OAKLAND, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 13, 2015) - The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) will be recognized today at the 2015 White House Conference on Aging as one of the companies with a "best in class" retirement plan for its employees. The conference, held once every 10 years, will feature an open dialogue on retirement and aging issues. Over 200 stakeholders will be in attendance, including President Barack Obama, cabinet members and other CEOs, with thousands more participating through webcasts.
"Clorox's relentless focus on attracting and retaining smart, values-driven people is one of the reasons the company has been able to thrive for more than a hundred years. It's also why employees at Clorox are more engaged than others in the consumer goods industry,"1 said Jacqueline Kane, executive vice president - Human Resources and Corporate Affairs. "Our benefits programs have been designed to support the long-term well-being of our people because each and every person contributes to our success."
Better Preparing Workers for Retirement
The Obama administration has long encouraged employers to help employees better prepare for retirement through best practices like automatic enrollment of employees in 401(k) plans starting at levels such as 5 percent or 6 percent of pay; automatic escalation of contributions, substantial employer matching and other contributions; flexible distribution options; and comprehensive financial education programs.
The Clorox Company has taken the lead in adopting such practices. For example, Clorox provides a total company contribution of 10 percent of pay, consisting of a 4 percent employer match and a 6 percent annual company contribution, and has included auto-enrollment and auto-escalation features for many years. This has led to 97 percent employee participation with an average employee contribution of more than 10 percent.2 Clorox also offers financial planning services to help employees manage their retirement-plan assets and other aspects of their personal finances to ensure their financial well-being.
The White House Conference on Aging
The White House Conference on Aging has been held once a decade beginning in 1961 and is designed to help chart the course of aging policy. The 2015 conference will focus on four areas: ensuring retirement security; promoting healthy aging; providing long-term services and supports; and protecting older Americans from financial exploitation, abuse and neglect. Additional information on conference activities can be found at whitehouseconferenceonaging.gov.
The Clorox Company
The Clorox Company is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with about 7,700 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2014 sales of $5.5 billion. Clorox markets some of the most trusted and recognized consumer brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Pine-Sol® cleaners; Liquid Plumr® clog removers; Poett® home care products; Fresh Step® cat litter; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; Kingsford® charcoal; Hidden Valley® and KC Masterpiece® dressings and sauces; Brita® water-filtration products and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. The company also markets brands for professional services, including Clorox Healthcare®, HealthLink®, Aplicare® and Dispatch® infection control products for the healthcare industry. More than 80 percent of the company's brands hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories. Clorox's commitment to corporate responsibility includes making a positive difference in its communities. In fiscal year 2014, The Clorox Company and The Clorox Company Foundation contributed more than $16 million in combined cash grants, product donations, cause marketing and employee volunteerism. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, the CR Matters Blog and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.
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1 Clorox employee engagement score from 2014 global survey: 86% vs. 77% benchmark: The Towers Watson global fast-moving consumer goods norm is based on responses from 126,346 employees at 61 global organizations in this sector as well as a representative sample of employee data collected through general workforce attitude studies.
2 Data as of March 31, 2015.
