Half of multinationals have no plan in place for dealing with a pandemic, according to ECA International’s Pandemic survey, conducted in response to the current Ebola outbreak, which has raised the issue of international HR’s role in crisis planning.
Of the 189 multinational companies which took part from across the globe between 30 July and 6 August 2014, an alarming 50% have no policy in place, while the two most common measures in place among organisations that do have a policy are the provision of a safe working environment (83%) and a business continuity plan should people no longer be able to travel to work (78%).
Three quarters of companies with a policy said they would return any expatriate staff, if possible, and/or their family in the event of a pandemic. Only a very small number of companies would increase hardship allowances (4%) or provide a new exceptional allowance (5%) in these circumstances.
Lee Quane, Regional Director, Asia, ECA International commented, “That half of the companies we surveyed have no policy in place is rather surprising. With cross-border travelling increasing, there is a potential for transmission around the world, multinational organisations have a responsibility to be prepared for such events and every good business continuity plan should have measures in place to deal with this kind of risk."
Quane explained that in a pandemic situation, there will be issues specific to expatriates. He said, "Global mobility teams need to ensure that these are also addressed within any crisis policy so that everyone is prepared and responsibilities clear. Considerations include how to deal with the expatriate’s family, knowing who to contact and how to reach people far from HQ as well as defining how much more care, if any, is reasonable to give to expatriates than to locally employed staff."
ECA recommends that IHR engage with the business continuity team to ensure there is a plan and that it takes expatriates into consideration; monitor government warnings and feedback from people on the ground; and work with a specialist provider to help with policy or advise on case-by-case scenarios.
