Don’t Forget! Refresher on Glass Lewis COVID-19-Related Guidance and ISS Compensation-Related FAQs
February 24, 2021
Authored by: Katherine Ashton and Vicki Westerhaus
For companies knee deep in proxy statement drafting and 2021 executive compensation decisions, we recommend a quick refresher on Glass Lewis’ December 2020 Approach to Executive Compensation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and ISS’ October 2020 COVID-19-related compensation FAQs, as well as ISS’ more general December 2020 compensation-related FAQs and equity plan-related FAQs. Highlights include:
Glass Lewis Approach to Executive Compensation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Glass Lewis released this December 2020 guidance to illustrate how it will apply its executive compensation policies in 2021 in the wake of COVID-19. Glass Lewis noted that the pandemic has not changed its approach to executive pay, which is a “pragmatic, contextual approach that applies in good times and bad.” Some of the key topics covered are:
Pay-for-Performance Analysis. Glass Lewis does not expect the macroeconomic climate to have a drastic impact on its pay-for-performance model and will continue to take a holistic approach when evaluating the alignment between executive pay and company performance within the context of the pay-for-performance model and the pandemic.
Say-on-Pay Proposals. Glass Lewis notes that how companies respond to changing macroeconomic conditions resulting from the pandemic will dominate say-on-pay votes. Given that an executive’s base salary represents a relatively low portion of his or her total compensation, Glass Lewis will view temporary base salary reductions in the face of the pandemic to be token gestures. Glass Lewis will instead look closely at overall pay levels, including scrutinizing mid-cycle pay