DUTY OF CARE VS DUTY OF LOYALTY

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Alfred Hodges
5 years ago
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1 DUTY OF CARE VS DUTY OF LOYALTY

2 Step with care and great tact, and remember that life's a great balancing act. - Dr. Seuss

3 Nowhere in the world is safe anymore

4 Emergency in the Philippines A Singaporean travelling to the Philippines on business falls and suffers a serious brain injury. His family fears he may die unless he is evacuated back home for medical care and rehabilitation.

5 Stranded due to ash cloud Thousands of employees are stranded on three continents as a result of the ash cloud, and corporate travel departments are flooded with requests for help.

6 Expatriate family in Egypt during riots While accompanying her Australian husband on a one-year sabbatical to teach at an Egyptian university, the mother of two becomes very concerned for their safety as riots erupt in Cairo during the Arab spring revolution.

7 Sometimes this may be the only doctor in 500km

8 High-Risk Locations

9 You should know

Employers carry an increased Duty of Care obligation to protect their employees from these and it is

10 Business Travellers face unfamiliar environments and situations, increased risks and threats. What is Duty of Care? Employers carry an increased Duty of Care obligation to protect their employees from these and it is legislated! 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.

11 Ownership of Duty of Care in terms of primary responsibility, coordination and decision-making currently lies within five functional groups: So who s responsible? 1. Human Resources(HR); 2. Security; 3. Risk Management; 4. Senior Management; and 5. Travel Yet, it should be everyone s responsibility, and it is perceived that HR should own the deployment of Duty of Care within organisations.

12 IS THAT FAIR?

13 Risky Business on the Road 27% binge drink 1/10 picked up a stranger 8% lied about their activities 4% arrested Source: On Call International

14 The duty of an employee is to follow the employer s Duty of Care policies and procedures. What is Duty of Loyalty? Employees willingly cooperate with travel risk management guidelines even if these policies curtail employee privacy in terms of the employer s knowledge of their whereabouts.

15 So what does that mean? The greatest cost for Duty of Care lies within planning and implementing best practices, rather than the costs associated with taking care of employees. Making Duty of Care happen requires discipline from both management and employees.

16 Duty of Care Best Practice Increase awareness Plan with key stakeholders Expand policies and procedures Conduct due diligence Communicate, educate and train Assess risk prior to every employee trip Track travelling employees at all times Implement an employee emergency response system Implement additional management controls Ensure vendors are aligned

17 What are the steps? Assess company specific risks Strategic Plan Develop policies and procedures Track and inform Advise, assist and evacuate Analyse, audit and amend

19 What are the threats?

20 Communication Two-way comms before, during and after, alerting travellers to even the tiniest inconvenience such as a delayed flight, or even more serious situations. How are Travel Consultants involved? Trip briefings and alerts Provide the traveller with destination-specific information and associated risks that are relevant to their trip via trip briefings and keep sending alerts on a regular basis Feedback Gain feedback from travellers that have been in that destination it s impossible for you to know what s happening on the ground all the time.

21 How are Travel Consultants involved? Reports Companies need reports on the level of risk management that is happening in the travel sphere so that they can inform their policy to, for instance, ensure that not all senior executives of a company on the same flight. Strategy Assist your clients with their risk management policy based on your Duty of Care Experience. And remember that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn t work.

22 Travel agents are legally obliged to divulge certain information to their clients. it s not impossible for a travel agent to be sued for negligence if they fail to share important information. In South Africa The Consumer Protection Act also places a distinct obligation to disclose all the dangers, as well as any unusual threats at a destination, to passengers. This disclosure must take place as early as possible. This means at the time of making enquiries, and not once the booking has been confirmed.

23 Practical steps Adopt this standard of what to share with clients: What would a reasonably prudent businessperson in the travel agency industry know?. You can be enthusiastic about a particular destination, but if you know something that you would want to know prior to visiting a destination, I would share it. That range of knowledge extends to travel industryspecific knowledge, for example, a supplier s probable insolvency or the spread of a tropical disease in a particular region. Things like that should be disclosed.

24 Practical steps Some practical steps, such as including disclaimers on your agency website and requiring clients to sign a contract with disclaimers, can help protect travel agents in the case legal issues crop up. The best way for travel agents to share potential dangers or destination issues with their clients is in writing.

25 Questions

26 THANK YOU

BUSINESS TRAVELLER TRENDS STUDY AUSTRALASIA

016 BUSINESS TRAVELLER TRENDS STUDY AUSTRALASIA INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES & TRAVEL FORECAST WHAT HAPPENS TO STAFF ABROAD MATURITY OF RISK MITIGATION PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE REACH. HUMAN TOUCH. INTERNATIONAL