Building a modern corporate travel safety policy

Work travel should be stress-free, purposeful, productive and hopefully enjoyable. A huge part of making this happen is ensuring employees understand how they will be supported if they have any safety concerns.

This used to mean addressing basic concerns such as pre-trip planning and discussing emergency procedures, but in today’s tech-forward society, a modern corporate travel safety policy must reflect today’s real-time travel processes, digital-first communication methods and non-traditional working patterns. The average business traveler takes 6.8 business trips every year and with extreme climate events rising and an ever-changing political landscape, rapid responses to unexpected shifts must be considered.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to adapt your travel safety policies to meet the requirements of modern business practices and traveler expectations.

Why update your safety policy?

Digital adoption moves at such a rapid pace that even safety policies that were adequate five years ago are at risk of being outdated. So much of our workday is digital-first, and work travel is no different.  

While this new landscape brings added convenience and flexibility, it also carries more risk. Our reliance on the internet makes digital processes vulnerable to security risks, flexible ways of working make duty of care practices more complex, and an ‘always on’ culture can put privacy and employee wellbeing at risk.

Generations Z and millennials are predicted to make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030. These are employees who demand a high level of digital literacy in all aspects of their lives, including work. So a work travel policy that’s based on printed boarding cards and taxi telephone numbers won’t cut it.

Your duty of care responsibility as an employer 

Businesses must set clear guidelines for how work travelers should manage their trips, prioritizing their wellbeing and safety. This should be a collaborative process, involving senior management, HR, diversity and inclusion, sustainability and travel management.

In the US, an employer’s duty of care towards worker safety applies in and outside of the office, including during work travel. The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1970 mandates that companies must take reasonable and practical measures to reduce the risk of harm when an employee is traveling for work. One of these measures is a corporate travel safety policy that provides simple guidance for staying safe when on the move and working away from the office. The international travel standard ISO 31030:2021 also offers a framework for approaching travel and risk management.

As well as being a legal and ethical requirement in US workplaces, such policies improve employee satisfaction and wellbeing, cementing your business as caring as well as compliant.

Corporate travel policy best practices for modern businesses

We’ve prepared a useful list of adaptations to bring your corporate travel safety policy up-to-date:

Identify gaps in your existing travel safety policy

If you have an existing travel safety policy, you’ll want to identify where it fails to align with the demands and expectations of modern work travel. Assess each element of the policy, and note areas that need improvement.

It can be useful to work with other departments on this element, particularly HR and sustainability teams, who may pick up things that you might miss.

Here are some considerations to get you started:

• Did your company make any changes post-COVID that need to be reflected in the travel policy? For example, guidance on what to do during a pandemic outbreak during work travel

• Examine the working patterns that your business allows e.g. fully remote, hybrid, flexi-time. Ensure this is factored into your policy as the application of the policy for a fully remote worker may differ from a colleague that is office-based

• Does your policy take into account the latest advances in technology? For example, if you use a travel management platform that includes traveler tracking, this could affect your communication expectations

• Are your recommended communication channels up to date? What is the best way for travelers to communicate with you? Slack and Microsoft Teams are popular platforms.

Audit your policy for security threats

Your corporate safety policy should include your expectations for maintaining digital hygiene during the trip, and any steps employees should take beforehand.

Employees on work trips are particularly vulnerable to cybercrime due to the sheer amount of data that’s shared on a typical journey. Checking in to a flight online, using public Wi-Fi in a train station or using a physical payment terminal at a taxi rank are just some possible touchpoints where travelers could be at risk. Recently, Japan Airlines ‘Same Day Baggage Delivery Service’ was hacked, exposing data from up to 28,000 customers. Our reliance on the internet to get from A to B means digital hygiene when traveling for business is absolutely essential.

The policy should outline steps employees should take pre-trip, such as ensuring all apps and antivirus software are up to date and that a full data backup has been performed. If possible, FaceID or fingerprint login should be enabled on all mobile devices, as well as Multi-Factor Authentication for all work accounts.

Employees should be advised to always use their personal hotspot or company VPN, not public Wi-Fi. Public USB ports should also be avoided, as well as public computers at a hotel or business center.

Explain how traveler tracking works

If you’re using a travel management platform like Perk and have access to a traveler tracker solution, you’ll have an immediate overview of where every employee on a work trip is on their journey. 

This is great for risk management as a travel manager, but you also need to make sure that employees are reassured that this is a secure feature. Including such information in your work travel safety policy is the perfect way to balance employee privacy and your duty of care. Depending on where your colleagues are located, there may be state-specific privacy laws such as The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Rather than tracking an individual traveler, Perk integrates with airlines, hotels and other third-party travel providers to provide an overview of how travel is progressing. So in terms of privacy, traveler tracking is 100% compliant.

Consider modern patterns of work

Most modern businesses will have a variety of working patterns available for their employees, from fully remote, to hybrid or even a ‘work from anywhere’ option. If your travel policy is based purely on an employee being either at their desk or on a work trip, it’s time to update it.

If possible, you’ll want to account for some flexibility within work travel to allow for employees to customize the trip to suit them. According to a 2023 American Hotel & Lodging Association survey, 84% of travelers wanted to include some vacation time to their next work trip.

This phenomenon is known as ‘bleisure’, blurring the lines between business and leisure, allowing workers to explore their work trip location once the business elements are over.

Modernize your emergency support options

You probably have an emergency number for work travelers to call if they need support, perhaps the travel manager or the employee’s direct manager. But, if you can offer colleagues other options, make sure you state them in your policy.

With Perk, work travelers can use the in‑app live chat for assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We offer a target 1-minute response time, meaning that work travelers never have to wait for assistance. 

Update your risk assessments 

When assessing work travel risk, every employee must be treated as an individual with their own preferences and needs. This could be cultural factors or a medical condition. There are a wide spectrum of individual circumstances that may affect how a person experiences work travel and could potentially increase their risk factor.

Certain destinations can pose unique challenges for some members of your team. For example, the US government provides specific travel advice for women traveling alone, and it’s vital to stay mindful of local laws regarding LGBTQIA+ rights in certain territories. Make sure your colleagues know how to get help in an emergency, and that they can contact Perk’s dedicated customer care team, where real humans are on hand 24/7 via phone, email and chat to support them in any emergency situation.

Create a modern employee travel safety policy with Perk

By making a few adaptations, you’ll soon have a corporate travel safety policy that’s up to scratch for the modern age. And by using technology to your advantage, managing work travel for your colleagues will be simpler and more efficient.

By using Perk’s traveler tracker solution, you’ll have an overall view of everyone’s whereabouts, so you’ll know exactly how their journey is progressing and when they’re checked into their accommodation. If the worst was to happen, Perk provides major emergency response management, ensuring that whatever happens, they’re fully supported.

Request a demo to see how Perk can enhance your travel management processes and help you fulfil your duty of care responsibilities.