6 Questions to Ask When Incorporating Duty of Care into Your Travel Program

Over the past few years, employee wellness has taken center stage. Leaders are increasingly expected to weave wellness into the fabric of their companies, which means creating a culture of care is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. And that’s exactly why duty of care — an organization’s legal obligation to protect employees from harm — matters.

When business leaders create a safe environment for their employees, it establishes employee trust and loyalty. Beyond that, predicting risk, taking preventative measures, and responding quickly to crises help maintain business continuity. The bottom line? Businesses are beginning to view duty of care as a strategic tool to protect their workers while strengthening and sustaining their organization. One that:

• Elevates inclusivity and ensures the safety of ALL employees.
• Includes mental health and well-being.
• Increases visibility into travel data — no matter how it is booked.
• Drives compliance with customized settings on company policies.

So, when the time comes to update your own duty of care program, be sure to arm your fellow team with this helpful list of discovery questions:

1.How did they book that?

The more employees use the booking tools you provide, the easier it is for you to ensure their safety. Offering employees booking tools will automatically make their travel data visible. However, some organizations say they still do not manage data for travel risk management.

Since many employees still have their preferred ways to book and plan itineraries, comparing the level of adoption of tools like Concur TripLink and My Travel Network (MTN) cross-referenced with travel-related expenses will help give you a clear idea of who is booking inside and outside of the system, and still allow you to track all bookings – regardless of where they occur.

Course correction towards increased adoption of your preferred booking tools is achievable.  Something small like reviewing your new employee onboarding process can have a big impact over time. Do you require that they set up a profile and opt into the tools you offer, like My Travel Network? Based upon your annual onboarding volumes, a slight change with new employees could lead to significant improvement of visibility in the future.

2.Where did they buy that?

When an employee makes a purchase on a corporate card rather than cash, you can leverage this information to know where they are. In the absence of more current information, card data can provide a traveler’s last known location. Additionally, traveling with substantial amounts of cash can make any traveler a target for criminals. Corporate card usage can serve as a significant line of defense in a duty of care program. While corporate card usage is a valuable spend management tool, you can also evaluate the risk threshold of your duty of care program by reviewing the level of corporate card adoption. By encouraging your employees to use their corporate cards, you add another layer of protection from crisis.

3.When did they book that?

The earlier the booking, the more time you will have to ensure the proper precautions are taken. Most executive stakeholders consider traveler safety reports extremely or especially important, so having these measures in place is crucial. Even though we live in a completely connected society, advances in technology haven’t really helped us become better planners when it comes to business travel. Review your travel request policy to see if you can balance the planning-to-booking window that prioritizes employee safety.

4.Who did they ride with?

If you could save your organization money and help your team travel more safely, would you? Of course you would. Our quick fix: increasing rideshare over other ground transportation options. Travel by car is still one of the primary modes of business travel. Rideshare apps allow travelers to share their route information with others, so others can track their ETA. This empowers travelers to take ownership of their own safety. Electronic payment within rideshare apps also reduces the need to carry cash and can automatically route data for expense report completion.

5.How safe is it?

A study from the Travel Guard said that 84% of people claimed they weren’t aware of any tools that would give them safety tips, or that their employers didn’t provide that kind of safety tip or resource. Reviewing the risk levels of a destination using tools such as Concur TripLink, the U.S. Department of State portal, or TripIt neighborhood safety scores before approval, booking, departure, and during travel, prioritizes employee safety and can be a simple check. Determining the right level of safety for your organization and reflecting this in your travel policy will help maintain a level of risk that everyone is comfortable with. Considering the request process and incident response procedures, especially in destinations that score high on risk, are valuable steps in your policy review process.

6.How can you improve?

Actively monitoring where employees are located around the world and having a way to communicate with and assist them during a crisis is no small feat. Encouraging employees to book their trip in advance, using the tools and corporate cards that you provide, will allow your organization to offer a duty of care program that is relevant and effective.

Here are some of our best practices to get started:

1. Establish a task force that includes HR, travel managers, finance, and security
2. Regularly review your travel and expense data for trends
3. Maintain up-to-date employee information
4. Provide timely travel advisories (pre-trip and ongoing)
5. Ensure the ability to identify employee location through a system of data and communication points

Smart companies are realizing that adjusting their policies and being willing to spend a few extra dollars on T&E (travel & expense) can have an immeasurable positive impact on employee safety, satisfaction, and wellness.

More Duty of Care Resources

Take our Travel Risk Quiz to see how well your organization is managing employee risk.

Listen to our podcast with Deloitte to learn how protecting your travelers protects your bottom line.

Read our eBook: Taking Charge of Duty of Care? Why HR Should Take the Lead.

Enable travel managers to spot invisible spend, capture travel data, and ensure traveler safety – download our infographic.