Duty of Care for Children Abroad 2026: Employee Dependent Safety Guide

In 2023, an expatriate family in Nairobi experienced a carjacking on the school run. The father's employer, a multinational engineering firm, had conducted a thorough threat assessment for the office compound and project site but had never evaluated the 12-kilometer route between the family residence and the international school. The children were unharmed physically, but the family terminated the assignment within weeks. The employer absorbed the cost of early repatriation, replacement recruitment, and a legal claim that settled out of court.

This is not an isolated case. It is the pattern. Organizations invest heavily in protecting their employees at work sites while treating dependents as a personal matter. That assumption is legally wrong, operationally dangerous, and increasingly untenable as more employers send staff with families to complex environments.

This guide covers every dimension of duty of care for children abroad: the legal framework that creates employer liability, how to vet schools and childcare providers, medical preparedness specific to minors, and how to build evacuation plans that account for the fact that a three-year-old cannot follow the same procedures as a forty-year-old engineer.

Why Children Require Separate Duty of Care Planning

Children are not smaller adults. Their risk profile in an international posting is fundamentally different from their parents', and the mitigation strategies that protect employees at a work site do not transfer to dependents at a school, playground, or residence.

Different Threat Exposure

An employee operates within a controlled environment — an office, a project site, a compound with access control. A child moves through uncontrolled space: school transport routes, playgrounds, shopping areas, and the residential neighborhood. These environments have different threat profiles, different security actors, and different response capabilities. The employee's security briefing covers the office-to-hotel corridor. Nobody briefed the twelve-year-old on the market route between school and the after-school tutor.

Limited Agency and Communication

Adults can assess a situation, make a decision, and communicate it. A seven-year-old cannot. Children under twelve typically cannot navigate emergency communications systems, may not speak the local language, and cannot make independent decisions about whether to shelter in place or move to an assembly point. Younger children cannot articulate symptoms of illness, identify threatening behavior, or follow complex instructions under stress.

Psychological Vulnerability

Relocation to a volatile environment affects children differently than adults. Adults chose the assignment. Children did not. The disruption of social networks, exposure to security measures (armed guards, blast walls, lockdown drills), and awareness of parental anxiety create cumulative psychological stress. Adjustment disorders, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and regression are well-documented in expatriate children, particularly in postings where visible security infrastructure signals danger.

Age-Specific Risk Variation

A duty of care framework must account for the fact that risk varies dramatically by age group:

• Infants (0–2): Entirely dependent. Primary risks are medical (pediatric care availability, tropical disease susceptibility, vaccination schedule disruption) and evacuation logistics (car seats, formula, medical supplies).
• Pre-school (3–5): Childcare provider vetting becomes critical. Cannot self-report abuse or neglect. Cannot participate in evacuation procedures without direct adult supervision.
• Primary school (6–11): School security and transport routes are the dominant risk vector. Can follow basic instructions but cannot make independent safety decisions. Peer relationships create emotional anchors that complicate emergency relocation.
• Secondary school (12–17): Increasing independence creates new exposure points. Social media use, independent travel, and social activities outside the family compound. Old enough to understand threat briefings but may underestimate risk or resist security constraints.

The Legal Framework: Employer Liability for Dependent Safety

The legal basis for employer duty of care toward employee dependents abroad rests on three pillars: international standards, common law precedent, and contractual obligation.

ISO 31030 and Dependent Coverage

ISO 31030:2021 (Travel Risk Management) addresses dependents explicitly. Section 8.4 establishes that organizations should consider the safety of accompanying family members when conducting travel risk assessments. The standard recognizes that an employee's ability to perform their role is directly affected by the safety and wellbeing of their dependents — and that the organization's decision to assign an employee to a location creates a causal chain that includes the family's presence.

This is not advisory language. ISO 31030 creates a benchmark that courts and insurers reference when evaluating whether an organization met its duty of care. An organization that claims compliance with ISO 31030 but has no dependent safety provisions has a documentation gap that any competent plaintiff's attorney will exploit.

Common Law Duty of Care for Dependents

In common law jurisdictions (UK, US, Australia, Canada), employer liability for dependent safety has been established through several legal principles:

• Foreseeability: If the organization knew or should have known that an employee's family would accompany them, and that the posting location presented risks to family members, the harm to dependents is foreseeable. Foreseeability is the cornerstone of negligence claims.
• Causation: The family is in the high-risk location because of the employment assignment. This causal link creates a nexus of responsibility that extends beyond the workplace.
• Assumption of responsibility: When an employer provides family housing, school fee support, or relocation assistance, they have assumed responsibility for the family's welfare in the posting location. This is not merely a benefit — it is an acknowledgment that the family's presence is part of the assignment structure.

