Ema Boccagni is commercial director EMEA at mobility solutions
specialist ECA International
As organisations prepare recovery roadmaps for the coming year, including timings for offices to reopen and the resumption of overseas travel, many are now asking themselves exactly how essential a trip is, for employers must have staff welfare front of mind and only resume business travel when safe to do so.
Those trips that do go ahead are going to be wrapped in red tape. What are the entry requirements of the destination? What Covid testing is required? Are there quarantine conditions on arrival and return?
But there are going to be further questions and conversations raised around whether staff who have been vaccinated should be free to travel and how trip approvals for those that haven’t – or choose not to be – will be handled.
A number of countries have set out national policies that would permit overseas travellers to enter if they can provide proof of vaccination. In some cases that is the only route in; in others it exempts them from quarantine requirements or Covid tests.
An existing example of this is the requirement of travellers arriving from locations where Yellow Fever is prevalent to provide proof of vaccination against it upon entry.
It’s widely considered that vaccinations against Covid-19 will greatly aid the resumption of business travel, as well as enhancing the safety of overseas travel for both the traveller and the host country.
But can employers require an employee to be vaccinated, or can they decline or cancel a trip if the employee is unwilling or unable to be vaccinated? These are difficult moral and legal issues for corporates to deal with.
There are huge disparities and shortages of vaccine doses available in locations around the world. Rollouts are largely being managed by national governments, most of whom have established priority lists – everyone must wait their turn.
That is a logistical hurdle but, at the same time, vaccination is voluntary. It’s a personal decision and organisations are unlikely to insist employees are vaccinated.
What does that mean for those who aren’t vaccinated? Could they be prevented from travelling on business? That could be interpreted as discrimination.
Therefore, risk assessment is going to become more prominent and more forensic.
An assessment needs to consider the type of work that would be involved during an oversea trip, to ascertain the main risks of exposure and how best to mitigate this.
It is widely acknowledged that Covid-19 is transmitted most effectively by prolonged close contact within enclosed spaces, so time spent in these environments should be limited where possible. This could mean avoiding public transport and even conducting business meetings in outdoor environments.
Companies may even consider encouraging business class seats on flights, to reduce the number of close contacts the traveller is exposed to – something which would undoubtedly prove to be a popular move.
Any risk assessment should be carefully considered in the context of the risk profile of the traveller: age, gender, ethnicity and presence of underlying health conditions are all known to play a role in the risk of an individual developing serious symptoms.
It’s standard practice for organisations to send potential assignees for medical examinations before travel. We see this policy being widely adopted in response to Covid-19, as health checks can flag to the employee and employer any underlying risks which may be aggravated by the assignment.
Conditions could include respiratory illnesses, which would prevent employees travelling to countries with high air pollution levels, as it could be life-threatening, or where treatment may not be readily available.
While organisations are unlikely to block travel solely on the basis of non-vaccination, preventing more vulnerable employees from going on assignment in locations deemed to be high-risk would be consistent with existing policies.
We’re going to soon see companies tentatively resume essential international business travel in coming months, but the extent to which travel will expand in scope as the year progresses will be determined by the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic and the progress made with vaccine rollouts around the world.
It’s understandable that many organisations will likely adopt a cautious wait-and-see approach, particularly as nations progresses through their staggered roadmaps out of lockdown.
As with all matters concerning the spread of Covid-19 and our efforts to manage its impact, the situation remains fluid and pragmatism is required by HR teams when dealing with an organisation’s international operations and the mobility of staff between entities.
Requiring an employee to be vaccinated in order to travel is unlikely to be legal unless it’s legally required in either the employee’s home or host location.
However, there are circumstances where an organisation can justifiably be seen to act in the interests of the employee, their colleagues and the organisation overall by preventing overseas travel unless the traveller has received an effective vaccination against the virus.
As always, having a policy and communicating it clearly will be critical for all employees to understand what the company’s stance on the matter will be.