ISS's new "U.S. Compensation Policies and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Frequently Asked Questions" addresses how ISS's Global Research Department will assess pandemic-prompted pay actions inclusive of salary reductions, adjustments to annual and long-term incentive plans and payouts, and retention and one-time awards, for purposes of informing its proxy vote recommendations. The FAQs also reveal greater (temporary) flexibility in ISS's responsiveness policy to the extent COVID-19 impacts the company's ability to make changes to pay programs or practices in response to investor concerns. Importantly, the guidance - which reportedly is based on feedback from ISS's annual policy survey and investor roundtables - generally hinges on adequate proxy disclosure, which is fleshed out in the respective FAQs.
See our prior reports: "ISS Corporate Offers Incentive Comp Frameworks and "ISS Issues COVID-19 Policy Application Guidance" and additional resources on our Proxy Advisors page.