Real life can sometimes make fiction dull, and expatriates' needs and wants are no exception...

Just take is as it comes...

While some aspects of an HR manager's job may be routine, an expat's demands can be truly extra-ordinary, humorous or ridiculous.

Some requests, however, have the added benefit of developing problem-solving skills.

Rusty Livock, EMEA regional director for relocation for EAP Affiliated Computer Systems, relates a few ear-catching stories.

Will you cover a jet?

"Everyone has medical evacuation policies but those are not always straightforward," she says.

"One hot weekend, an HR Manager in China was phoned by a clinic dealing with the day's medical emergency. The clinic wanted approval by a company representative of expenditure on treatment. Fine no problem, thought the manager.

When several hours later the complicated treatment had become worryingly delayed, the same clinic rang again asking if, approval for hire of a Learjet could be obtained.

"My former HR colleague just said yes and to this day has never heard anything about it from anyone, and yes, she is still in employment."

Beyond control

Suzanne O'Doherty, HR representative for Cabot Corporation in Belgium, knows the true meaning of an exception to the expatriate policy.

In a previous company where she worked, "We did not allow expats to move houses during relocation, but we had to rethink that when an employee's wife had a second set of twins on assignment."

The family had relocated to Belgium from the US. As the birth approached, the company allowed the family to look for and move to a new house with more rooms to accommodate the additional babies.

"None of us were shocked at the news, but rather surprised," says O'Doherty.

"Two sets of twins is not common. We did modify our local housing policy to accommodate — no moves within Brussels are allowed during your term of assignment unless there are situations which are beyond your control."

Chicken-sitting

Relocation companies also get their share of unusual requests.

Paul van der Smissen, managing director of PRS Europe's office in The Hague, worked with an expat family who rented a house with a garden where a stray chicken had landed.

The family started feeding it, and adopted it as one of their pets.

"When the holiday season came, they were anxious on who would take care of their new-found pet so they asked PRS Europe if we could act as 'chicken sitter,'" he says.

Strange things people carry (or have shipped) Boil-in-the-bag rice on an assignment to China 10 gross of cans of tuna fish on an assignment by the sea Four cases of Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo on an assignment to the US Black licorice candy to The Netherlands Natural refined cane sugar on an assignment to the Philippines Several cartons of Nissin instant noodle soup on an assignment to Japan (where Nissin is headquartered) A motorised, four-wheeled lawn mower to an apartment in the centre of The Hague

Sometimes, HR gets more involved in expatriate situations than they would like.

HR apprehension

"At a housing development, some concerns about safety led to the installation of an alarmed fence," says Livock. "The local security company responsible were very proud of the fact that if anyone were to try and climb it, loud bells would ring in the guard house, allowing the guards to rush out to defend or apprehend.

"In the interests of customer confidence, it was agreed that all the adults living at this development should be invited to a demonstration. What the HR Manager had not bargained for was that the installation company had decided that as the company representative most involved in campaigning for this improvement, he was to act the part of the would-be intruder."

Strange pet requests

An HR Manager in Germany was vexed when an employee needed to transport his pet lizard by taxi and expected the company to pay for it. In the end, the cost was not high compared to the overall cost of the relocation, so they did pay for it.

And sometimes, HR is responsible for creating a situation.

Focus please

For example, an employee of a Swiss company was relocated to Swaziland in the heart of South Africa.

After a year, he was relocated to headquarters in Zurich, but his post arrived one-and-a-half years later. It seems the HR Manager in South Africa failed to check one particular box in the form for forwarded post, so all of it piled up at the post office in Swaziland instead of Switzerland.

Updated July 2005

Do you have any tales to tell?

The editor invites you to send in any similar anecdotes to share with Expatica HR readers. Just send an email telling your story to natasha.gunn@expatica.com and we will get back to you before publishing.

Elise Krentzel is a freelance writer based in the Netherlands.