The Board of Directors of The Clorox Company represents the interests of stockholders, as owners of the Company, in perpetuating a successful business, including optimizing long-term financial returns. The Board is responsible for determining that the Company is managed in such a way as to foster this result. This is an active, not a passive responsibility. The Board has the responsibility to see that in good times, as well as difficult times, management is capably executing its responsibilities. The Board's responsibility is to oversee management's operation of the Company's business, to monitor the effectiveness of management policies and decisions, including the execution of its strategies, and to provide for management succession.
The Board of Directors has adopted these Corporate Governance Guidelines as a framework for the governance of the Company. The Nominating and Governance Committee reviews the Guidelines annually and recommends changes to the Board of Directors as appropriate.
To optimize long-term financial returns, the Board must:
- Oversee that the Company operates in a legal, ethical, and socially responsible manner and the Company maintains a Code of Conduct that complies with New York Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Commission requirements;
- Select, evaluate, and offer advice and counsel to the Chief Executive Officer and work with the Chief Executive Officer to develop effective measurement systems that will evaluate and determine the Company's degree of success in creating long-term economic value for its stockholders;
- Review, approve and monitor fundamental financial and business strategies and major corporate actions;
- Oversee the Company's capital structure and financial policies and practices;
- Oversee major risks facing the Company and review options for their mitigation;
- Oversee the Company's legal and regulatory compliance; and
- Provide counsel and oversight on the selection, evaluation and development, and approve the compensation, of executive officers.
The Board reviews annually, or when called for under the circumstances, any relationships that directors or nominees have with the Company and makes an affirmative determination regarding the independence of each director. Only those directors whom the Board affirmatively determines have no material relationship with the Company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the Company) are considered independent.
The Board has established the following criteria to be used in determining whether a director has a material relationship with the Company:
- A director will not be deemed to be independent if the director is, or has been within the preceding three years, an employee of the Company, or an immediate family member is, or has been within the preceding three years, an executive officer of the Company, provided, however, that employment as an interim Chairman, interim CEO or other interim executive officer shall not disqualify a director from being considered independent following that employment.
- A director will not be deemed to be independent if, during any 12-month period within the preceding three years, the director or an immediate family member received more than $120,000 in direct compensation from the Company, other than director and committee fees, pension or other forms of deferred compensation for prior service (provided that such compensation is not contingent in any way on continued service), compensation for former service as an interim chairman or interim chief executive officer or other interim executive officer, compensation received by an immediate family member for service as an employee (other than an executive officer) of the Company, or dividends on Company stock beneficially owned by the director.
- A director will not be deemed to be independent if (i) the director, or an immediate family member is a current partner of the firm that is the Company's independent registered public accounting firm; (ii) the director is a current employee of such firm; (iii) an immediate family member of the director is a current employee of such firm who personally works on the Company's audit; or (iv) the director or an immediate family member was within the preceding three years (but is no longer) a partner or employee of such firm and personally worked on the Company's audit within that time.
- A director will not be deemed to be independent if, within the preceding three years: (i) the director or an immediate family member is or was employed as an executive officer of another company where any of the Company's present executive officers at the same time serves or served on that company's compensation committee; or (ii) the director is a current employee, or an immediate family member is a current executive officer, of another company that has made payments to or received payments from the Company for property or services that, in any of the preceding three fiscal years, exceeded two percent or $1 million, whichever is greater, of such other company's consolidated gross revenues.
- A director may be considered independent notwithstanding that the director owns, or is a partner, stockholder, officer, director or employee of, an entity that owns not more than 30% of the outstanding stock of the Company unless the director or the entity owning the Company's stock has a relationship with the Company that, under paragraphs 1 through 4 above or otherwise, precludes a finding of independence.
- A director will not be deemed independent if the director serves, or an immediate family member serves, as an executive officer of a tax exempt organization that received contributions from the Company and its Foundation, in any single fiscal year within the preceding three years, more than the greater of $1 million or 2% of such organization's consolidated gross revenues.
For purposes of these criteria, "immediate family member" includes a person's spouse, parents, children, siblings, mothers and fathers-in-law, sons and daughters-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law, and anyone, other than domestic employees, who shares such person's home.