Capitalism Meets Coronavirus: Additional Company Policies
In March, the U.S. government and businesses began reckoning with the massive impact of the coronavirus pandemic. With top medical officials encouraging “social distancing” to slow the spread of the virus, the current flaws in our country’s workplace policies – such as universal access to paid sick leave and good healthcare – are proving to be major barriers to effectively containing the pandemic.
Companies are reacting to the unprecedented pandemic and economic crisis on a daily basis, and it can be difficult to keep track of not only what corporate America’s response has been. That’s why JUST Capital has launched a major initiative to help guide us through this period of uncertainty, which includes:
And survey feedback from the public with our polling partner, Harris, in regards what Americans want most from companies during this time of crisis.
To complement this work, we will continue to track key stakeholder-related policy updates for companies not featured in the COVID-19 Corporate Response Tracker below, and will update this feature every weekday:
Anheuser-Busch has temporarily increased pay for front-line employees. In addition, all full-time employees are being provided additional paid leave to address COVID-19 related illness
Capital One has requested that employees work from home if they can, and will space out branch workers and others who can’t work remotely to help reduce density in workplaces.
Corning has encouraged employees who can work from home to do so, and is providing additional compensation for the next month to employees who cannot. However, the company has decided to lay off some of their workers, but has not disclosed how many.
Cox Communications has asked all employees who can to work from home, is deep cleaning their facilities, and are supporting the FCC’s Keep America Connected initiative.
Cushman & Wakefield have launched a Global Employee Assistance Fund as part of a $5 million dollar commitment to help those impacted by coronavirus. In addition, the company’s CEO and executive teams will be taking pay cuts in order to fund the assistance and avoid layoffs.
Dominion Energy has 80 hours of paid leave for employees sick with (or caring for someone sick with) coronavirus, or if they’re experiencing unexpected childcare needs. In addition, they are offering free telemedicine until June 1, free COVID-19 testing through the year, and have created resources for additional childcare and employee financial hardship.
Dow has recommended that employees who are able to work from home. They have also implemented new policies at their manufacturing sites, including limiting site access only to critical personnel, implementing temperature screenings, following social distancing guidelines and employing additional cleaning and disinfecting measures.
Hubspot requires employees in high-risk regions to work from home and encourages those in low-to-medium risk regions to do the same.
McDonald’s workers filed a class action lawsuit, claiming the company failed to adopt government safety guidelines to keep them safe and that they were not provided enough PPE.
NVIDIA has asked all employees who can work from home to do so (and is making ordering office supplies from home simple), is continuing to pay all of their hourly workers who can’t work right now, and are giving anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 case managers through their medical plan.
SimpliPhi, which has been deemed an “essential” business, closed its manufacturing plant until March 30 to create safe procedures for its workers, and has allowed corporate employees to work from home. It has also added unlimited paid sick leave for those diagnosed with coronavirus.
ServiceNow has asked all employees to work from home starting March 11th, and has collaborated with Seattle on an emergency response app. In addition, the company pledged not to lay any employees off in 2020 due to coronavirus.
S&P Global has expanded care leave and minimum sick leave to two weeks, supported global work-from-home arrangements by providing a technology subsidy to accommodate the WFH environment, and extended their Employee Assistance Program to provide wider access to mental health services. It has also committed pay employees who contract COVID-19, and is extending vacation carryover.
Synchrony Financial has added on-site healthcare professionals at its largest offices, expanded its backup emergency care benefit, and is giving its frontline workers a one-time, special bonus as a thank you for the essential role they are playing.
Twitter has informed all employees globally that they must work from home, after strongly encouraging them to do starting March 2. Update: Twitter announces employees can work from home indefinitely, even after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.
Uber has strongly recommended that its U.S. employees work remotely through April 6, and agreed to compensate drivers under mandatory quarantine.Uber also announced that it will provide 14 days of sick pay for drivers or delivery workers – technically considered independent contractors who have not previously qualified for paid leave or benefits – who are sick with the coronavirus or are required to be isolated. Meanwhile Lyft is pausing the addition of new drivers in several markets and is expanding delivery to include healthcare supplies in order to safeguard driver earnings.
Verisk is offering COVID-19 paid leave for impacted employees in addition to their annual PTO, is expanding its existing emergency relief policy to include civic emergencies, and is easing the financial burden on employees affected by the pandemic through interest free loans.
VMWare has closed several of its offices and has strongly suggested to other employees that they begin working from home.
JUST Capital is tracking corporate actions in response to the COVID-19 crisis and elevating best practices to incentivize better business behavior. Make a gift today to help us accelerate and amplify this urgent work.
