This Act came into affect on 6 April 2008 and in it the Corporate is now deemed to have a Duty of Care to it’s employees. This extends beyond the obvious Health and Safety at work issues to potentially when an employee is travelling on Business.
Take the following examples:
1. An Employee books their own hotel in a “downtown area” and is stabbed returning there one evening.
2. An Employee books their own car hire with “RENTAREC” and has an accident due to a fault with the car.
3. An Employee books their own flight with “CRASH AIR” and the plane goes down due to a drunk pilot.
In all these instances, the Corporate COULD be held liable, as it has not exercised all due care in providing the Travel and attempting to ensure that the risk to the Employee is minimised. I say “COULD” as because the Law is so new, there has not yet been a Test Case. However Corporates should take this matter seriously. I am aware of one company for whom the risk “sign off” for trips to Iraq is the CEO only.
In my view it is essential that Corporates cover the issue by ensuring that ALL Travel is “on the radar” and booked through a central point.
MCT can do this easily for you. As well as booking flights, we, as members of Advantage, have the most competitive rates for Hotels, Car Hire, Rail, Ferries and Passports/Visas. Our 24 Hour Service is one recommended by Advantage and we will also be offering a new “Cash Passport” service, which is a bit like a credit card, but preloaded with a certain amount that can then be taken out at Visa ATMs all over the world. This product is designed to replace Travellers Cheques. MCT can also book Low Cost Carriers to ensure that EVERY trip is logged in our systems and therefore show that the required Duty of Care has been fulfilled.
Therefore, in the event of a disaster, such as recently occurred in Burma and China, MCT would be able to run reports to identify if any Employee was in the affected area. This information would not necessarily be available if each individual was “doing their own thing”. For the Corporate with a more complex travel pattern, we can also advise on a traveller Tracking system, which would show on an online map the position of each traveller in the world.
Any deviation from Travel Policy could also be seen as a breach of the Duty of Care. MCT can ensure that the Policy is adhered to, and if you don’t have one, we can help design one for you.
Two other things to think about.
1. For those employees who use their own car for business use. Do you know if they have Business use coverage on their insurance? Many insurance companies do not include this now – it’s only Social, Domestic and Pleasure. If someone were to have an accident taking the banking, for example, and had no business cover, then the Corporate would be held liable.
2. Again, for employees using their own car, or even a company pool car. Do you know that they hold a valid driving license. I was only reading a story to day, admittedly in Japan, about a man who had been driving Ambulances and Fire Engines for 20 years, but did not have a driving license.
If you require any further information on this subject, or you require assistance in ensuring adherence, please do not hesitate to contact me at colin.needham@millenniumtravel.co.uk or on Telephone Number 01992 660400.
MCT would be delighted to assist in ensuring that none of our clients need have any concerns about this Act.
