Against the backdrop of a tense labour market, bleisure – or the combination of business and leisure travel – is a practice that is tending to develop within companies. It offers a number of advantages, such as increased employee satisfaction, improved productivity and greater attractiveness for the company. In practice, however, it presents a number of challenges. Here are some explanations.
Liability
The regulations on this subject are clear: any employee who suffers an accident while working outside the company on behalf of their employer is presumed to have suffered an accident at work, whether the accident occurred in the course of work or in the course of everyday life .
To avoid liability, it is up to the company to prove that the incident occurred outside the assignment, on personal time. Rigorous supervision prior to the trip will make it possible to define what is mission-related and what is purely personal time. At the same time, the company should check its insurance policy to ensure that it is covered in the event of an extension of the stay in a private capacity.
Management
Should bleisure be included in travel policy?
There is some debate among companies. Some – often those with little maturity in this area – prefer not to do so, so that it remains a marginal practice managed on a case-by-case basis. Fair treatment of employees who are unable to travel is generally taken into account. Others, who are more advanced, have defined clear rules to avoid any ambiguity. These cover subjects such as eligibility, the validation process, what is reimbursed/not reimbursed by the company, security management, etc.
The involvement of the various parties concerned, such as HR, Travel Management, Risk Management and Legal Affairs, is necessary to ensure that the rules are covered and communicated. You also need to be aware of the tax aspects, which could result in the expenses covered being reclassified as a benefit in kind, and consequently the payment of social security contributions.
Security
As we saw earlier, the company is responsible for the safety of its employees on the move.
However, if the employee makes personal bookings outside the privileged channels, they will fly under the radar and, consequently, it will be difficult for the employer to warn the employee in the event of a crisis. Employees may be asked to check in manually via the mobile applications of tracking solutions, but not everyone wants to be geolocalised. Good education, in partnership with Risk Management, will explain to employees what is at stake for them and for the company. The more they see the benefits of complying with the rules, the greater the chances are that they will do so.
Additional cost
The question of the extra cost due to the extension is a thorny one, and technical difficulties stand in the way of making a clean break. Take the case of air travel: a ticket with a Friday return costs €100, compared with €150 on Sunday evening. How do you split the part that should be paid for by the employee? You can’t.
Processes can be put in place, but nothing ideal or complex to manage for the agency – if bookings are made through it – which is forced to carry out more manual operations. Whatever the case, it is essential for the company to identify all these scenarios and how to manage them.
There is an increased risk of fraud in the context of bleisure, and vigilance is essential to prevent unplanned invoices from being charged. Properly configured booking and/or expense reporting tools can help in this respect.
Reporting
By default, personal bookings made with the agency are not distinguished from the rest, which can distort the reporting data. This is all the more annoying given that this is the basis on which certain ‘official’ reports, such as the carbon footprint, are produced.
To minimise the impact, it may be worth discussing with the agency how to set up indicators and/or an appropriate process: management of requests by a separate team, personalised fields to identify personal bookings, dedicated payment methods, etc.
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