Gaps in corporate travel policies create exposures for employers

Less than one-third of companies have updated their corporate travel policies within the last year, leaving employees on business travel at risk, according to American Express Global Business Travel.

American Express Global Business Travel analyzed 100 travel policies of global, multinational and mid-sized companies. Some of the policy gaps the survey uncovered include:

• Only 12% of policies addressed traveller security despite it being a critical issue for companies, since more employees are embarking on worldwide business travel.
• 80% did not address reimbursement of ancillary fees such as checked bags, reservation change fees or other for-purchase services offered at hotels and car rentals.
• None of the policies addressed the use of mobile applications or even referenced tools they may have available for travellers to use on the road or when working remotely.
• 70% of companies do not provide specific guidelines to travellers about when it makes sense to book airfares through a non-preferred supplier if the ticket is less expensive.

“As today’s global marketplace is constantly changing, and the logistics of capitalizing on growth in emerging markets make travel more complex than ever before, it is not enough to just develop a travel policy and assume that employees know what to do with it,” said Helen Brough, AEGBT’s director of Advisory Services Global Policy Practice.
“Companies should be actively leveraging and communicating their travel policy to employees and enlisting influencers within the company, such as Human Resources, Security and Legal to support these efforts.”