Airbnb is laying off 25% of their workforce. However, those impacted by the layoffs will continue to be paid for 14 weeks (with an additional week of pay for every year worked), and their health insurance will run until the end of the year, up to a full 12 months depending on the country, in order to try and minimize their hardship.
Union Square Hospitality Groupcut 80 percent of its workforce as restaurant companies around the country shed workers. USHG created a relief fund to help employees, with CEO Danny Meyer seeding it with his entire compensation.
Giant, Whole Foods, Target, and Dollar General have created “senior-only” shopping hours, to allow those most at risk from coronavirus to shop separately.
Goldman Sachs, AMEX, and Capital One are providinginterest payment relief for credit card holders.
PayPal has created a suite of services to help its customers, including allowing people to defer payments at no additional cost, waiving fees for instantly transfering funds from your account to your bank until April 30th, and more.
Verisk is providing a policyholder self-serve claims-handling app at no cost to help insurers, adjusters, and policyholders resolve insurance claims quickly and let policyholders document losses through video and photos safely.
Dow is committing $3 million to aid COVID-19 relief efforts, with donations going towards global relief organizations and non-profits in communities where Dow operates. The company has also adjusted operations to produce more than 200 metric tons of hand sanitizer at sites across North America, Europe and Latin America, to be donated to local health systems and government agencies. In addition, the company has created a simplified face-shield design that allows them to increase production for healthcare workers, and are vowing to donate 100,000 shields to Michigan-area hospitals.
Eli Lilly has been offering drive-thru COVID-19 testing to Indianapolis-area healthcare workers, essential workers, and those most at risk of the disease, with the goal of expanding deeper across the state. In addition, it has joined a cross-industry collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate the development, manufacturing and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments for COVID-19.
John Deere has created a 2-for-1 match for employee donations up to $250,000 to select home-community food banks and American Red Cross chapters. In addition, they are offering support and relief to their financing/lease customers facing financial hardships.
Mastercard is matching all employee donations to relief efforts, which has included funds to the China Women’s Development Foundation, local U.S. food banks, and a gift of 25,000 respirator masks to New York City hospitals. Additionally, the company has made Girls4Tech online curriculum for grades 3–7 available to parents and teachers looking for learning resources.
PwC Foundation has pledged $3.55 million to support communities impacted by COVID-19. This includes $2.85 million to help address immediate needs like hunger and PPE; $500,000 to help teachers and students get the supplies they need for remote schooling; and $200,000 to amplify crowdfunding projects started by PwC employees that address needs in their local communities.
SVB Financial is committing $5.5 million to provide relief for small businesses, and assist in health and food security. In addition, the company has put an extra $1 million towards direct COVID-19 response efforts.
BlackRock reiterated its pledge to hold company board members accountable for their impact on climate change and the way they treat employees despite coronavirus.
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street, and Wells Fargo have stopped all stock buybacks for the 2nd quarter in order to maintain their solvency and liquidity for customers during the outbreak.
Columbia Sportswear’s CEO has reduced his pay to $10,000 for the year, and members of the executive team have taken 15% pay reductions to ensure their retail workers can continue to be paid.
Dick’s Sporting Goods’ President and CEO will both give up their salary for the year, and the rest of senior leadership have taken a pay cut to help support workers.
REI is closing its stores until March 27th, and all of its employees will be paid during this temporary closure. Update: They are continuing to close for an additional two weeks.
“Companies that look after all of their stakeholders, we think they’re better for us all. Edwards Lifesciences epitomizes that. They’ve walked the talk for a long time.”
How does a major medical corporation manage to stay wildly profitable while still supporting its stakeholders?
Our CEO Martin Whittaker joined Edwards Lifesciences CEO Mike Mussallem on Yahoo Finance for a deeper look at the policies and beliefs that have made it such a successful organization for workers, customers, communities, the environment, and its shareholders. A must-watch segment.
“If you run a business today, you’re here to create value for all stakeholders, and it’s not at the expense of shareholders. The Business Roundtable statement…was a recognition that it’s time for a new north star.”
On Tuesday December 5th, JUST CEO Martin Whittaker sat down with Carol Massar at Bloomberg’s Responsible Investing Forum to discuss what it means to build a purpose-driven company, the push toward stakeholder capitalism in the wake of the Business Roundtable Statement, and how JUST Capital is at the forefront of measuring, tracking, and analyzing how companies treat all of their stakeholders.
Watch the full interview below:
On November 12th, we celebrated the release of the 2020 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies in collaboration with Forbes, featuring discussions with JUST 100 leaders, including event sponsor, P&G.
