forum for expatriate management presentation final

Keeping a Globally Mobile Workforce Safe in an Unsafe WorldWhat's Your Duty of Care?

September 12, 2011

© 2011 AEA International Holdings Pte. Ltd. For permission to reprint contact International SOS.© 2011 AEA International Holdings Pte. Ltd. For permission to reprint contact International SOS.

Suzanne GarberChief Operating Officer, Americas Region,International SOS Assistance, Inc.

Lessons Learned…from a volatile world!

24 January -14 February

17 February – 22 February

19 February - 5 March

Tunisia Egypt

13 January - 20 February

17 March –

19 March

Bahrain Libya Japan

11 March -

4 April

Christchurch

22 February


8 May

Germany

Simply put, ‘Duty of Care’ is a company’s obligation to protect its employees from risks.

Duty of Care

Source: “Duty of Care for Protecting International Assignees, their Dependents, and International Business Travelers,” published by International SOS and written by Lisbeth Claus, Ph.D, SPHR, GPHR,

What is Duty of Care?

Employers have an obligation for the health, safety, security and well-being of their employees.HR

LEGALIndividuals and organizations have legal obligations to act toward others and the public in a prudent and cautious manner to avoid the risk of reasonable foreseeable injury to others.

When employees cross borders for their work, the employer’s duty of care involves risk management extending beyond the usual health, safety and security imposed by the familiar environment in the home country.

Global HR

“Duty of Loyalty” of employees

Employer’s Duty of Care Legal Review

• Australia• Belgium• Canada• France• Germany• Netherlands• Spain• United Kingdom• United States &• ILO• European Union

Key Duty of Care Legal Issues

• Great diversity in legislation

• Multiple legal systems involved for global workforce

• Many factors impact applicable law and jurisdiction

• Case law continues to refine and define Duty of Care obligations

Your Challenges

• Lack of awareness among employers

• “It is unlikely to happen to us” attitude

• Unfamiliarity with legal duty of care issues

• Current focus on cost reduction

• Difficulty to take coordinated action because of multiple decision-makers

• How to bring it to the attention of the C-suite

Tip: Broaden the discussion from Travel Risk Management to include Duty of Care in order

to get the C-suite involved

Decision-Maker Concerns

What are the major duty of care concernsfor each decision-maker when an incident occurs?

Medical Directors

Corporate Security/Risk Managers

Travel Managers

Global HR Managers

Legal Managers

Senior Managers

Insurance Managers

Line/Project Managers

Occupational H&S/Workers’ Compensation Managers

PR/Communication Managers

Employee’s

health, safety, security

and well-being

Lessons Learned

1. The most important concern, common to all decision-makers, is the

health, safety and well-being of the employee.

2. The employer is being held accountable for a whole plethora of

situations that can happen to the international assignee, their

dependents and international business travelers.

3. Many employers are not aware of the extent of their duty of care

obligations.

4. Awareness is critical yet insufficient.

5. Compliance is complicated due to the diversity of laws (statutes and

case law) in different countries, jurisdiction and choice of law issues.

Lessons Learned (con’t)

1. Employer’s duty of care obligations cannot be delegated.

2. Employers need focus both on compliance and sustainable/responsible

solutions.

3. Prevention far outweighs the costs of employee injury, death, and/or litigation.

4. Assuming employer’s duty of care obligations requires a planned and

integrated risk management approach.

5. Employers should rely on experienced partners to help them meet their duty of

care obligations.

The Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management Global Benchmarking Study


PURPOSE of GBS

• 718 Respondents• 628 Companies

Worldwide


Duty of Care and Duty of Loyalty

Duty of Care is defined as a requirement that a person or

organization acts towards others and the public with

watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence in a manner that

a reasonable person in the circumstance would.

Duty of Loyalty is defined as the duty of an employee

not to compete with the interest of the organization and follow the employer’s Duty of Care policies and

procedures.

Copyright © 2011, Lisbeth Claus, All Rights Reserved.© 2011 AEA International Holdings Pte. Ltd. For permission to reprint contact International SOS.© 2011 AEA International Holdings Pte. Ltd. For permission to reprint contact International SOS.

Global HR is called upon to play a leading role in protecting the health, safety, security and well-being of employees.


5 TAKEAWAYS1. All countries are potentially

dangerous

environmental context ■ unfamiliarity ■ employee profile & risky behavior



dangerous for employees

2. Organizations face unique risks but differ in how they cope with risks

Global 500

NGO

Unique Risks

GOV. ORG

s. Large

Small vs. Large

Industry

DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE & RESPONSE

Geography



dangerous for employees

2. Organizations face unique risk challenges but differ in how they cope with similar risks

3. Duty of care is not just about natural and human-made disasters

Illness & diseaseLack of access to medical care

Road & work accidentsTravel-related problems

EFFECT


5 DUTY OF CARETAKEAWAYS

1. All countries are potentially dangerous for employees

2. Organizations face unique risk challenges but differ in how they cope with similar risk


4. There is only average duty of care awareness


5 TAKEAWAYS

1. All countries are potentially dangerous for employees

2. Organizations face unique risk challenges but differ in how they cope with similar risks


4. There is only average duty of care awareness

5. There are five key stakeholders but duty of care should be everyone’s responsibility


Stakeholder Awareness

HR

SR management


5 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Increase awareness

HR SR MGT

EMPLOYEE


5 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Increase awareness2. Plan with key stakeholders

HR

Secur

ity

Risk m

anag

emen

t

HRSen

ior m

anag

emen

t

Trave

lEVERYONE


5 RECOMMENDATIONS


2. Plan with key stakeholders

3. Expand policies and procedures

Travel managementpolicy

Travel reimbursement policy

Prohibited risky behaviorspolicy

I’m Okaypolicy

Refuse to travelpolicy

Rest breakpolicy

Other DOCpolicies

Transportationpolicy

Hotel &accommodationpolicy

Travel restrictionpolicy Vendor due

diligencepolicy

Sample Duty of Care Best Practice Policies


5 RECOMMENDATIONS




4. Conduct due diligence

Supply Chain Due Diligence


5 RECOMMENDATIONS1. Increase awareness



4. Conduct due diligence

5. Communicate, educate, train


Global HR is called upon to play a leading role in protecting the health, safety, security and

well-being of employees.

Now more than ever, Global HR must take

leadership responsibility foremployer Duty of Care

and employee Duty of Loyalty.


Dialogues on Duty of Care

Join the conversation at http://dialoguesondutyofcare.com, a Duty of Care blog brought to you by International SOS.

Subscribe to the RSS feed to receive an email when there is a new posting.


forum for expatriate management presentation final

Documents

breach of duty

duty of loyaltyduty

duty of caresimply

major duty of care concerns

international assignees

aea international holdings

international sos assistance

legal obligations