DUTY-OF-CARE
truly at fault, employers could be subject to a corporate manslaughter and homicide investigation.”
PROACTIVE COMMITMENT So far there have been no actions against TMCs or other travel organisations since the Act came into force, according to Gatenby, who is senior partner at Travlaw. “This in itself would suggest that travel organisations are complying with the Act. Certainly, in our experience, TMCs are the opposite of complacent – they understand the risks of travel, especially to higher risk locations.” Amex GBT’s Davidson, meanwhile, explains that from a duty-of-care perspective there are no set guidelines for corporate travel programmes, other than ensuring they have “steps in place to protect employees, regardless of whether they’re sitting at their desk in the office or working on an offshore rig”. However, the Act does create and
encourage a proactive commitment from an employer to an employee that they will put their welfare ahead of other interests, keeping it at the forefront of all their activities and planning. “As a TMC, our role is to facilitate and
support clients’ duty-of-care programmes and help them drive policy compliance, which is key to traveller safety,” he maintains. “We offer a 24/7 proactive approach to travel care with proprietary technology and services.” Davidson adds the knock-on effect from the Act is that the travel industry is focused on better processes and procedures that
drive efficiency and consistency globally, to meet organisations’ duty of care needs. Davidson also says in addition to an employer’s responsibility, there is a growing expectation of “duty of loyalty”, whereby “the duty of an employee is not to compete with the interests of their organisation and to follow all of their duty-of-care policies and procedures”. “A duty of loyalty culture encourages employees to comply with travel risk management guidelines and policies, undertake any necessary training and education that supports their safety when working or travelling for work, and understand why these policies and processes are in place,” he says, adding that “good communication is key to a safety conscious, policy compliant workforce”.
COVERING FREELANCERS But what happens in the case of a freelancer or contractor who perishes on a work trip? Are they also covered? “Good question; if we are expecting a self-employed worker to travel on business for us, should we have a duty-of-care for them?” asks Chris Day, head of procurement at Church of England Central Services. “I would suggest where they are directly undertaking works for us, then yes. If they are directly employed by us to undertake work on our behalf we have a duty to make sure they are travelling and staying safely while working for, or acting on behalf of us.” The Act proved a vital game-changer concerning corporate negligence, and the travel industry is clearly abiding by it.
ENSURING COMPLIANCE
All organisations should ensure compliance by completing and documenting a culture of safety. Travlaw’s travel-focused suggestions for this would include:
INSURANCE: Review the organisation’s liability insurance and insure travel-related risks, the frequency, the destinations, any relevant threats at the destination, and what they do at the destinations.
AIRLINES: If used for employees, consider the safety of any airlines used, including consulting the EU “black list” of airlines –
ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/ files/air-safety-list_en.pdf
STANDARDS: Ensure health and safety rules within an organisation meet standards relevant to that location, industry, etc
104 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
REVIEW: Conduct a review and audit of management systems, risk assessments, organisational cultures and corporate travel policies. Consider any improve- ments necessary. Compare these to other organisations in the industry to under-
stand the standards, including:
duty-of-care in the travel industry;
the provision of information to employees (itineraries; current and potential future risks; security threats;
emergency support; and/or hotlines);
limits on transport (number of employees on flights; boats; trains, etc; the duration of the travel);
general safety in environments employees will be in (hotels; transport; offices; warehouses, etc).
RESPONSE: Develop incident response plans, including hotlines for employees to contact if they have concerns or some- thing goes wrong.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT: Assess who could be considered a “senior manager”, being a person with a significant role, under the Act and train these individuals appro- priately, alongside any other appropriate individuals within the organisation.
buyingbusinesstravel.com
A DUTY OF LOYALTY
CULTURE ENCOURAGES EMPLOYEES TO COMPLY WITH GUIDELINES AND POLICIES
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