Contractual and Policy Obligations

Many international assignment policies explicitly reference dependent support: housing allowances, school fee reimbursement, family medical insurance, and home leave flights. These provisions create contractual obligations. An employer who funds a child's enrollment at a school but never assessed the school's security has fulfilled the financial obligation while neglecting the safety obligation — a distinction that courts examine closely.

School and Education Security

For school-age dependents, the international school is the primary risk environment outside the family residence. Children spend six to eight hours per day at school, plus transport time. The school's security posture directly determines the child's safety for the majority of their waking hours.

Vetting International Schools for Security

Most employers select schools based on curriculum, accreditation, and reputation. Security assessment is rarely part of the evaluation. It should be. A thorough school security assessment covers:

• Physical perimeter: Is the campus enclosed? What is the wall height and construction? Are there controlled entry points with identification verification? Is the perimeter patrolled?
• Access control: How are visitors screened? Is there a sign-in/sign-out system for students? Can an unauthorized person collect a child? What identification is required for pickup?
• Staff background checks: Does the school conduct criminal background checks on all employees, including local-hire maintenance, catering, and transport staff? In countries without centralized criminal record systems, what alternative vetting procedures are used?
• Lockdown and evacuation drills: Does the school conduct regular lockdown drills? How frequently? Are drills age-appropriate (a lockdown drill that terrifies a five-year-old without teaching them anything is counterproductive)? Is there a documented evacuation plan with designated assembly points?
• Crisis communication: How quickly does the school notify parents of an incident? Is there a mass notification system? What is the communication protocol during a lockdown when parents cannot reach the school by phone?
• Medical capability: Is there a school nurse? Are staff trained in first aid? Is there an AED on site? What is the nearest hospital, and how long does transport take during peak traffic?

School Transport Route Assessment

The route between residence and school is frequently the most exposed segment of a child's day. Unlike the school compound and the family residence, the transport route passes through public space with no access control.

A transport route assessment should evaluate:

• Route security: Does the route pass through areas with elevated crime, civil unrest, or military checkpoints? Are there alternative routes if the primary route is compromised?
• Driver vetting: If the school provides transport, are drivers background-checked? If the family uses a private driver, has the employer facilitated vetting?
• Vehicle standards: Are vehicles maintained to safety standards? Is there tracking/GPS on school buses? Can the school account for every child on every journey?
• Journey time: In cities with severe traffic congestion (Lagos, Nairobi, Dhaka), school transport can take 60–90 minutes each way. Extended journey times increase exposure and complicate emergency response.

Home-Schooling in Extreme-Risk Postings

In some locations, no available school meets minimum security standards. In others, the transport route is the unacceptable risk. In these cases, home-schooling or distance learning may be the only option that satisfies the duty of care.

Employers should establish a threshold: if the school security assessment fails on physical perimeter, access control, or transport route, and no alternative school passes, the organization should either fund home-schooling arrangements or reconsider whether the posting is appropriate for accompanied status.

Childcare and Domestic Staff Vetting

For families with pre-school children or those who employ domestic staff (nannies, au pairs, housekeepers with childcare responsibilities), the vetting challenge is acute. In many posting locations, the background-check infrastructure that employers rely on in home countries simply does not exist.

Background Check Standards in Countries Without Central Registries

In the UK, employers use DBS checks. In the US, there are state and federal criminal record databases. In many of the countries where expatriate families are posted — across sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia — there is no centralized criminal record system, no sex offender registry, and no standardized reference-checking process.

In these environments, employers should:

• Use reputable agencies: Engage a local recruitment or security firm with established vetting procedures. Ask specifically what checks they perform and what databases they access.
• Verify references personally: Do not accept written references at face value. Call referees directly. Ask specific questions about the candidate's interaction with children, reliability, and any concerns.
• Require multiple references: A minimum of three references from previous employers, with at least two involving childcare responsibilities.
• Trial periods: Implement a supervised trial period before leaving children alone with a new caregiver. Thirty days is a reasonable minimum.
• Ongoing monitoring: Establish regular check-ins with the employee about the caregiver's performance. Encourage open reporting of concerns without fear of disrupting the household arrangement.

Live-In vs. Live-Out Risk Considerations

Live-in domestic staff present different risk considerations than live-out staff:

• Live-in advantages: Available for emergencies outside normal hours. Known location. Can act as a secondary responsible adult during evacuations.
• Live-in risks: Extended unsupervised access to children. Greater difficulty terminating the arrangement if concerns arise (housing dependency). Potential for boundary issues in a 24/7 living arrangement.
• Live-out advantages: Clearer professional boundaries. Easier to change arrangements if problems emerge.
• Live-out risks: Not available in off-hours emergencies. No secondary adult in the residence if parents are called to the work site during a crisis.

The right model depends on the posting. In high-risk locations where both parents may need to respond to a work-site emergency simultaneously, a vetted live-in caregiver with delegated emergency authority is often the safer option.

