In this article: "Board Oversight of Human Capital Risk—Is it Time to Appoint a Chief Covid Officer?", Mintz provides a brief overview of the board's compliance risk oversight responsibilities based on relevant case law as a precursor to suggesting companies designate a "Chief Covid Officer" to help mitigate the significant human capital-related risks associated with the pandemic and better position the board to defend against potential Caremark claims.
The firm notes that the actual title of the individual is secondary to ensuring that they are qualified to assume the many evolving responsibilities demanded by the pandemic, which include possessing the knowledge (and authority) to access, implement, and stay current on a myriad of evolving federal, state and local workplace and employee health and safety, privacy, and employment compliance considerations and corporate practices including employee medical testing, tracking, employment recordkeeping, and more. This individual - who may be the CHRO, CLO/GC, CCO, COO or otherwise - would also be responsible for ensuring timely and proper communications with the board, board committee or board member charged with oversight of these particular risks.
See last week's report: "Board Oversight Duties: Practice Tips" and additional information & resources on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page under Board Oversight. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!