Executive Summary
respondent location), but the factors that matter most are not always the same for different areas of Duty of Care responsibility. The survey finds that companies are learning to embrace Duty of Care as both a legal and moral responsibility, linking this relatively new concept closely to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Employee concerns are the most important Duty of Care motivator for companies. Yet, employers in their quest to be socially responsible, are challenged to balance cost containment against activities that protect their employees.
One of the biggest challenges facing companies is that Duty of Care is considered everyone’s responsibility and cannot be relegated to just one functional group. Therefore, the greatest cost for Duty of Care lies within planning and implementing best practices, rather than the costs associated with taking care of employees. The knowledge of how to put a Duty of Care plan together in an organization is readily available from experts, but making it happen within a large organization requires discipline from both management and employees.
Companies may also be held liable for their ‘negligent failure to plan’ or the omission of a Duty of Care plan, either intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of an employee injury or death.
Duty of Care is not specifically legislated in most emerging and developing markets. However, in more advanced and developed markets the legal framework for Duty of Care is well defined. This makes the deployment and acceptability of a global Duty of Care strategy more difficult for a company operating across borders.
Companies around the world fail to engage in the full spectrum of managing employee travel risk, and still have a long way to go when it comes to implementing a Duty of Care and Duty of Loyalty culture.
Based on these findings, summarized graphically throughout this White Paper, it is recommended that companies operating globally implement a number of Duty of Care best practices. Failure to overcome these organizational challenges and to adopt best practices is likely to lead to unnecessary risks and potential harm to globally mobile employees, and increased liability to employers.
Ten findings from the Global Benchmarking Study are summarized by the following Duty of Care takeaways.
Ten Duty of CareTakeaways 1 All countries are potentially risky for employees
2 Organizations face unique risk challenges, but differ in how they cope with similar risks
3 Duty of Care is not just about natural and human-made disasters
4 Organizations are becoming more aware of Duty of Care responsibilities
5 There are five key stakeholders, but Duty of Care is everyone's responsibility
6 Organizations vary widely in Duty of Care practices
7 Company size matters most in Duty of Care, but other company characteristics also play a role
8 Most organizations fail to plan and implement a global Duty of Care strategy
9 Duty of Care is a Western concept
10 Corporate Social Responsibility is the main motivator for Duty of Care
Ten best practice recommendations were derived from the important Duty of Care gaps that the findings indicated.
Ten Duty of Care Best Practice Recommendations
1 Increase awareness 2 Plan with key stakeholders 3 Expand policies and procedures 4 Conduct due diligence 5 Communicate, educate and train 6 Assess risk prior to every employee trip 7 Track traveling employees at all times 8 Implement an employee emergency response system 9 Implement additional management controls
10 Ensure vendors are aligned
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