Emergency Authority Delegation

One of the most overlooked elements of dependent safety planning is medical consent delegation. If a child requires emergency medical treatment and neither parent is reachable, who is authorized to consent?

• Medical consent forms: Prepare notarized medical consent forms that authorize the caregiver to consent to emergency medical treatment. Carry translated versions in the local language.
• Hospital pre-registration: Pre-register children at the designated hospital. Provide the hospital with copies of insurance documents, medical history, allergy information, and the consent delegation.
• School authorization: Ensure the school has the caregiver listed as an authorized pickup person and emergency medical contact.

Medical and Health Preparedness for Minors

Pediatric medical care in many posting locations ranges from limited to nonexistent. The gap between adult medical infrastructure (which may be adequate for a healthy adult employee) and pediatric capability is often enormous.

Pediatric Emergency Care Availability Mapping

Before any family deployment, the employer should map pediatric medical resources within a defined radius of both the residence and the school:

• Nearest pediatric emergency facility: Identify the closest hospital with pediatric emergency capability. "Capability" means a pediatrician on call 24/7, pediatric-sized equipment, and pediatric medication dosages. A general hospital that sees children occasionally is not the same as a pediatric emergency department.
• Transport time: Map the actual transport time — not the distance — during both normal and peak traffic. In many cities, a hospital that is 8 kilometers away may be 90 minutes by road during rush hour.
• Air evacuation: If the nearest adequate pediatric facility is in another city or country, confirm that air evacuation services operate in the area and that the insurance policy covers pediatric air evacuation without exclusions. Some policies exclude children under a certain age or require a medical escort, which adds time and cost.
• After-hours capability: Emergencies do not respect business hours. Confirm that the identified facility operates 24/7, not just during clinic hours.

Evacuation Coverage for Minors: Insurance Gaps

Corporate medical evacuation insurance frequently contains exclusions or limitations that affect minors:

• Age minimums: Some policies exclude children under 28 days or under 6 months from air evacuation coverage.
• Escort requirements: Pediatric evacuations typically require a medical escort (pediatric nurse or doctor), which doubles the cost. Confirm the policy covers escort fees.
• Destination limitations: The policy may evacuate to the "nearest adequate facility" rather than the home country. For a child with a complex condition, "adequate" may not mean "appropriate." Review the policy definition carefully.
• Pre-existing conditions: Children with pre-existing conditions (asthma, allergies, developmental needs) may face exclusions. Disclose fully and negotiate coverage before deployment, not after.

Vaccination and Tropical Disease Prophylaxis

Children's vaccination requirements for international postings frequently differ from adult requirements. Pediatric dosages, age-specific contraindications, and accelerated vaccination schedules require consultation with a travel medicine specialist experienced in pediatric care — not a general practitioner reading a chart.

• Routine vaccinations: Ensure the child is up to date on all routine vaccinations before departure. Some vaccines may need to be accelerated if the posting timeline is short.
• Region-specific vaccines: Yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, rabies pre-exposure, and meningococcal vaccines may be required or recommended depending on the posting location. Age restrictions apply to several of these.
• Malaria prophylaxis: Pediatric malaria prophylaxis requires weight-based dosing and age-appropriate formulations. Not all antimalarials are approved for all age groups. Atovaquone-proguanil, for example, is not recommended for children under 5 kg.
• Ongoing supply: If the child requires ongoing medication (prophylaxis, allergy medication, inhalers), confirm that the medication is available in the posting location or arrange a supply chain from the home country.

Mental Health: Adjustment and Anxiety in Expatriate Children

The psychological impact of relocating children to volatile environments is systematically underestimated. Research on third-culture kids (TCKs) and expatriate children documents elevated rates of:

• Adjustment disorders: Difficulty adapting to new school, language, culture, and social environment. Manifests as behavioral changes, academic decline, or social withdrawal.
• Anxiety: Heightened by visible security measures (armed guards at school gates, blast walls around the compound, lockdown drills). Children absorb the security environment even when parents try to normalize it.
• Separation anxiety: Particularly in younger children, exacerbated by parental work patterns that involve travel, late hours, or emergency call-outs.
• Grief and loss: Leaving friends, extended family, familiar places, and pets. Each relocation involves multiple losses that accumulate across postings.

Employers should include access to child psychologists or counselors in the assignment package, either locally or via telehealth. This is not a luxury — it is a duty of care element. A child in psychological distress affects the employee's performance, the family's willingness to remain on assignment, and the organization's exposure if the distress escalates to a clinical condition.

Dependent Evacuation Planning

Standard evacuation plans assume the evacuee is a competent adult who can follow instructions, carry their own documents, and move independently to an assembly point. None of these assumptions hold for children. Dependent evacuation planning is a separate discipline that must account for age, capability, location separation, and legal documentation requirements.

