Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
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FEATURE formation management and human re- sources, in-house counsel's role is to con- sult on developing the policy, she says. Fraser says the company's long-stand- ing policy on wireless use by service employees while driving was developed several years ago based on a few main factors. One was to take advantage of the opportunity to communicate a policy and guidelines to employees, as the com- pany at the time was deploying new cell- phone hardware to the fi eld; another was the fact that the dangers caused by driv- ing while talking on the cellphone were frequently in the news and the company wanted to make sure that Xerox's posi- tion "was very clear to our drivers." The company has three broad catego- ries of employees, each of which is sub- ject to different policies regarding wire- less use while driving. Those who drive company-leased vehicles and use compa- ny-issued PDAs (these are mostly service technicians who do maintenance on the company's photocopiers at different loca- tions) are subject to the strictest policy: a total ban on wireless device use while the vehicle is in motion or stopped at a red light. They have to be either parked or pulled over to use their wireless devices When the phones were issued years ago, Fraser says the company deliberately did not issue headsets to these employ- ees, as they thought this would send the wrong message. However, service tech- nicians will soon be getting BlackBerrys with headsets intended for use at cus- tomer calls, so employees can make calls to second-level support while working on a copier, for example. As a result, the company is going to be amending the wireless policy to refl ect that the new headset is only for that sce- nario and not meant for use while driv- ing, she says. The company's sales force, who drive StewartTitle_CL_May_07-V2 4/26/07 9:18 AM Page 1 their own vehicles but received new com- pany-issued BlackBerrys in January, are subject to more of a balanced, "use while driving is at your own risk" policy, she says, and could use hands-free sets. Included in the sales policy, however, is the reinforcement that employees must respect local legislative requirements. This policy was recently refreshed to ad- dress the BlackBerry context, as the old policy was for cellphones, notes Fraser. The update was also meant to explain the balanced approach and to reinforce that device use while in transit is at an employee's own risk. At Finning (Canada), those who have been most affected by the policy are the sales force, says Mandziuk, who in a two- hour drive could have previously made 15 calls and are now left with downtime. "I would say the vocal majority was in favour of it, and then there was a bit of a quieter minority that was really strug- gling with how they were going to con- tinue to do their jobs with this in place," says Petras. IH Across the street, down the block or Canada wide — our commercial team is ready for you. Financial Strength Ratings: Demotech, Inc. A" | Fitch Ratings A+ | LACE Financial A www.stewart.ca C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE APRIL 2008 21