Quick answer: Duty of care means an employer is responsible for the safety of employees travelling on company time. For ground transport that means vetted, background-checked chauffeurs, fully insured vehicles, and a trip-level recordof who travelled where and when. If you can't produce the record, you can't show you met the duty.
Most companies think about duty of care for flights and hotels, then hand an executive a rideshare app and consider ground travel solved. It isn't. The car is where the risk actually sits — and it's the part with the thinnest paper trail.
What the obligation actually covers
If an employee is travelling on company business, you carry responsibility for their safety. That extends to the person driving them and the vehicle they're in. It isn't a policy document — it's a standard you have to be able to evidence.
Why ground transport is the blind spot
Flights are booked through a managed system. Hotels are vetted. Then the last mile — the car — is left to whoever the employee taps on their phone at 6am. Unknown driver, unknown vehicle, no contractual relationship, no record you control.
The four things you should be able to show
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Vetted drivers | Background-checked, professionally trained chauffeurs |
| Insured vehicles | Full commercial liability cover on every trip |
| Traceability | Who travelled, when, in which vehicle, with which chauffeur |
| Accountability | A named contact at a company you have a contract with |
The accountability gap
With a rideshare, your recourse is a support queue. With a chauffeur company, it's an account manager who answers the phone and a contract that defines the standard — see chauffeur vs rideshare. That difference only matters on the day something goes wrong, which is exactly when it matters most.
What to ask your ground-transport provider
- Are your chauffeurs background-checked, and how often?
- Can you show proof of commercial liability insurance?
- Can we get trip-level reporting by traveller and cost centre?
- Who is our named contact when something changes at short notice?
- What is your backup-vehicle protocol?
How an account closes the gap
On a corporate account, every trip is driven by a vetted, insured chauffeur and logged automatically — so the reporting that proves your duty of care is a by-product of booking, not a separate chore. See our corporate programs or open an account.
Frequently asked
What is duty of care in employee travel?
It's the employer's responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of staff travelling on company business. It covers who is driving them, whether the vehicle is insured, and whether you can account for where they were.
Does duty of care apply to a short city trip?
Yes. The obligation doesn't switch off for short journeys. If the trip is on company time and company expense, it's within scope.
Why is a rideshare a duty-of-care problem?
You can't tell in advance who the driver is, what the vehicle is like, or produce a reliable audit trail afterwards. The accountability sits with an app, not a company you have a contract with.
What records should we keep?
Trip-level detail: traveller, date and time, route, vehicle, and the chauffeur. On a corporate account this is generated automatically in your monthly reporting.