Duty of Care Strategies for Corporate Mobility
Companies address employee safety, security, and well-being in a number of ways, including establishing policies and protocols to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. In the past, health and safety was a concept that had more emphasis on “safety” than “health” at work. The pandemic expanded the definition of duty of care, because suddenly it was critical that the workplace look beyond safety and compliance and include contingency plans and protocols that protect employees from health risks such as the coronavirus. Additionally, health and safety or duty of care also identifies as a core element of Corporate Social Responsibility.
What is Duty of Care?
The term “duty of care” has several interpretations, but in simple terms, it represents the requirement not to be negligent when it comes to the safety and well-being of a company’s employees. There is a legal basis to duty of care, with employee safety requirements mandated in most countries. For example, in the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed into law in 1970 and established the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which issues workplace health and safety regulations. The European Union established
the European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work, which guarantees minimum health and safety requirements for employees in the member states.
But stepping away from any legal requirement, what about the moral and ethical perspective? Should a company be obligated to ensure employee well-being even if it is not legally required? Is non-mandated safety a corporate responsibility or simply an individual one?
Many companies realize that ensuring employee safety makes business sense: healthy and safe workers keep the business running, enhance a company’s reputation, reduce employee turnover, and in turn, lower costs related to talent acquisition.
Corporate mobility’s role in the duty of care equation is unique. There are a number of considerations to evaluate when it comes to the safety and security of employees, especially when relocating or going on an assignment. While many companies extend their safety policies beyond the physical workplace to include protocols while away from the office (such as no texting while driving on company business), the application of duty of care as it relates to employee mobility is sometimes an overlooked but important element for an employee’s success.
Duty of Care & Corporate Mobility: Strategies for Success
Here are a few strategies for duty of care success that will help keep mobile employees and their families safe and healthy:
- Communication: A vital element to the success of duty of care, communication should include clearly written policies, protocols, guidelines, security briefings for the employee and family, as well as alert systems, such as texts, voicemails, and emails. Security briefings may include recommendations applicable to any location, specific information regarding the employee’s new location or broader topics like safety in the event of a natural/weather disaster, regional turmoil, or health crisis. In the post-pandemic world, security briefings should also include information on any government-issued testing or vaccination requirements in a new location. Even if fully vaccinated, employees may be required to follow different or more stringent protocols than in their home location.
In terms of approach, ensure that communication is occurring in both directions – from the company to the employee and from the employee to the company. Consider assigning the mobile employee with an internal safety contact with whom simple messages such as “have you arrived?” and “arrived safely” can be exchanged. Provide a safety contact that has resources and tools so they can escalate issues as needed while the employee is out of pocket. Another communication tool that can be deployed is a 24/7 emergency hotline that can be tapped when immediate help is needed. If an emergency occurs, ensure that company communication continues by following up with the employee, even after the crisis has passed – silence is not golden during these times!
- Plan: Determine emergency protocols and required training in advance. This easier-said-than-done strategy may require additional service agreements and cooperation between internal departments and/or external vendors such as a travel provider or a third-party medical and emergency travel security services firm. Identify and empower key internal decision makers who can implement emergency protocols and approve expenses to eliminate lag time. If possible, determine evacuation locations in advance of need, understanding that flexibility may be required during the actual emergency.
- Assess: Ideally, identify potential issues in advance of the relocation or assignment. While an advance assessment may not be possible in all circumstances (no one anticipated the pandemic!), an established evaluation process will make it easier to evaluate a situation when issues do occur. This risk assessment should include location, the employee’s personal situation, and the environment (political, environmental, social, etc.). Flag elevated risk circumstances and determine a potential action plan.
- Know where your employees are: Knowing the location of your employees can be critical in the event of an emergency, as many companies discovered when pandemic lockdowns began. Your travel provider may be able to assist, but depending on the size of your organization, other tracking methods may be practical/possible, such as self-reporting, an external traveler tracking system, or even the GPS on the employee’s phone. Technology is constantly evolving, so tomorrow’s solution may look different from current offerings. Be aware that this location tracking strategy requires a delicate balance between the employee’s right to privacy and the company’s need to know.
- Program elements: Ensure overall mobility program elements promote health and safety. This may be as simple as allowing sufficient time for the final trip in a domestic move. Companies will sometimes limit final move travel time to a set number of days which can be problematic for longer distances, bad weather, or if the employee prefers to drive rather than fly. From a global perspective, consider safety program elements such as housing security assessments, and/or an armored car and driver, or even a bodyguard. Adjust the mobility program as needed to avoid any exception-related delays.
- Anticipate consequences: Emergencies can lead to business disruption. Some emergencies are flashes in the pan: over quickly. Others, like our most recent pandemic, impacted businesses for a prolonged period. Have a business continuity plan ready, which needs to be comprehensive enough to address issues that can arise from global and domestic mobility. Consider specific plans for certain high-risk locations or areas with a high concentration of employees/assignees. Partner with other departments, your global relocation management company and other service providers to ensure any mobility-related gaps are covered.
- Partner: Duty of care is a shared responsibility and requires many collaborative resources. Partnering with other internal departments is key, as stated previously. A third-party emergency medical and travel safety firm and the company’s travel provider can provide important services. In addition, Cornerstone, as your global relocation management company, may be one of your most important partners in the duty of care spectrum. As we work with your employees, our Relocation Consultants and Account Director can alert you to circumstances and potential issues in advance. We can then provide individual strategies, solutions, and special services for the affected employees, thereby possibly pre-empting a crisis. During the pandemic lockdowns, special services that we provided ranged from assisting with employee evacuations from the assignment location to facilitating immigration support to ensuring all was ready upon arrival in the home location including stocked groceries.
Next Steps
It is important for Global Mobility to be an active participant regarding duty of care, with the goal of influencing the Company’s attitudes, processes, and partners as they relate to employee health and safety. Legal requirements must be met, but the moral and ethical obligation to ensure the well-being and safety of mobile employees and their families cannot be ignored.
Awareness of the importance of duty of care is the first step; reviewing and updating current protocols and procedures is the next one. The need for duty of care continues as civil unrest, weather events, and other foreseeable and unforeseeable events happen daily. Corporate culture can play a role in the success of duty of care programs, but the strategies outlined above can help reach the ultimate goal of the health and safety of all employees.