Whether there have been months of careful planning or it’s a last-minute decision, employees embarking on business travel deserve a certain level of duty of care.
This refers to the responsibility held by the employer to protect its employees and prevent harm to a reasonable degree.
In the UK, this spans health, safety and welfare and requires safe working practices, risk assessments and providing necessary training and equipment.
While an employee on corporate travel will be out of the office, this responsibility must still be upheld. For employers, here are seven ways to improve duty of care for employees during business travel.
What does corporate travel duty of care mean?
The legal and moral duty of care extends to business travel, with there being a responsibility to ensure employees’ safety and well-being while away.
The topic is wide-reaching and can cover anything from providing protective uniforms to completing risk assessments ahead of a procedure being implemented.
To have a strong duty of care, being proactive is paramount with corporate travel requiring the protection of employees as much as possible, along with compliance with workplace health and safety regulations.
Not only will implementing duty of care measures help an employee feel more confident about a business trip, but it could prevent business disruptions and can improve efficiency and productivity on a trip. As a result, employees could think more favourably of trips going forward which could lead to a strengthened company reputation.
Some risks associated with business travel include:
- Visiting and driving in unfamiliar places
- Standing out from the local population
- Fatigue and jet lag which can impair judgements
- Threats to health in particular areas of the world
- Natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes
- Terrorist attacks
- Working alone in remote places
What is a business travel policy and how do you implement one?
A business travel policy is a document that sets out guidelines for employees to note ahead of a business trip. It can include the booking process, reimbursement and information on how to travel safely.
It isn’t a legal requirement for businesses to draft a travel policy, but it can be incredibly beneficial for covering the legal obligations around duty of care. It will provide a one-stop shop for everything an employee needs to know.
To implement it, ensure you detail key information into one document and send this out to employees so they’re aware of how business travel works within the company. Not only will this help them, but will reduce back-and-forth questions that could otherwise be easily answered in one go.
To create a relevant policy, consider adding:
- How business travel is booked – Does the employee do it? If so, which platform should they use and what documents do they need to keep? Does a certain department or manager book for them?
- Expenses – Include how expenses work and any relevant budgets.
7 ways to improve duty of care for business travel
1. Risk assessments
Each trip presents its own risks and these should be analysed beforehand to either prevent them from happening or to create provisions for if something goes awry.
There are a few ways this could be approached including firstly looking at the destination and seeing if there are any glaring security risks. If the flight is international, there could be legal and regulatory issues that need to be addressed ahead of time. This includes ensuring travellers have the right visas.
Health and medical risks should be assessed too, as well as environmental and transportation factors.
Then, moving on from the destination, an employee-focused risk assessment should take place. This could bring up considerations that need to be implemented during the trip, like pre-existing medical conditions or disabilities which may require extra planning.
This step should be completed first and foremost, but it’s also wise to receive real-time alerts to monitor events within the area.
2. Travel insurance and vaccinations
While it’s always hoped it’ll never be needed, travel insurance is necessary and can prevent an incident from escalating from bad to worse.
As an employer, you should ensure your team members have the relevant insurance needed. On a trip, it’s important this could cover any emergency medical treatment, medical evacuation, trip cancellations and delays and lost or stolen baggage.
Some other factors to consider adding to the insurance plan are personal liability coverage, work equipment coverage and cybercrime protection amongst others.
The policy taken out must cover the area included and it’s helpful if the provider offers 24/7 customer service. Once this has been completed, an email version and printed copy should be given to each person on the trip. This way, they’ll have the details on hand should they need them.
As for vaccinations, employers are improving their duty of care if they ensure compliance with local health regulations. Destination-specific vaccinations may be required, with this normally having to be arranged four to eight weeks ahead of the trip.
These health precautions can be expensive if multiple jabs are needed which would leave the employee out of pocket if they had to organise it themselves.
3. Pre-set guidelines
This is where the business travel policy comes into play, with this providing everything the team needs to know ahead of the experience taking place.
This could be in the format of an easy-to-follow workflow, starting with the booking process. It should cover how the trip will be booked, any pre-trip requirements and gauge insights into individual preferences.
A reimbursement policy should be included within the document, detailing what can be reimbursed and what can’t. The employee should also be told how this will work and if an approval process is required before purchasing something needed for the trip.
Several company-specific guidelines could be included here, along with details on the code of conduct and any legal compliance people should be aware of.
This is also a good time to inform those involved on what is required on the trip, along with any cultural considerations about the area. Further insights into the area they are staying in, along with recommendations could be provided too.
4. Provide real-time support
To maintain a good standard of duty of care, employees should feel they have access to real-time support should they need it.
A trusted person should be appointed as the emergency contact which could be a line manager, head of department, or someone in the HR department. This way, people know they can expect assistance of some kind if something out of the ordinary was to happen.
Everyone should be aware of emergency contacts, with these being listed in a printed-out document. This should include emergency services, the embassy, travel insurance provider hotline and a number for the office.
While away, communication should stay as frequent as needed with messaging platforms like WhatsApp Business able to be downloaded on phones.
If you opt for help from experts, through a corporate travel service, these aspects can be taken care of. At Good Travel Management, we can manage everything from door to door.
Our team members can even provide advice and support if travelling to high-risk destinations. We provide tracking alerts too, with real-time communication provided from start to finish in case of an emergency. Along with this, we offer 24/7 support – regardless of the time zone!
5. Plan for emergencies
An emergency is stressful enough, but even more so if everyone is left clueless about how to approach the situation.
By using the information found during the risk assessment, some pre-trip measures should take place to form a plan. This should include different situations that may arise.
If medical, the company should be made aware that emergency services have been contacted and the response team within the business should act appropriately. This could include arranging for additional support, re-addressing the accommodation and transport situation, as well as providing post-incident support.
6. Choose safe transport and accommodation
This is where it’s wise to incorporate the employee into the planning as they may have a preference for mode of transportation. If going via flight, choosing a trusted airline that operates a direct flight could be most beneficial.
Once at the location, the method for getting around needs to be determined. Pre-arranged business travel could be arranged or transport services booked ahead of time.
Booking accommodation in a safe area of the city is important too, with this also doubling as a way to be efficient. There will be more transport options within a busy area too.
As for the hotel, choosing a well-known reputable chain with security, CCTV and secure key card access could be beneficial.
7. Debrief post-trip
The duty of care with business travel shouldn’t stop after everyone returns to the office, with a post-trip debrief being a useful way to learn more about the experience.
This could be done informally through a meeting or via a survey where the answers can be stored securely.
Within the debrief, follow up the trip by asking about the experience and general safety and comfort.
This is the time to check through expenses and review the pre-planned budget to see if the trip stayed within it. If not, consider what could be done differently to cut unnecessary spending.
Once the details have been collected, update the business travel policy to account for changes for future business travel.
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