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Business travel

Business travel is often associated with a number of negative health outcomes. Research from the World Bank indicates that business travel is associated with higher total medical claim costs, with the highest increase attributed to psychological disorders related to stress. Additionally, findings indicate that the main stressors of business travel are impacts on family and personal life, jetlag, increased workload upon return and isolation from family and friends.

This feature aims to reduce the physical and mental stress associated with business travel by promoting policies that provide opportunities to maintain a fitness regimen, as well as to help protect healthy sleeping habits and personal relationships.

Part 1: Travel Policy

In order to reduce stress related to business travel, employers promote the following policies:

a. Employees are provided the option to select non red-eye flights or are given the option to work remotely on the day of arrival from a red-eye flight.
b. Employees are not required to take business trips for which the total travel time (including lay-overs, wait times and travel to and from terminals) exceeds both 5 hours and 25% of the total trip duration.
c.119 During long business trips (domestic travel lasting more than 2 weeks and international travel lasting more than 4 weeks), employees are given the time off and a budget to fly home for at least 48 hours or to fly a friend or family member to meet them.
d.119 Employees are booked at hotels with free fitness centers or reimbursed for any gym usage fees incurred during their travel.
Cardiovascular
Nervous

Applicability Matrix

Core & Shell New & Existing Buildings New & Existing Interiors
Part 1: Travel Policy - O O
Commercial Kitchen Education Multifamily Residential Restaurant Retail
Part 1: Travel Policy - - - - -

Verification Methods Matrix

Letters of Assurance Annotated Documents On-Site Checks
Part 1: Travel Policy Policy Document
119

CWT Solutions Group. Stress Triggers for Business Travelers: Traveler Survey Analysis. http://www.cwt-solutions-group.com/export/sites/cwtpreprod/.content/files/cwt-stress-triggers-for-business-travelers.pdf. Published 2012. Accessed September 24, 2014.

91.1.c

CWT Solutions Group’s Stress Triggers for Business Travelers notes that, compared to respondents living alone, respondents living with a partner reported that traveling during the weekends was more stressful.

91.1.d

In CWT Solutions Group’s Stress Triggers for Business Travelers, "not able to maintain workout routine" was listed as a medium stress factor.