Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 19
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CO M M U N I C A T I O N S W I T H T H E B O A R D
The Board has established two separate mechanisms for shareholders and interested parties to
communicatewiththeBoard.Anyshareholderorinterestedpartywhohasconcernsregardingaccounting,
improperuseofKrogerassets,orethicalimproprietiesmayreporttheseconcernsviathetoll-freehotline
(800-689-4609) or email address (helpline@kroger.com) established by the Board’s Audit Committee. The
concerns are investigated by Kroger’s Vice President of Auditing and reported to the Audit Committee as
deemedappropriatebytheVicePresidentofAuditing.
ShareholdersorinterestedpartiesalsomaycommunicatewiththeBoardinwritingdirectedtoKroger’s
Secretaryatourexecutiveoffices.TheSecretarywillconsiderthenatureofthecommunicationanddetermine
whethertoforwardthecommunicationtothechairoftheCorporateGovernanceCommittee.Communications
relatingtopersonnelissuesorourordinarybusinessoperations,orseekingtodobusinesswithus,willbe
forwardedtothebusinessunitofKrogerthattheSecretarydeemsappropriate.Allothercommunicationswill
beforwardedtothechairoftheCorporateGovernanceCommitteeforfurtherconsideration.Thechairofthe
CorporateGovernanceCommitteewilltakesuchactionasheorshedeemsappropriate,whichmayinclude
referraltothefullCommitteeortheentireBoard.
AT T E N D A N C E
TheBoardheldfivemeetingsinfiscalyear2014.Duringfiscalyear2014,allincumbentdirectorsattended
atleast75%oftheaggregatenumberofmeetingsoftheBoardandcommitteesonwhichthatdirectorserved.
MembersoftheBoardareexpectedtousetheirbesteffortstoattendallannualmeetingsofshareholders.All
thirteenmembersthenservingontheBoardattendedlastyear’sannualmeeting.
CO M P E N S A T I O N C O N S U L T A N T S
The Compensation Committee directly engages a compensation consultant from Mercer Human
ResourceConsultingtoadvisetheCommitteeinthedesignofcompensationforourexecutiveofficers.In
2014,Krogerpaidthatconsultant$294,868forworkperformedfortheCommittee.Kroger,onmanagement’s
recommendation, retained the parent and affiliated companies of Mercer Human Resource Consulting to
provideotherservicesforKrogerin2014,forwhichKrogerpaid$4,425,282.Theseotherservicesprimarily
relatedtoinsuranceclaims(forwhichKrogerwasreimbursedbyinsurancecarriersasclaimswereadjusted),
insurance brokerage and bonding commissions, and pension consulting. Kroger also made payments to
affiliatedcompaniesforinsurancepremiums thatwerecollectedbytheaffiliatedcompanies on behalf of
insurancecarriers,buttheseamountsarenotincludedinthetotalsreferencedabove,astheamountswere
paidovertoinsurancecarriersforservicesprovidedbythosecarriers.AlthoughneithertheCommitteenor
theBoardexpresslyapprovedtheotherservices,aftertakingintoconsiderationtheNYSE’sindependence
standards andthe SEC rules, theCommittee determinedthatthe consultantis independentand hiswork
hasnotraisedanyconflictofinterestbecause(a)theconsultantwasfirstengagedbytheCommitteebefore
hebecameassociatedwithMercer;(b)theconsultantworksexclusivelyfortheCommitteeandnotforour
management; (c) the consultant does not benefit from the other work that Mercer’s parent and affiliated
companiesperformforKroger;and(d)neithertheconsultantnortheconsultant’steamperformanyother
servicesforKroger.TheCommitteemayengageanadditionalcompensationconsultantfromtimetotimeas
itdeemsadvisable.
CO M P E N S A T I O N C O M M I T T E E I N T E R L O C K S A N D I N S I D E R P A R T I C I P A T I O N
NomemberoftheCompensationCommitteewasanofficeroremployeeofKrogerduringfiscalyear
2014,andnomemberoftheCompensationCommitteeisaformerofficeroftheCompanyorwasaparty
toanydisclosablerelatedpersontransactioninvolvingtheCompany.Duringfiscalyear2014,noneofour
executiveofficersservedontheboardofdirectorsoronthecompensationcommitteeofanyotherentitythat
hasorhadexecutiveofficersservingasamemberoftheBoardofDirectorsorCompensationCommitteeof
theCompany.