Watch the spotlight feature:
Over the past five years, JUST Capital has surveyed more than 96,000 Americans to find out what matters most when it comes to business practices and what a company should prioritize.
The key takeaway hasn’t changed since 2015: Regardless of income, age, political affiliation, or location, the public is united in their desire for corporate America to stop prioritizing shareholders above all else and to start sharing success with every stakeholder, including workers, customers, communities, and the environment. And now, corporate America agrees.
In August 2019, the Business Roundtable — an association of the chief executive officers of nearly 200 of America’s largest and most influential companies — released a new Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation rejecting 40 years of shareholder primacy to adopt a new framework in which the purpose of a corporation is to benefit all stakeholders.
Their vision catches up to what business leaders, smart investors, and the American people have been telling JUST Capital for years: that doing right by workers, paying fair wages, investing in communities, fostering environmental stewardship, looking after customers, creating great jobs, and making products that benefit society is not only right, it’s the best way to generate profit and serve shareholders.
Now it’s all about implementation. What can companies actually do to measure and improve their performance on these issues? And how might you know which companies are truly walking the talk in promoting this more just and inclusive economy?
That’s where our 2020 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies come in. It’s the only platform demonstrating which companies are leading the way on the issues that matter most in the stakeholder economy.
Here are the five large companies that topped this year’s list, plus details on why they performed so well, broken down by stakeholder.
1. Microsoft
Industry: Software
Workers
Published its EEO-1 Survey, providing the highest level of disclosure on workforce demographics. Microsoft is one of the 4% of companies in the Russell 1000 that publicly shares this detailed report.
For more than a decade, Microsoft has provided childcare subsidies, discounts, and backup options for workers.
All parents receive 12 weeks of parental leave, and birth mothers get an additional eight weeks. In 2018, Microsoft announced that it would require its suppliers to also offer at least 12 weeks of parental leave, paying up to $1,000 per week.
Environment
Achieved 100% carbon neutrality in global operations every year since 2012.
Reduced product packaging weight for new devices by 20% in fiscal year 2018, exceeding the company’s 2020 goals.
Sets its sustainability goals in three primary areas: carbon and energy, water and ecosystems, and waste minimization. In addition to these more traditional pathways, Microsoft is also exploring a “tech-first” approach to sustainability, investing $50 million in its initiative called AI for Earth.
Communities
Takes leading steps to respect human rights throughout its operations and address negative impacts. Microsoft also publishes an annual Human Rights Report, which details the progress made in this area.
Microsoft has donated $1.4 billion to nonprofits worldwide and fosters a strong culture of employee giving. Collectively, Microsoft employees — in partnership with the company’s matching policy — contributed $263 million, supporting 21,785 nonprofits and schools worldwide.
2. NVIDIA
Industry: Semiconductors & Equipment
Workers
In addition to generous medical plan benefits, NVIDIA partners with the Stanford Health Navigator program to provide employees access to medical advice and care from leading institutions.
Supports parents through a generous paid parental leave policy, which provides 100% pay up to 22 weeks for mothers and 12 weeks for fathers, adoptive parents, and foster parents, with 8 weeks of flexible work hours upon return from leave.
Promotes diversity and inclusion by shepherding candidates at key diversity recruiting events.
Environment
Secures clean power at several data centers and reduced its emissions per employees between FY18 and FY19 by 7%, which amounts to a 20% reduction since FY14, exceeding its FY20 goal.
Decarbonizes its supply chain by requiring key manufacturing suppliers to report their energy and emissions policies and data since FY15, and in FY18 adding the requirement to have emissions data verified by a third party.
Designs products with energy efficiency in mind.
Communities
In 2019, NVIDIA donated over $2.69 million to support nonprofits across the globe that address issues such as disaster responses and fighting against cancer.
Addresses the negative impact business operations have on human rights by ensuring that it is 100% Responsible Minerals Assurance Process-compliant for its tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold processing facilities.
Encourages employee giving and volunteering. In 2019, employees volunteered over 13,000 hours, 77% of NVIDIA’s offices held charity-giving events, and the total volunteer rate was 34%.
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3. Apple
Industry: Technology Hardware
Workers
Apple is part of just 4% of companies in the Russell 1000 that publicly shared their EEO-1 Survey, offering the highest level of disclosure on their workforce demographics.
Offers tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 per year for their employees in order to help alleviate the financial toll of pursuing higher education.
Apple is one of the top five highest-paying companies in the Technology Hardware industry, ranking in the 73rd percentile, on average, for paying employees across different occupations a higher wage than its industry peers.
Environment
Reduced Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions (those generated from electricity usage) by 79.5% between 2017 and 2018. This is in part due to Apple’s efforts to source 100% of the electricity used in its facilities from renewable resources.
