Canadian Lawyer InHouse

June/July 2020

Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives

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4 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse NEWS ROUNDUP PANDEMIC STRATEGY NEWS BRIEFS Rexall adapts amid COVID-19 Rexall's vice president, legal affairs shares strategies to mitigate risks for frontline staff While many businesses have transitioned seamlessly to a remote working environment during the COVID-19 pandemic, some employees are unable to perform their duties at home, raising a host of legal concerns for employers. As a provider of essential medical and pharmaceutical products, Rexall is among the few retailers in Canada that continues to open to the public during COVID-19-related closures, so strong measures are being taken to protect its 8,000 employees. "We've had to act very quickly," says Beth Gearing, vice president, legal affairs at McKesson Canada Corporation, the parent company of Rexall Health and various other health banners. "My job is to mitigate and manage legal, reputational and competitive risks for our retail businesses, so we are really on the front lines of the crisis. We've been very responsive in developing the right policies and operating procedures in stores to ensure the safety of our employees and customers." Among the strategies in place, staff has been educated on infection control processes and stores are being cleaned and sanitized more frequently. Signage encouraging social distancing is displayed at the front of stores. Opening hours have been condensed to give store staff more time to sanitize, rest and take care of their health. Plexiglass barriers were installed to separate cashiers from customers. "It's a high-pressure environment in terms of coming up with legal opinions and strategies to respond to the crisis, but we're staying on top of things and doing innovative partnerships to help Canadians," says Gearing. Rexall launched a partnership with Tia Health, offering a virtual medical appointment service for patients, which is covered by provincial health plans in Ontario and British Columbia but not other provinces. Many retail businesses are dealing with employees requiring time off due to illness or to care for a sick family member. If Rexall employees are asked by a health professional to self-isolate during the pandemic, they will continue to receive pay for 10 working days, Gearing says. Most provinces have enforced job protection during sick leave caused by COVID-19, but the leave is usually unpaid. "A lot of it is unknown so we're trying to be forward-thinking and anticipate challenges as they come along," says Gearing. "It's a very fluid situation as things are evolving and developing very rapidly." "It's a very fluid situation as things are evolving and developing very rapidly." CLOC updates legal operations framework To reflect the constantly evolving priorities faced by legal operations professionals, the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium has revised its framework known as the CLOC Core 12. With these 12 key functions of legal operations, CLOC provides a framework for the areas that operations teams of legal departments typically oversee. Legal operations professionals may refer to this updated framework to assess the various ways by which they can effectively boost the growth of their organization, depending on the organization's goals, opportunities and resources. Coca-Cola Canada Bottling modifies operations Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd. has implemented new health and safety protocols for the company's 6,000 employees in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional cleaning and disinfecting measures are in place in all warehouses, offices and manufacturing facilities. Drivers entering a facility are asked to remain in the truck instead of helping to load or unload products and they are no longer asked to sign documents. "Making sure we stay resilient and emerge safely is our top priority," says Gennady Ferenbok, vice president, general counsel and secretary at Coca-Cola Canada Bottling. Lex Mundi releases global competition law report Lex Mundi has released the inaugural edition of its global

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