Organization: Express Scripts Holding Co.

Year: 2018

Resolved:

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that Express Scripts Holding Company report annually to the board and shareholders, identifying whether there exists a gender pay gap among the company's employees, and if so, the measures being taken (policies, programs, goals etc.) to eliminate any such pay disparities and to facilitate an environment that promotes opportunities for equal advancement for women. The gender pay gap is defined as the difference between male and female earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The report should be prepared by December 2018 at reasonable cost and omit proprietary information. We encourage the company to also address pay equity across race ethnicity.

Supporting Statement:

Supporting Statement: Women earn about 80 cents for every dollar earned by their male peers. Differences in age, education, years of experience etc. may explain some of this difference. However, a study by Glassdoor (Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap) of over 500,000 self reported salary data points on its website shows that even after adjusting for these factors, there is an unexplained, statistically significant pay gap of 5.4% (the adjusted gender pay gap) between men and women in the US. The study also revealed that the healthcare and insurance industries both have an adjusted gender pay gap of 7.2% the largest of 25 industries studied. This means that women earn about 93 cents for every dollar earned by men "working in the same job title, same company, and with similar background and experience," (https research content.glassdoor.com app uploads sites 2 2016 03 Glassdoor Gender Pay Gap Study.pdf). This gap is 33% higher than the average adjusted gender pay gap for the US. The gender pay gap is real salesforce.com twice commissioned analyses of its salaries and spent $3 million each time correcting for statistically significant gender based salary differences for six to 11 percent of its workforce. Many studies conclude that diversity matters to company performance. Gender and ethnically diverse companies are likely to outperform by 15% and 35% respectively (http www.mckinsey.com business functions organization our insights why diversity matters). This raises concerns about whether companies are positioned to attract the best talent, if similar work is not being equally compensated. Despite progress, pay inequity and advancement opportunities remain concerns for the healthcare industry in which the Company operates. Women comprise 78% of the healthcare workforce but remain underrepresented at the leadership level. At Fortune 500 healthcare companies, women represent only about 20% of executive leadership and 63% of these companies have less than 25% women on their boards (https rockhealth.com the state of healthcare gender diversity 2016). In response to the proposal last year, Express Scripts enhanced its disclosure around pay equity. It explained what the compensation program is designed to prevent and reflect. It could be further enhanced to assert that based on its regular reporting and analyses, any discovered gaps are addressed and thus it does not have a gender pay gap. Company peers, including Anthem and UnitedHealth Group, make stronger assertions.