A focus on recycling and composting helped Apple divert a total of 74% of their waste from going to landfills in 2018.
Through the Supplier Clean Energy Program, 44 of Apple’s suppliers pledged to use 100% renewable energy for Apple-related production. These commitments helped reduce the company’s carbon footprint by close to 3.6 million metric tons between 2017 and 2018.
Communities
Through its participation in the ConnectEd initiative since 2014, Apple has supported 114 schools, serving high-needs students across the U.S.
In addition to matching employee donations for a broad range of causes and organizations across the world, Apple’s giving program provides matching funds for every hour employees volunteer their time.
4. Intel
Industry: Semiconductors & Equipment
Workers
Achieved pay and promotion parity for underrepresented minorities in the U.S. and global gender pay equity in 2018.
In 2018, 200,000 employees took advantage of learning and development courses, totaling almost two million learning hours delivered through instructor-led classrooms, virtual classrooms, and multimedia. The company offers up to $50,000 per program in tuition reimbursement with no annual limits.
Offers work-life balance through its flexible work options and child and elder care programs, which provide access to facilities, resources, and financial assistance.
Environment
Sourced 71% of energy from renewables globally in 2018, while achieving 100% in its U.S. and E.U. operations through green power purchase and on-site installations.
Intel treats and returns approximately 80% of water used to local communities and watershed and is making significant progress toward its goal to restore 100% of its global water use by 2025.
26% of its operational space is LEED-certified, a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.
Communities
Receives a 100, the highest possible score, from Development International in 2019 for its compliance with Dodd-Frank conflict minerals disclosure rules (based on reporting year 2018), signifying excellent performance.
Actively seeks to hire military veterans through its veteran hiring policy. Intel has committed to giving persons with criminal records a second chance by either having a policy to actively recruit them or by signing the Fair Chance Business Pledge.
5. Salesforce
Industry: Software
Workers
Publishes its EEO-1 Survey, providing the highest level of disclosure on their workforce demographics. Further showing their commitment to diversity and equal opportunity, Salesforce signed the Paradigm for Parity initiative whereby companies commit to achieving full gender parity by 2030.
Offers childcare services to its employees, who also benefit from preferential childcare rates and backup childcare.
Supports employees who want to go back to school by reimbursing up to $5k in educational fees per employee every year.
Environment
Salesforce sets environmental targets to offset 100% of business travel by 2020, is pursuing a net zero carbon certification by 2030, and 50% of its suppliers aim to set emissions targets by 2025
Salesforce recently released Sustainability Cloud, software that helps businesses track and analyze their environmental data.
Communities
Salesforce offers its employees seven days of paid volunteer time off every year and developed a pro bono volunteering program where volunteers help nonprofit organizations become more efficient and connected with cloud technology.
Signed the 1% pledge, whereby companies give 1% of their time, products, profits, or equity to improve the world. In 2018, Salesforce gave $60M to charitable organizations.
Actively recruits veterans and military spouses and pledged to provide free training to 35,000 veterans, military spouses, and transitioning service members by 2021.
Want to See More? Check Out the Full 2020 Rankings!
This year, we tracked, analyzed, and ranked 922 companies from the Russell 1000, across five stakeholder groups, including Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, and Shareholders. We covered 29 Issues — like whether companies pay a living wage or protect the environment — and more than 400 data points, from paid parental leave to veteran hiring and supplier policies.
We do this because we believe that independent and unbiased data, tools, and insights can drive accountability and incentivize action. Please explore this year’s Rankings to learn more about how the largest public U.S. companies measure up when it comes to serving their stakeholders and creating an economy that works for all Americans.
Sign up for The JUST Report, our free weekly newsletter about the future of capitalism and the movement to build a more equitable marketplace in America.
Earlier this year, the Business Roundtable – an association of the chief executive officers of nearly 200 of America’s largest and most influential companies – released a new Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. After 22 years of endorsing shareholder primacy – in which corporations exist principally to serve shareholders – the organization committed to a new ethos in which the purpose of a corporation is to benefit all stakeholders, including workers, customers, communities, and more.
From Tricia Griffith, president and CEO of Progressive Corporation: “Profits are key, but that’s not the sole focus of the best-run companies. They put the customer first and invest in their employees and communities. In the end, it’s the most promising way to build long-term value.”
The Business Roundtable’s move is a huge deal, and there are lots of questions around what it might look like to put this new vision into action. For example, how would you know if a company truly was committed to supporting communities? What might the world look like if a shift to putting workers, customers, and communities first happened?
