Gender and Racial Pay Gap

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: The median income for women working full time in the United States is 80 percent of that of

their male counterparts. The gap for African America and Latina women is 60 percent and 55 percent. At the current rate, women will not reach pay parity until 2059.

Mercer finds actively managing pay equity “is associated with higher current female representation at the professional through executive levels and a faster trajectory to improved representation.” Research from Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, and Robeco Sam suggests more gender diverse leadership leads to superior stock price performance and return on equity. McKinsey states, “the business case for the advancement and promotion of women is compelling.” Best practices include “tracking and eliminating gender pay gaps.”

Regulatory risks associated with pay equity exist. The Paycheck Fairness Act, pending in Congress, would improve company-level transparency and strengthen penalties for equal pay violations. California, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland have enacted significant changes to their equal pay laws.

Since 2018 the United Kingdom has required large businesses to provide annual gender pay gap reports.

The Cigna U.K. 2019 Gender Pay Gap Report shows a 25 percent gender pay gap (up from 22 percent in

2018) and a 34 percent gender bonus pay gap between male and female employees. Women comprised

56 percent of total employees but held only 37 percent of senior positions.

Cigna does not report on the gender pay gap for its U.S. employees.

Last year Cigna shareholders voted 35.63 percent in favor of a similar Gender Pay Gap resolution.

Shareholder support represented more than $17.3 billion at the date of the 2019 annual meeting. Cigna

has shown no meaningful progress on this issue.

Leading large-cap companies across industry sectors including Apple, Starbucks and Bank of New York

Mellon, among others, have publicly committed to pay equity and published the results of gender pay

assessments.

Equal pay and equal opportunity, particularly at the management level, are linked to better financial

performance and more robust decision-making. Companies would be well served by understanding the

equity attributes of their pay, at all levels of the corporation, by gender as well as other facets of diversity, such as race and ethnicity. Amid increasing regulatory and investor interest, it is apparent that companies should understand, manage, and report on pay equity to shareholders.

RESOLVED: Shareholders request Cigna report on the company’s global mean and median gender pay gap, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining female talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy and legal compliance information.

The gender pay gap is defined as the difference between male and female median earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Supporting Statement: A report adequate for investors to assess company strategy and performance

would include the percentage mean and median pay gap between male and female employees across

race and ethnicity, including base, bonus and equity compensation.

Lead Filer

Michael Passoff
Proxy Impact