Recent government advisories warning travelers about flying to parts of the Middle East or through parts of the region's airspace offer a reminder that geopolitical events can present a variety of risks for multinational organizations and their employees. Regional conflicts can rapidly expand, disrupting travel, restricting access to key destinations, and placing business travelers in uncertain or potentially dangerous situations.
Despite advances in remote work and video conferencing, international travel remains essential to multinational companies, enabling client service, operations management, and growth. Protecting traveling employees requires more than reacting to events as they occur — it requires advance planning, visibility into employee locations, reliable communication channels, tested response procedures, and an understanding of available risk management and insurance resources.
Organizations that best navigate crises are often those that invest in preparation long before disruptions occur.
Know where your travelers are
One of the first challenges organizations face during a crisis is determining whether traveling employees are affected and whether any may be in or transiting through impacted regions. Having information about these employees can significantly improve response efforts during rapidly evolving situations.
To better identify and coordinate with potentially at-risk employees companies should maintain centralized information on:
Employee locations and travel itineraries.
Contact details.
Citizenship and passport information.
Other relevant travel documents.
Organizations should also distinguish between business travelers, expatriates, secondees, contractors, and locally employed staff, while separately identifying relevant citizenship, dual-nationality, and residency considerations. Available resources, evacuation options, and insurance support may vary depending on an individual's circumstances and location.
Ideally, the status of individual employees and others can be tracked in real time, which can be especially valuable when events unfold unexpectedly.
Organizations should balance traveler visibility with applicable data protection requirements. Collecting passport details, travel itineraries, and location information should have a clear purpose and lawful basis, with appropriate safeguards, restricted access, and retention periods. Employees should understand what information is collected, how it will be used, and with whom it may be shared. Any real-time location monitoring should be necessary and proportionate to the identified risks.
Monitor changing conditions
A destination that appears low-risk when travel is booked may present very different risks days or weeks later. As such, organizations should establish processes for monitoring government advisories, airline disruptions, security intelligence, and travel restrictions that may affect traveling employees.
Employees simply transiting through a region can experience travel disruptions that extend beyond the immediate area of a crisis, such as airspace closures, flight cancellations, border restrictions, transportation shutdowns, and changing government guidance. Organizations should evaluate not only destination risks but also the resilience of travel routes and contingency options if conditions change unexpectedly.
Prepare for communications, disruptions, and evacuations
Speed and clarity matter when a crisis emerges. In many cases, organizations are required to meet international duty of care obligations for traveling employees through adequate evaluation and briefings. Organizations should ensure that employees are aware of any significant hazards associated with their travel.
Additionally, organizations should establish crisis management and incident response plans that define responsibilities, decision-making authority, escalation procedures, and employee communication protocols. These plans should be reviewed and tested regularly and updated following major organizational changes such as acquisitions, divestitures, facility changes, or expansion into new regions.
Advance planning is vital, especially regarding employee communication. Companies should identify how they will maintain contact with employees if local infrastructure is disrupted or government restrictions affect traditional means of communication. Alternative communication methods and employee check-in procedures should be established before an event occurs to facilitate information-sharing during crises.
As conditions deteriorate, businesses may need to postpone nonessential travel, reroute travelers, direct employees to work remotely, or — in worst-case scenarios — help employees leave affected areas. Clear protocols for making such decisions are crucial.
Where disruption results in an extended stay or temporary remote work from another country, employers should involve their HR, legal, and global mobility teams to assess applicable immigration and work authorization requirements, as well as potential tax, payroll, and social security obligations. Permission to enter or remain in a country should not be assumed to authorize work there, and an unexpected change in location or duration may require a fresh compliance assessment.
Employee preparedness is equally important. At a minimum, employers should advise all travelers about the importance of:
Understanding emergency and crisis-response procedures before departure.
Knowing how to access emergency support resources while abroad.
Maintaining copies of important travel documents and critical contact information.
Carrying necessary medications and understanding how to obtain medical assistance if needed.
Staying informed about local emergency guidance, security developments, and relevant consular resources.
Knowing whom to contact and how to report changing conditions or emerging concerns while traveling.
These simple steps can help employees respond more effectively if conditions abroad become unstable.
Companies should identify security consultants, intelligence providers, evacuation specialists, and other response partners ahead of crisis events, as they can provide critical support when employees need assistance quickly.
Reviewing insurance programs
Global employers should consider insurance as one component of a broader preparedness strategy rather than a substitute for crisis planning. In many cases, the greatest value afforded by various insurance policies is access to security, crisis response, and medical and evacuation resources that can help organizations make informed decisions while events are unfolding. Understanding how to access those resources before a crisis occurs can be just as important as the coverage itself.
Several forms of insurance can provide support to employers when geopolitical events lead to travel disruptions:
Kidnap and ransom (K&R) or special crime insurance, which can provide employers with access to crisis response and security consultants when employees face security threats or require emergency support. Depending on the circumstances, these resources may help organizations assess developing situations, access intelligence, and coordinate evacuation efforts involving affected employees, particularly where kidnapping, extortion, wrongful detention, or ransom demands are involved.
Foreign voluntary workers' compensation insurance, which can extend workers' compensation benefits to employees who experience covered injuries while working outside of their country of origin/hire.
Political/security/natural catastrophe evacuation coverage, which can address nonmedical evacuation to a safe location following covered political unrest, security threats and natural disasters.
Business travel accident insurance, which may respond to certain employee medical emergencies and other incidents that occur during business travel.
Businesses should be mindful that international (expatriate) medical plans and business travel medical plans written by life and health insurers generally do not provide coverage for political evacuation. However, these insurers may work with service partners who can provide security and evacuation assistance for policyholders.
Before traveling, it is important to review relevant insurance policies for war exclusions or any special conditions around travel into and through disturbed areas. For K&R insurance policies, look out for triggers in the wording: Depending on the region, some of these may already have been met previously, meaning that amendments to wordings or confirmation of affirmative cover for travel may be required at renewal or ahead of travel to ensure expected coverage remains in place.
In some jurisdictions, government-sponsored programs may provide support to individuals and businesses affected by conflict-related events. These programs vary significantly by country and circumstance, making it essential for multinational organizations to understand — in advance of any crises — how they may supplement private insurance and crisis response efforts.
Similarly, multinational companies should review potential coverage limitations before any crisis occurs. Eligibility for certain benefits may vary based on the type of traveler involved, the destination, applicable travel advisories, or timing.
Multinationals should also recognize that the tenor of the insurance marketplace and the availability of assistance resources can quickly change as events evolve. Following major geopolitical incidents, insurers and travel assistance providers may impose new travel restrictions, require advance notification for travel to affected regions, or limit coverage for certain destinations.
Employee assistance during and after crisis events
Physical safety is only one part of an effective response. Employees affected by geopolitical events may face significant stress, uncertainty, and emotional strain, particularly when family members are involved or when disruptions persist for an extended period.
Organizations should consider how employee assistance programs, counseling and support services, and other wellbeing resources can be made available following a significant event. Providing support during and after a crisis can help employees recover more effectively while reinforcing a company’s commitments to its people.
In an environment where conflicts, political instability, and travel disruptions can affect employees almost anywhere in the world, protecting people must remain at the center of every crisis preparedness strategy. By taking proactive steps before an event occurs, multinational organizations can improve both employee safety and organizational resilience when the next crisis emerges.
