Consultants are renowned for being expensive. If you have a senior engineering consultant come into your company to run a half day workshop, don’t be surprised if you’re hit with a $1500 bill, and that’s not even including preparation time and travel. It’s even more expensive if you ask an accountant or lawyer to do the same thing.
There’s a crazy arrangement called ‘secondment’, where companies pay a particular consultant to work for them full time. It’s like getting a new (competent) staff member except that you’re paying them a lot of money per hour. It will cost you five times more to have a consultant on secondment to you than for you to hire a proper new employee. So I don’t exactly understand what motivates companies to request secondees.
I’m going on secondment on Monday. I will be working from Shepparton for at least the next two months. Shepparton is about two hours north of Melbourne. I’m excited about going. I get to set up an apartment for myself and a workmate. I have the gadgets and wheels I need to do my job. I even have a generous food allowance.
I hope to organise regular internet access while I am away. The internet, even now, is a lifeline to me. I would feel lonely without you, my blog readers, my email-pals, and my Google-talk buddies.
LAHA is your friend.
When I started getting Living Away from Home Allowance, my salary almost doubled. It was almost enough to match the salaries of the electricians working on the site.
Almost.
auhem, I don’t seem to be eligible for LAHA (or LAFHA). My company is paying for accommodation, travel, food, computers, my phone bill… It’s not fair.
How come you’re paying your own rent and so on? Are you permanently assigned away from home?
I’m home now, so not paying rent. (Parents are great!) But the deal was we got a budget to pay for food and accomodation.
I spent almost four months away from home last year, so it was a good money spinner for me in the end. I think the idea was that the company could put a line under how much they were obliged to spend on us.
The company payed for our flights, computers and phone bills though. Yay.
Over all, the LAHA deal is good if you want to live thriftily and save your dosh. No good if you want to live it up.
(Any posh French restaurants in Shepparton?)
No posh French restaurant that I know of, but there’s a good dance studio! 😀 Another great way to spend money quickly…
May I recommend the pizza at “Riveria Pizza”. Can’t remember what street, a pretty main one. Their bolognaise pizza is worth travelling 2 hours for 😉 My family have spent many a time in that pizza shop on our annual holidays to Murchison (about 40 mins south of Shepp). They know us by sight! The same people also own the La Pochetta.
And if you feel like driving a little bit to Numurkah, their amatuer theatre company is putting on a production of Beauty and the Beast. A girl I did the Comm Games with is playing Belle.
http://www.numurkahsingers.org.au/
Enjoy Shepp, say hi to the town for me! 😉