With community investment, as with all other stakeholder commitments, there are no prescriptions or guarantees. It’s up to each company to determine its course and, more importantly, to take action.
Here are six companies that have done exactly that, providing clear examples of what it looks like to support the communities in which they work.
1. Microsoft Invests $500 Million into Affordable Housing in the Seattle Area
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 1
Microsoft made headlines in January 2019 for investing $500 million into affordable housing in the Seattle area, which is home to both Microsoft and Amazon. Microsoft’s investment is the most ambitious effort by a tech company to date to address the inequality that has spread in communities where the industry is concentrated.
New construction will be a mix of homes affordable not only to the company’s non-tech workers, but also to teachers, firefighters, and other middle- and low-income residents.
As part of the investment, the company plans to lend $225 million at subsidized rates to preserve and build housing in six cities surrounding its Redmond, Washington headquarters, and it pledges $250 million toward low-income housing across the region. The remaining $25 million will be grants for local organizations that work with the homeless, one issue in particular being legal aid for people fighting eviction.
2. Google Pledges to Invest $1 Billion in East Bay Area Housing Crisis
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 3
In another effort to address the affordable housing shortage, Google (parent company, Alphabet) has pledged to invest $1 billion in land and money to build homes in the San Francisco area. As part of the plan, the company will repurpose at least $750 million worth of commercially zoned property that it owns over the next 10 years, working with local governments to allow developers to lease the land and build homes.
Google also intends to create a $250 million investment fund to provide incentives for developers to create more affordable homes in the area.
3. Prudential Financial Will Invest $180 Million to Support Opportunity Youth
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 24
Prudential Financial is committing more than $180 million through 2025 to support young people ages 15 to 29 worldwide who lack access to school, training, or regular jobs.
“Businesses like ours have a role to play in ensuring that global economic progress benefits all members of tomorrow’s workforce,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey in a press release from the company. “Our goal is to improve young people’s lives by creating pathways for them to achieve financial wellness, strengthen their communities, and ultimately help drive the global economy,”
The money will help young people across the globe – a population often referred to as opportunity youth – gain the right skills to compete for and succeed in quality jobs. This population segment, which accounts for 350 million people, represents untapped potential for the future workforce.
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4. Salesforce Puts Up $18.2 Million to Support Bay Area Schools
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 29
Salesforce recently announced $18.2 million in grants to the San Francisco and Oakland school districts and education nonprofits to expand educational opportunities for students and leaders in the Bay Area.
The money, in part, will help develop new science curriculum, begin college preparation for first-generation college students as early as middle school, provide pathways for non-teaching staff in Oakland to acquire teaching credentials, and support the housing, food, legal, and medical needs of students new to the United States. Salesforce employees also have pledged 100,000 volunteer hours in education for the current school year.
With this announcement, the software company’s global education investment now totals more than $90 million.
5. JPMorgan Chase Invests $20 Billion to Help Its Employees and Support Local Economic Growth
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 111
In January 2018, JPMorgan Chase announced a $20 billion, five-year comprehensive investment to help its employees and support job and local economic growth in the United States. The initiative will include the following:
Wages will increase 10% on average – ranging from between $15 and $18 per hour – for 22,000 employees.
Opening 400 branches in new markets, leading to increased small business lending and philanthropic investments, plus more support for local low-and moderate-income communities.
Increasing community-based philanthropic investments by 40% to $1.75 billion over five years.
Increasing small business lending by $4 billion.
Accelerating affordable housing lending by (a) increasing mortgage lending in low-and moderate-income communities and (b) accelerating commercial lending to build affordable housing.
6. CVS Health Launches $50 Million Campaign to Curb the Rise of Teen Vaping
Overall JUST Capital Rank: 198
Earlier this summer, CVS Health announced a new $50 million campaign to help stop teen vaping and create the first tobacco-free generation. Part of the money will go toward the following:
Creating digital curriculum resources and engaging content to help middle and high school students learn about the risks of e-cigarette use.
Support for #ThisIsQuitting, a text message program developed by Truth Initiative that offers young people a free, confidential, and anonymous way to access behavioral and peer-to-peer social support to quit vaping.
Provide family clinicians with the resources they need to appropriately counsel young patients on the dangers of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).
Stopping teen vaping isn’t the only cause CVS Health supports. The company – in association with Aetna, which CVS acquired in 2018 – also recently launched the Building Healthier Communities initiative, a five-year, $100-million commitment to support critical programs and partnerships with local and national nonprofit organizations.
The campaign includes no-cost health assessments to underserved and underinsured communities, grants to more than 100 free clinics and community health centers, and funding to organizations working on issues such as cancer, diabetes, and opioid abuse.
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