Even when employees receive a Miscellaneous Allowance, they still ask for exceptions.
“Can I expense the cost of licensing my vehicle in the new province?”
“What about the hook-up fee for internet?”
“Can you cover the dismantling of my home gym?”
These aren’t strange questions. They’re reasonable ones. But they create friction, case-by-case exceptions, follow-up approvals, and ambiguity for everyone involved.
But what if the solution was as simple as changing one word?
The Word That Keeps the Door Open: Miscellaneous
When you call it a Miscellaneous Allowance, you’re unintentionally leaving the door open.
The word “miscellaneous” implies flexibility. It sounds like a catch-all for anything that doesn’t have a designated bucket.
It invites interpretation. And interpretation invites follow-up emails.
“Incidental” Tightens the Frame – But Not Enough
Some companies use Incidental Allowance instead. It helps. “Incidental” sounds smaller and more contained.
But it’s still vague. It makes people wonder:
“Is this incidental? Sort of? Better ask.”
What If You Called It What It Actually Is?
Here’s the shift:
Call it an Exceptions Allowance.
Because that’s what it’s designed for:
- Reasonable costs that are absent from the core policy
- Gaps that pop up during real relocations, like provincial licensing fees, internet setup, or gym equipment disassembly
Psychological trigger: If you say “this is your Exceptions Allowance,” it subtly communicates that the exception has already been accounted for.
This phrasing uses two powerful cues:
- Scarcity – it sounds like a one-time allotment
- Closure – it implies the discussion is already settled
And it works. Exception requests go down, not because the employee is less curious, but because they feel the policy already covered it.
Same Money. Less Noise.
The dollar value doesn’t change.
But the perception does. And perception is everything when you’re dealing with human behavior inside a relocation.
Sometimes, one word really does make a difference.
Michael Deane is the co-owner of All Points Relocation and thinks way too much about how language shapes policy behavior.
