Baker & McKenzie is proud to announce that Kevin Coon, Labour, Employment and Managing Partner – Canada, has been certified as a Specialist in Labour Law by the Law Society of Upper Canada. The Law Society’s Certified Specialist Program recognizes a small number of practitioners who have met established standards of experience and knowledge requirements in the designated area of law and have maintained exemplary standards of professional practice. Kevin brings years of hands-on experience in managing labour relations, both locally and globally, to bear in assisting clients with union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, day-to-day relationship issues, supervisor training, and Labour Board complaints, among other areas. He also acts as counsel, and as trusted and strategic advisor, in human resource, employment, regulatory, compliance and risk management, corporate social responsibility, and ethics matters.
Kevin assists clients in managing global labour relations in a climate of increasingly stringent expectations and rapidly evolving regulatory requirements, including international human and labour rights standards and global supply chain compliance obligations. This includes, first, proactive work to integrate mitigation of human and labour rights risk into the enterprise’s risk management system; secondly, assisting corporate clients to plan, respond and manage “corporate campaigns” by global union federations and NGO’s, complaints under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Employers, labour provisions under trade agreements, codes of conduct, supply chain codes of practice, complaints to the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, International Framework Agreements; and, thirdly, assisting clients with various reporting requirements related to forced labour, human trafficking and other core labour and human rights.
During the course of his career, Kevin has worked at the forefront of global efforts to interpret and draft international human and labour rights standards. He has served on the annual Canadian Delegation to the ILO International Labour Conference, including as Employer Chair on a Committee of Experts, the Committee on the Application of International Labour Standards, the ILO Drafting Committees, and the Employer Working Group on Corporate Social Responsibility, in addition to a number of other appointments. He has had an insider view of policy development, legislative and regulatory enforcement, having worked at various points in his career for the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Kevin brings this diverse background and wealth of experience to the aid of corporate clients.
At the request of the United Nations Global Compact, Kevin led a team charged with mobilizing global consultations and preparing the Business for the Rule of Law Framework of the United Nations Global Compact, which aims to provide guidance on how companies can take voluntary action to support the rule of law in their business operations and relationships. The Framework was prepared in support of the launch of Agenda 2030: the Sustainable Development Goals and was launched at the UNGC Global Leaders Summit in June 2015. In support of the Trust Women Foundation, Kevin led a team that prepared a report on Managing Corporate Supply Chains: Challenges & Successes in the Fight to Combat Forced Labour and Human Trafficking.
Kevin also devotes his time and talents to a number of pro bono activities including holding roles within the UNGC Sustainable Supply Chain Working Group, Trust Women Anti-Trafficking and Slavery initiatives, UNGC Business for the Rule of Law Working Group, UNGC Local Network, and Covenant House.
In addition to this prestigious certification for Labour Law, Kevin is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (a designation conferred by the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics) and he was recently recognized by Legal 500 and highlighted for his ‘invaluable commitment’.
To read Kevin’s full biography, please follow this link.