Business Practices and Standards of Conduct
Our Business Practices and Standards of Conduct are designed to provide guidance on and articulate our commitment to several key matters such as safety and health, protecting the environment, use of company resources, and promoting a harassment-free work environment. It also addresses certain legal and ethical facets of integrity in business dealings with suppliers, customers, investors and the governments that regulate us. We assess global compliance with this policy annually.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct sets forth our Company’s basic expectations for environmental, labor, supplier working conditions and ethical practices that suppliers are expected to meet in order to do business with Edgewell. We believe we hold our suppliers to a high standard and use a risk-based approach to audit suppliers for ongoing compliance.
Director Independence
Our Corporate Governance Principles, adopted by our Board, provide that a majority of our Board, and the entire membership of the Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees of our Board, will consist of independent, non-employee directors who meet the criteria for independence required by the NYSE listing standards. In addition, our Corporate Governance Principles provide that there may not be at any time more than two employee directors serving on our Board.
For relationships not described in our Corporate Governance Principles, a majority of our independent directors, after considering all of the relevant circumstances, may make a determination whether or not such relationship is material and whether the director may therefore be considered independent under the NYSE listing standards. We have also considered and determined that members of our Audit Committee and Compensation Committee satisfy the additional independence requirements of the NYSE and SEC for such committees.
Director affiliations and transactions are regularly reviewed to ensure that there are no conflicts or relationships with our Company that might impair a director’s independence. Every year, we submit a questionnaire to each director and executive officer, in addition to conducting our own internal review, for the purpose of identifying certain potentially material transactions or relationships between each director, or any member of his or her immediate family, and our Company, our senior management and our independent auditor.
Our Board also determined that no arrangement or understanding exists between any director or executive officer of our Company and any other person pursuant to which any of them were selected as a director or executive officer. Accordingly, based on the responses to the 2021 questionnaire and the results of its review, our Board has affirmatively determined that all directors, other than Rod Little, are independent from management.
Director Nominations
The Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for recommending candidates for election to our Board of Directors, consistent with the requirements for membership set forth in our Corporate Governance Principles. Those requirements include integrity, independence, diligence, diversity, energy, forthrightness, analytical skills and a willingness to challenge and stimulate management, and the ability to work as part of a team in an environment of trust. The principles also indicate our Board’s belief that each director should have a basic understanding of (i) our principal operational and financial objectives, plans and strategies, (ii) our results of operations and financial condition, and (iii) the relative standing of our Company and our business segments in relation to our competitors. In addition to those standards, the committee seeks directors who will effectively represent the interests of our shareholders, and who bring to our Board a breadth of experience from a variety of industries, geographies and professional disciplines. Although our Company does not have a formal policy with respect to diversity matters, our Board also considers factors such as diversity on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, disability and sexual orientation. The committee reviews its effectiveness in balancing these considerations when assessing our Board’s composition. The committee is also responsible for articulating and refining specific criteria for Board and committee membership to supplement, as appropriate, the more general criteria set forth in our Corporate Governance Principles.
The Corporate Governance Committee expects a high level of commitment from Board members and evaluates each candidate’s leadership and experience, skills, expertise and character traits, including the candidate’s ability to devote sufficient time to Board and committee meetings in light of other professional commitments. The committee also reviews whether a potential candidate meets Board and/or committee membership requirements, as set forth in our Corporate Governance Principles, determines whether a potential candidate is independent according to our Board’s established criteria, and evaluates the potential for a conflict of interest between the director and our Company.
Historically, when vacancies have occurred, or when our Board determined that increasing its size was appropriate, candidates have been recommended to the committee by other Board members or the chief executive officer, or the Board
