[salomon7]

Hi,

I am at a final stage of negotiationg my package for moving to Hong Kong. My employer has offered a certain salary in Euro, which will be paid to me in Hong Kong Dollars based on an end of month exchange rate. Therefore, my salary will vary from month to month based on the current exchange rate.

Is that normal? Is that how most of you have it?

[KnowItAll]

I've not heard of this.. however, is it common practise for your employer to push the exchange rate risk to employees?

Most people I know (not many from the EU ..) get paid in HK$ or a pre-negotiated exchange rate.

[Robert]

Where (from Europe) are you coming from?

Whatever the case may be... I'd suggest going with HKD. After all, you'll be living here.

[berryplucker]

It's more common to have the salary defined in HK$ or have a fixed exchange rate that is reviewed once per year, although when I was on an expat package one of the allowances was set in Euros (and was paid in Euros). What is happening about your tax?

[frogman]

I would definitely insist in getting paid in local currency at a fixed exchange rate. I was until recently paid in US$ in euro land and ended up taking a 20% plus cut in pay when the dollar tanked last year. Just to give you an idea of how much you can lose in a short time, the US$ (to which the HK$ is pegged) has gained about 3.5 percent on the euro in the past two weeks. Of course, the fluctuations could go your way too, but it's really not worth the headache unless you like living in a casino.

[tex]

i agree. we have been on the wrong side of currency trades as well. stressful stuff. only reason i can think of to consider getting euro $ is if you have more money going to europe than to hong kong (loans, family there, that sort of thing).