U.S. Business Travelers Agree: Firms Have a Responsibility to Protect Employees

business travelers think their company has a legal obligation to ensure their safety while traveling abroad on business, yet almost half (46%) say they have no clear travel security policy at their firm, according to an inaugural survey by Control Risks, the business risk consultancy.

Control Risks found that 52% of U.S. employees who travel on business would consider legal action if they were not supported properly. "Increasingly, companies from all sectors face a potential legal responsibility to demonstrate duty of care towards employees," says Laura Winthrop, Vice President of Control Risks' International Support and Analysis division. "Creating and maintaining a robust travel security program is an extremely important part of that. It will ensure the safety of employees while helping the firm to avoid costly legal and reputational fall-out if something goes wrong."
While travel security is a concern for employees, U.S. companies are not as prepared as they should be. More than one-third (36%) of business travelers have little confidence that their firm would be able to give them the correct advice in the event of an emergency while abroad. In addition, 54% carry no specific contact phone number for use in a crisis abroad and 22% have no idea who to alert in case of an emergency.
"As companies continue to globalize and move into emerging markets, threats to business travelers increase," says Ms. Winthrop. "This report tells us that employees feel more exposed to potential dangers but they don't have the support necessary to ensure their safety."
A Control Risks case study illustrates the need for coordinated travel security support:
An American employee from a US-based company was working in Lebanon at the time of the July/August 2006 conflict and needed immediate instructions on what to do and how to get out of the country. The company had been trying to handle this internally, but too many people were calling giving him conflicting information. In turn, they received conflicting information in terms of who he was and the status of his situation. Control Risks' 24-hour operations center, CR24, stepped in and as a result we were able to have a single point of communication with the employee and pass along timely and accurate information to the company's management. We provided the employee with information on where to hide during the rocket attacks and how to get on the list to be evacuated.
The business travel climate does not look like it will improve anytime soon. 43% of the respondents predict that the world will become a more dangerous place for business travelers over the next five years. In light of this, corporations should make a move to adopt travel security policies and procedures or review their current programs for three basic components: information, tracking and 24-hour support.
The Business Travel Report will be officially released at the NBTA (National Business Travel Association) International Convention & Exposition, July 22-25, 2007.
Notes to Editors
The fieldwork was carried out during May/June 2007. In total, 1,039 business travelers were interviewed by phone, 501 in the UK and 539 in the US. A summary report is available on request.
Control Risks is an independent, specialist risk consultancy with 18 offices on five continents. We provide advice and services that enable companies, governments and international organizations to accelerate opportunities and manage strategic and operational risks.

CNA Financial lawsuit over severance pay to go on

A U.S. federal judge has denied CNA Financial Corp.'s (CNA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) request to throw out a case brought against it by former employees over severance benefits, according to a written ruling.
U.S. District Judge James Holderman in the Northern District of Illinois declined to throw out two of the three counts pending in the case, saying they must go to trial unless the parties settle, according to the ruling dated Monday.
Holderman, however, dismissed one count and "strongly urged" the two sides to discuss settlement.
Chicago-based CNA, which is mostly owned by New York conglomerate Loews Corp. (LTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), is one of the largest commercial insurance companies in the United States,
The lawsuit was brought in December 2004 by 90 people who worked for CNA's life business operations unit, according to the ruling.
The plaintiffs worked as sales representatives, selling life insurance, long-term care insurance and annuities. Their positions were eliminated when CNA sold the unit to reinsurer Swiss Re (RUKN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), according to the ruling.
The plaintiffs, who were fired on April 5, 2004, filed the lawsuit after CNA denied their claims to severance benefits, according to the ruling. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal)

Types of Medical plans in the United States

On December 8, 2003, President Bush signed The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 into law, creating tax-deductible Health Savings Accounts. This gives consumers a new alternative to pay for health care expenses. the HSA is a private bank account which is un-taxed and only penalized if spent on non-medical items or services. Because it must be part of a high deductable insurance plan, the HSA insurance generally has a very low monthly premium and allows mostly healthy people to bank money for their own healthcare expenses rather than give it to the insurance company.

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