Figure 2 Employer Duty of Care Continuum
• Experienced an incident • Focus on legal aspect
? At Risk ! Compliance Focus
• Unaware of Duty of Care obligation • This will not happen to us • Don't know how
The ‘Red’ Zone
Worldwide, there is still a lack of employer awareness in regard to their Duty of Care obligations. For many employers, the Duty of Care obligation to employees who work or travel internationally is simply not on their radar screen. Often companies in countries with no Duty of Care legislation will pay little or no attention to their moral obligation for the health, safety and security of their traveling employees. Companies who ignore their Duty of Care obligations are in the “red” zone. They are either unaware of their obligations, assume that an incident will not happen to them, do not feel legally obligated or simply don’t know how to approach it.
The ‘Blue’ Zone
When an incident occurs, it usually is very traumatic for those affected, including employees, their families and other staff. A serious incident may also threaten the business continuity of the organization and damage its reputation. At that point, companies can no longer rely on the assumption that it can’t happen to them and they move into the “blue” zone. In this zone, companies usually assume a defensive attitude and focus heavily only on compliance aspects of Duty of Care. Their main focus is on the development of new policies and procedures as well as litigation avoidance. Having likely experienced a Duty of Care incident, companies focus mainly on ways to reduce the costs associated with the recurrence of incidents and possible litigation for non- compliance.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Focus
• It's the right thing to do for our employees
The ‘Green’ Zone
Some companies focus on the health, safety, security and well- being of their employees rather than just their legal compliance with Duty of Care. They deliberately focus on their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as employers and choose to operate in the “green” zone. They consider caring for their traveling employees as the ‘right thing to do.’ These employers are not necessarily more morally conscious than others; they simply have come to understand that it makes good business sense to take care of their stakeholders. These employers view not only their employees as human capital, but also their external constituencies such as contractors, stockholders and customers. In line with risk management practices, prevention is not only less expensive, but it also protects companies from damage to their reputation and threats to business continuity. They opt for the green zone and try to build a sustainable balance between what’s good for the employer and what’s good for the employees.
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