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Resolution Details

Company:

MAXIMUS, Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Worker Rights, Health & Safety

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

Resolved: Shareholders urge the Board of Directors to commission and oversee an independent, third-party assessment of MAXIMUS’s adherence, above and beyond legal compliance, to its stated commitment to workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights as contained in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and as explicitly referenced in the company’s Human Rights Principles. The assessment should address management non-interference when employees exercise their right to form or join a trade union, as well as any steps to remedy any practices inconsistent with MAXIMUS’s stated commitments. The assessment, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting legally privileged, confidential, or proprietary information, should be publicly disclosed. 

Supporting Statement: MAXIMUS’s Human Rights Principles state “Respecting human rights means more than simply following particular rules or laws … [it] means making a shared commitment to hold each other accountable to the highest standards of business conduct.” We agree, and further note that MAXIMUS specifically identifies Freedom of Association as a subject toward which it recognizes its responsibilities. Nevertheless, over the past three years, MAXIMUS employees have repeatedly alleged violations of these principles, including retaliation and discrimination against union supporters1, compelling employees to attend meetings during which supervisors urged them to reject the union2, disciplining an employee for participating in a strike3, calling the police on striking employees4, coercively questioning an employee about their union support and threatening that their workplace would be closed if employees chose to unionize5, offering special benefits to non-striking employees that were denied to employees participating in a strike6, and discharging employees for participating in union activities.7 These cases are pending before the National Labor Relations Board.  Additionally, in 2021 MAXIMUS settled a complaint issued by Board Region 15, which had found merit in the employees’ allegations that MAXIMUS was employing illegal tactics – including discriminatory denials of access to the workplace for union-supporting employees and calling the police on employees and union organizers handing out leaflets in a parking lot.8 

These repeated allegations of unlawful behavior reveal a potential misalignment between MAXIMUS’s public commitments and its reported conduct. Such misalignment creates reputational, legal, and operational risks that may negatively impact the company’s long-term value.  

MAXIMUS acknowledges that its human rights policy “means more than simply following particular rules or laws,” and that upholding human rights requires “a shared commitment to hold each other accountable to the highest standards of business conduct.” It is time for the Board to fulfill its part of this commitment, and hold management “accountable to the highest standards of business conduct.”   

1 15-CA-292735 

2 15-CA-301668 

3 05-CA-301812 

4 05-CA-301812 

5 15-CA-305277 

6 15-CA-306438 

7 15-CA-318724 

8 15-CA-240635, 15-CA-258452

 

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Resolution Details

Company:

MAXIMUS, Inc.

Year:

2023

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Status:

Withdrawn for Agreement

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors adopt a policy requiring Maximus to disclose on its website the annual Consolidated EEO-1 Report. The company shall disclose its EEO-1 Report no later than 60 days after the date of its submission to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Shareholders also request disclosure of all of Maximus’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, on its website or another public filing or report.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT:
Recently, the racial justice movement and the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic have focused investor attention on civil rights and gender and racial equity in the workplace. Further, workforce diversity is increasingly seen as a driver of long-term value creation. Accordingly, investors benefit from better understanding of DEI strategy and performance at portfolio companies.

Maximus touts its commitment to DEI, stating that it is “central to our company identity” and a “business imperative.” Maximus says that DEI “broadly outlines the comprehensive efforts we are taking to create a more inclusive workplace.”1 While we appreciate these assurances, investors are unable to evaluate Maximus’ performance in this area without additional workforce diversity disclosure.

Maximus is required to annually submit an EEO-1 Report — a comprehensive breakdown of its workforce by race and gender according to 10 employment categories — to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The disclosure of this report would provide comprehensive and standardized workforce diversity data to investors with minimal additional burden on Maximus.

Such disclosure is increasingly becoming standard practice. According to an analysis by As You Sow, 90% of the S&P 100 have released or committed to release their EEO-1 reports and that 67% of the Russell 1000 firms disclose workforce diversity data in some form.2 Widespread disclosure of EEO-1 data is critical because the standardization provides consistency, allowing investors to compare progress across firms.

Research shows that more diverse workforces are linked to improved financial performance. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of workforce diversity in S&P 500 companies, the 20 companies that ranked the highest outperformed the bottom 20 by an average operating margin of 12% compared to 8% over the same period. The top companies’ stocks also performed better with an average stock return of 10% versus 4.2% over the same 5 year period.3

Studies also show that diversity at multiple echelons of a company can have a big impact, highlighting investors’ need for the comprehensive, workplace, demographic disclosure requested in this proposal. A McKinsey study found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and gender diversity in its executive ranks were 29% more likely to perform better than their peers in the quartile.4 A 2021 study found that high levels of racial diversity in both upper and lower management was associated with increased productivity.5

1 https://maximus.com/DEI

2 https://www.asyousow.org/our-work/social-justice/workplace-equity

3 https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-business-case-for-more-diversity-11572091200

4 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity

5 https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2019.0468

  

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