war zone – are likely to receive anallowance for additional leisure trips to pamper themselves in a less difficultlocation nearby.
人力资源咨询公司ECA International在流动员工福利报告中发现,很多身处恶劣的生活或工作环境的外派员工——可能在与世隔绝的油田或者靠近战区的地方工作——获得的津贴可能是额外的休闲旅游,好让他们到附近没那么艰苦的地方放松一下。
“This type of trip is more common amongst employees in the oil &gas sector … in [countries like] Angola, Algeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria andIndia where around 40-50% of companies provide these trips,” explained ECAInternational marketing manager James Davis.
“这种旅行在石油和天然气行业,以及安哥拉、阿尔及利亚、巴基斯坦、伊拉克、尼日利亚和印度等国家比较多见,那里约有40%至50%的公司都会提供这样的福利。”ECA International营销经理詹姆斯·戴维斯(James Davis)说。
While the average is about one to twoadditional paid vacations per year, Davis said, it can be as high as aquarterly allowance.
戴维斯表示,虽然平均每年会提供1至2次这样的额外假期,但最多也可能达到每季度一次。
Smog alert!
雾霾警报!
Coca-Cola is reported to offer somethingcalled an “environmental hardship allowance”for employees whorelocate to China. That hazy label addresses an acute problem in many Chinesecities: smog.
据报道,可口可乐为在中国的员工提供了“环境辛劳津贴”,以此应对中国很多城市面临的严重雾霾。
A Coca-Cola spokeswoman was quoted by theAustralian Financial Review in a July 2014 article as saying that the company’s“competitive mobility package includes an environmental allowance for postingsto China” which the AFR report put at 15% on top an employee's base salary,without citing a source for the figure. The company declined to comment aboutthe policy.
《澳大利亚金融评论报》(Australian Financial Review)在2014年7月的一篇文章中援引可口可乐发言人的话称,该公司拥有“颇具竞争力的流动性补贴,包括针对中国的环境津贴”。该报称,可口可乐会在员工基本工资的基础上额外增加15%作为雾霾补贴,但并未提供数据来源。可口可乐拒绝对这项政策发表评论。
In March 2014 Panasonic, which employsabout 70,000 people in China, became the first major company to announce a “lifestyledifferential allowance”for expats that included coverage for air pollution.
2014年3月,在中国拥有约7万名员工的松下成为首家宣布为外派员工提供“生活方式变化津贴”的大型企业,空气污染也涵盖在内。
“We’ve seen some companies in China that did a full increase in payfor the entire year, while others have done more temporary increases forperiods when the smog is particularly bad,” said Parakatil of Mercer. Both thefull-year increases and the temporary ones (typically allocated proportionallyon a monthly basis) can be has high as 15% of an employees base salary, butmany more companies simply pay for home installation of air and waterpurification systems, according to Parakatil. Most companies guard theparticulars of such arrangements for fear of embarrassing the Chinesegovernment.
“我们发现,有些中国公司会提升全年的薪酬,还有一些则会在雾霾特别严重时临时上调薪酬。”美世咨询的帕拉卡迪尔说。无论是全年加薪还是暂时提薪(通常按月发放),最高都能达到员工基本工资的15%,但还有更多的公司只是为员工支付家用空气和自来水净化系统的费用。多数企业都会将这类信息对外保密,担心因此令中国政府感到难堪。
Studies show that expats are increasinglyconcerned about the link between exposure to high levels of smog andrespiratory illnesses like asthma, lung cancer and emphysema. A recent surveyby the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing found that nearly half offoreign companies operating in China report air quality concerns as drivingsenior executives away. Thus environmental hardship allowances have become avital tool for global corporations to solve their problems recruiting andretaining talent in Chinese (and more recently, Indian) cities.
研究显示,外派员工越来越担心暴露在高浓度雾霾中可能引发哮喘、肺癌和肺气肿等呼吸系统疾病。北京美国商会最近的一项调查显示,约有接近一半在华经营的外企将空气质量列为迫使高级管理人员离开的主要原因。因此,环境艰辛津贴已经成为跨国企业在中国招募和留住人才的重要工具,印度最近也出现了同样的情况。
An ethical dilemma
伦理困境
Davis, though, questions enticing people totake risks by compensating them. ECA International doesn’t advise theuse of “danger pay”or similar allowances.
但戴维斯却对这种通过补偿吸引人们冒险的方式提出质疑。ECA International不建议使用“风险津贴”或类似的补贴。
“From an ethical point of view … there is the moral conflictincentivising staff to take dangerous assignments,” he said. “On the legal sideof things, by explicitly paying ‘danger money’ you’re acknowledging that you’re[doing this].” That could prove problematic if someone decides to take legalaction over an incident.
“从伦理角度来讲……鼓励人们接受危险的工作存在道德冲突。”他说,“从法律角度来看,如果明确支付‘风险津贴’,就相当于承认你知道自己在做这样的事情。”如果有人发生意外后提起诉讼,这就会造成问题。
For many in-demand workers, however, therisks are only worth it if there are tangible rewards.
但对很多面对这种机会的员工来说,如果能够得到实实在在的奖励,还是值得为此冒险的。