Best business practices for Covid-19 and other emergency travel concerns

Whether there is a health crises such as Covid-19 or other unexpected or emergency situations, businesses need robust practices to protect traveling employees. Crises management teams should meet regularly to review the following:

Planning and Response

• Travel management plans taking into account potential travel disruptions including possible quarantines
• Pandemic plans including how to manage travelers from affected areas
• Communication protocols. Systems should be tested regularly
• Protective equipment and cleaning protocols

Health Education

• Ensure employees have access to the most up-to-date information.
• Educate employees on hygiene measures including frequent hand washing, avoiding touching their face, ensuring food is thoroughly cooked, avoiding direct contact with animals in their environments, and keeping away from people who are sick.  
• Instruct employees to watch for symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath.
• If sick, advise employees not to travel.
• Urge employees who may be exposed to illness to seek medical advice.

Travel advice

• Advise employees to continually monitor local conditions when traveling. If going abroad, refer to state department and/or local consular advisories.   
• Ask employees traveling abroad to enroll in the U.S. State Department’s  free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) which provides important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in the destination country while also helping the U.S. Embassy to contact citizens in an emergency.
• Instruct employees to reconfirm travel arrangements with airlines and other travel suppliers for the latest on scheduling changes, cancellations and flexible rebooking policies.       
• Remind employees to book travel within your corporate system so that duty of care plans can be properly executed.

As your travel management partner, Adelman is prepared to help you and your travelers through unexpected disruptions, crises situations and other emergencies using all means at our disposal.