Travel Policy

In many cases the work we do requires national or international travel. This includes things like delivering training or workshops, or meeting one-on-one with clients.

We recognise that different personal circumstances mean staff have different needs and constraints around travel. The Travel Policy is to set out reasonable expectations for travel for business, and to create an enabling environment for those who travel as part of their Co-op work.

Staff will be supported to plan and administer trips. Staff should plan trips and book transit and accommodation on work time. Staff who cannot or do not want to undertake planning or booking trips themselves will be provided with assistance (either from another Co-op member, or a third-party travel agent). Staff will be allocated a ‘travel buddy’ while they are abroad for business travel who will be their main point of contact in the UK.

Staff must fully comply with all travel laws, regulations and requirements. Any associated costs (for example: insurance, visas, work permits, vaccinations, medical tests, and quarantines) will be covered.

Staff have a right to safety and security while travelling for work. Staff will not be expected to travel into countries with, for example, dangerous political situations or ongoing natural disasters. Staff will not be expected to travel to places where a personal characteristic puts them at particular risk.

Staff have a right to reasonable adjustments with respect to travel. Staff with particular needs stemming from, for example (but not limited to), disabilities, health or medical needs, cultural or religious requirements, caring obligations, can discuss what reasonable adjustments they need in place in order to undertake travel for work.

Travel duration and frequency should not be unduly burdensome. Staff can expect adequate notice for travel. The amount of notice should be proportional to the duration and distance of the trip, ie. the longer the trip, the more notice will be given. Staff will not be expected to spend more than two weeks away from home in one go, including time spent in transit. Staff will not be required to make multiple trips in quick succession. Staff can discuss necessary notice periods or limit the number of trips they make per quarter, and/or per year, in consultation with their project team.

Staff may work while in transit, but are not obligated to. Staff who want or need to work while in transit will be supported to optimise the environment they need to do so (eg. ensuring adequate wifi connectivity and space, minimising background noise).

Staff can expect time to prepare for and recover from travel. Where possible, staff should aim to travel within their normal working hours. Everyone’s needs will differ, but staff have a right to take up to the amount of time spent in transit outside of normal working hours, up to a maximum of 7.5 hours per day, as leave on the working days as close as possible to the start and end of the trip.

Staff should account for travel and recovery time when work is being scheduled. Staff should not expect to carry out their usual workload or daily tasks for the duration they are travelling for work. In collaboration with project teams, staff should ensure they are not overburdened upon their return to work with additional work generated by a trip, or by catching up on things that happened in the Co-op while they were away.

Staff who wish to travel for work will be supported in finding opportunities to do so. Depending on clients, projects, and job roles, not all staff are subject to the same expectations or opportunities with respect to travel. Staff who wish to engage in professional development by doing the types of work that typically require travel can arrange with their colleagues to adjust their job role accordingly.

Staff will be supported to use environmentally sustainable modes of transport. Where possible and practicable, staff may choose to make longer journeys which avoid the use of flights. Flying within the UK should only occur in exceptional circumstances.

Staff who travel regularly for clients may take a travel sabbatical. In coordination with their project team, staff may request to pause all expectations of travel for a fixed period of time, with an agreed date on which business travel can resume again. The details of the sabbatical are at the discretion of the staff member and their team (eg. whether it applies only to a particular project, a particular type of work, only to international travel, etc) and should be explicitly documented.

Staff may decline to travel for business due to extenuating circumstances. It is not always possible to predict this, but where possible arrangements should be made as far in advance of anticipated travel as possible (either to cancel, reassign or reschedule already arranged travel, or to communicate that travel will not be possible). Extenuating circumstances is for use in extreme, unavoidable situations, and can be raised either on a per-trip basis, or for a fixed period of time.

Co-op members may make an agreement to cancel or restrict travel of any or all staff due to extenuating circumstances. Staff will be supported in communicating to clients for how long travel restrictions will be imposed and what the effects on the delivery of our contracts will be. Levels of Co-op wide travel restriction are:

  • Travel ban: no business travel.
  • Essential travel: travel for business is limited to only that which is deemed absolutely essential for the running of the business.
  • Restricted travel: travel for business is limited and discretionary.

Client travel

The expectations our clients have of us to travel in order to deliver the agreed work, as well as our expectations of how we are compensated for travel, should be explicit in our contracts with clients.

Travel responsibilities should be shared equitably between members of the delivery team for a particular contract (and other staff if applicable or useful), with consideration for individual circumstances which may affect travel availability in terms of timings, duration or locations. Provisional arrangements for who will travel to meet particular contractual needs should be scheduled as far in advance as possible. It may be necessary or beneficial for more than one member of a delivery team to travel for the same trip. If not, a backup staff member should be arranged for each trip if possible.

Staff are expected to communicate early and transparently about any constraints around client travel with their delivery team, to facilitate scheduling and distribution of travel.

Staff members responsible for carrying out the work may decide that additional travel beyond the requirements of the contract is necessary or beneficial. Provided staff are willing and able to travel, this will be supported by the Co-op.

Where extenuating circumstances or individual constraints of team members make it infeasible to meet contractual travel obligations, staff will be supported to communicate this to clients, and to make alternative arrangements (eg. attending remotely, or subcontracting the work), or to adjust the contract schedule, deliverables or cost.

Co-op travel

In-person all-Co-op meetings are usually held quarterly in the UK. Staff are expected to attend as many quarterly all-Co-op meetings as practical, but are not obligated to attend all of them. Arrangements will always be made to support remote participation and/or asynchronous participation.

In-person coworking or training may also be arranged, which staff are encouraged to attend but will not be obligated. Staff wishing to arrange in-person coworking or training can do so in collaboration with others who are interested to attend.

Business development and training

Staff will be supported to travel for business development or training purposes (eg. to conferences, seminars, workshops, courses, networking events). Staff are expected to seek expenses from the appropriate budget, and to be transparent about their trip within the Co-op.

Appendices

Current status

The Co-op is in restricted travel mode due to the global coronavirus pandemic. This will be reviewed by 2022-06-30.

  • [[Expenses_Policy Expenses Policy]]
  • [[Travel_insurance Travel insurance]]
  • [[Health_and_Safety#Lone-working-and-travel Health & safety: lone working and travel]]
  • [[Training_and_Development Training & Development]]