Since I have been assigned to Rangoon, several readers have asked me about the Danger Pay differential, and how one gets it.

Danger Pay is a percentage pay differential an employee gets for serving in locations where circumstances on the ground could threaten physical harm against employees. Typical reasons a post would get Danger Pay are civil unrest, civil war, war, or terrorism. The differential assigned is 15%, 25%, or 35% of your salary. Danger Pay starts the second you arrive in country, and ends the second you are away from the country.

For example, where I am currently assigned in Myanmar (Burma), the country is in the middle of a civil war. As a result, the country gets a 25% Danger Pay differential. If someone’s base salary was $100k per year, they would get an additional $25k assuming the never leave the country in that year. When I went home to see my kids in October my Danger Pay differential stopped. The second I landed back in country, it resumed. This is unique to other differentials like Hardship or Cost of Living Allowance that continue even if you go on vacation out of country.

Places like Iraq, Somalia, Central African Republic, Haiti, and Pakistan will offer a 35% differential, and in fact, I would say the majority of countries with Danger Pay offer the maximum differential.

If you are curious what countries offer what different types of pay differential, you can go here and check it out. -Nick