With the benefit of some hindsight and numerous position statements and commentary articulated by investors and proxy advisors since the onset of the pandemic (see e.g., Vanguard, Glass Lewis: here & here, and ISS: here & here), Semler Brossy's "Principles for Paying Incentives in the Midst of Covid-19" shares four sound principles that boards and management should consider in their approach to further adjusting or awarding executive pay in response to COVID-19. These four principles can best be summarized as maintaining proportionality relative to other stakeholders, viewing compensation holistically rather than piecemeal to place pay changes in proper context, maintaining pay/performance alignment, and thinking long-term.
See our prior reports: "Vanguard Speaks on COVID-19 Executive Pay," "ISS Issues COVID-19 Policy Application Guidance," "ISS Corporate Offers Incentive Comp Frameworks," "Glass Lewis Will Consider Pandemic in its Proxy Advice: Here's How" and "Investors Urge Responsible Response from Companies on COVID-19" and numerous COVID-19 incentive pay approaches on our Executive Pay page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!