Age-Specific Evacuation Considerations

• Infants (0–2): Require a car seat, formula/breast milk supply, diapers, medications, and continuous adult supervision. Cannot walk. Cannot wait. A grab bag for an infant evacuation is a logistical exercise in itself. Pre-position supplies at both the residence and the employee's workplace.
• Pre-school (3–5): Can walk but tire quickly. May become non-cooperative under stress (screaming, refusing to move, going limp). Cannot be reasoned with during a crisis. Evacuation plans must assume the adult will be carrying the child for part of the route.
• Primary school (6–11): Can follow simple instructions. Can carry a small bag. Can walk significant distances if motivated. Practice the evacuation route so the child knows it before they need it. Provide an emergency contact card (laminated, in their pocket) with phone numbers and the rally point address.
• Secondary school (12–17): Can follow complex instructions and make limited independent decisions. Should be briefed on the evacuation plan, know the rally points, carry a charged phone, and understand the communication protocol. May resist evacuation if friends or social connections are staying.

Assembly Points When Parents Are at Separate Locations

The most dangerous scenario in a family evacuation is when the parents are at work and the children are at school, and an incident makes direct travel between these locations impossible. Every family should have a documented plan that answers:

• Who collects the children? If neither parent can reach the school, who is authorized to collect them? The caregiver? A designated colleague? Is that person on the school's authorized pickup list?
• Where do they go? If the family residence is compromised, what is the secondary rally point? Is it a colleague's residence, the embassy, a hotel? Does every family member know the address?
• How do they communicate? If phone networks are down, what is the backup? A satellite phone at the residence? A pre-agreed check-in with the employer's security operations center?
• What if the parents cannot be reached at all? Who has legal authority to make decisions for the children, including crossing a border?

Unaccompanied Minor Travel Documentation

In a worst-case evacuation scenario, children may need to travel without their parents. This requires documentation that most families do not have unless they prepare in advance:

• Notarized parental consent: A letter authorizing a named individual to travel with the child, signed by both parents and notarized. Some countries require apostille certification.
• Power of attorney for minors: A legal document granting a designated guardian temporary authority over medical, legal, and travel decisions for the child.
• Passport and visa copies: Multiple copies of children's passports, visas, and residence permits stored in separate locations (residence, office, digital backup, designated guardian).
• Medical records: A summary of vaccinations, allergies, medications, and blood type — in English and the local language.
• Airline requirements: Airlines have specific requirements for unaccompanied minors (minimum age, documentation, supervision fees). Know the requirements for the likely evacuation airlines before the crisis occurs.

Rally Points and Safe Houses for Family Reunification

The employer should designate at least two family reunification points in the posting location and one outside the country:

1. Primary rally point: A secure location within the city (the embassy, a partner organization's compound, a designated hotel) where family members converge if the residence is compromised.
2. Secondary rally point: An alternative location on a different route, in case the primary is inaccessible.
3. Out-of-country rally point: A location in a neighboring safe country (hotel, airport, partner office) where the family regroups if a full country evacuation is triggered.

Every family member old enough to understand should know these locations. Practice the route at least once. A rally point that exists only on paper provides no security — it must be a real place that real people have visited and can navigate to under stress.

Dependent Safety Checklist

Use this checklist to assess your organization's readiness for deploying families with children to international postings. Every item should be completed and documented before the family arrives in-country.

Building a Family-Inclusive Duty of Care Program

The organizations that handle dependent safety well share three characteristics: they treat family risk assessment as a mandatory component of the assignment planning process, they allocate budget for dependent-specific security measures, and they create feedback loops so that families can report concerns without feeling they are jeopardizing the assignment.

Integrate Dependent Safety into Assignment Approval

The decision to approve an accompanied posting should require a signed-off dependent risk assessment, just as it requires a signed-off employee risk assessment. If the organization's travel risk policy template does not include a dependent safety section, it has a structural gap.

Budget for Dependent-Specific Measures

School security assessments, childcare provider vetting, pediatric medical mapping, and family evacuation planning all cost money. Organizations that treat these as optional extras rather than mandatory line items in the assignment budget will skip them when budgets tighten — which is exactly when the risk environment is most likely to be elevated.

Create Safe Reporting Channels

Expatriate families frequently do not report security concerns because they fear the organization will cancel the assignment, cutting their income and disrupting their children's education again. This creates a dangerous information gap. Employers should establish confidential reporting channels and explicitly communicate that reporting a concern about school security, neighborhood safety, or childcare provider behavior will trigger a response — not a termination.

Organizations operating in high-risk environments should also review their obligations under the broader NGO duty of care framework if they are in the humanitarian sector, and ensure their programs align with ISO 31030 travel risk management standards.