Looking after staff who travel for work

This site is a guide to a kind of service. It is not Corporate Travel Management, the listed travel group. It is not connected with that group, or with any company of a similar name.

Many businesses send their staff away for work. Corporate travel management is the work of arranging those trips for a business. Some businesses do it themselves, and some ask a travel firm to do it for them. Either way, the same few sets of rules come into it.

Looking after staff who travel

In Great Britain, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 sets out an employer's main duty. Section 2 says it is "the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees". The Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says an employer is required by law to protect employees from harm. At the least, the employer must identify what could cause injury or illness, and decide how likely harm is and how serious it could be. Then the employer must act to remove the hazard, or control the risk where that is not possible.

HSE has separate guidance for people who work alone. It says an employer must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone.

For trips abroad, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes travel advice for each country. Its advice covers entry requirements, safety and security, health risks and legal differences.

Package travel rules and business travel

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 apply to packages that traders sell to travellers. Regulation 3 lists what they leave out. One item is a package bought "on the basis of a general agreement".

The Regulations define a general agreement. It is an agreement between a trader and a person acting for a business, made to book travel arrangements in connection with that business.

ATOL and business travel agreements

The Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012 say who needs an ATOL to make flights available. Regulation 10 lists the people who are exempt.

One of them is a firm making flights available under a "general business travel agreement". The exemption holds only where the agreement includes all the current terms that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published for it.

The CAA keeps a search on its website. Anyone can use it to see whether a business holds an ATOL, or is part of a body that holds one.

Traveller details are personal data

Booking a trip for a colleague usually means passing on their name and other details. The Information Commission (which took over from the ICO on 30 September 2026) explains that personal data is information relating to an identified or identifiable person.

Some personal data needs more protection, and the Information Commission calls it special category data. Health data is one kind. To use it lawfully, an organisation must identify a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR and a separate condition under Article 9.

The Information Commission calls sending personal information to a separate organisation outside the UK a "restricted transfer". It says every restricted transfer must be covered by UK adequacy regulations, appropriate safeguards or an exception.

Tax on travel costs

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) says an employer paying employees' travel costs has tax, National Insurance and reporting obligations. These cover travel itself, somewhere to stay when an employee has to stay away overnight, and meals and other "subsistence" while travelling.

HMRC also has guidance for employees who pay their own costs. It says employees cannot claim tax relief for travelling to and from work, unless they are travelling to a temporary place of work.

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