2000 SEAR report

Workplace

In 2000 Ben & Jerry’s employed 739 staff members: 422 at three manufacturing sites and a distribution center and 221 at its corporate office in Burlington, Vermont; 50 staff were part of our national sales force and 24 worked at our company-owned scoop shops. We had 22 people in international operations in the United Kingdom, France and Japan. In addition, we employed roughly 131 temporary or seasonal staff in our company-owned scoop shops and at our Waterbury plant tour. Our workforce increased by 20 or 2.5% from 1999.

Following is a chart detailing the comprehensive benefits available to full-time employees. The average benefits expenditure per employee in 2000 was $10,257 compared to $10,050 in 1999. There were no benefit changes in 2000.

In 2000, with the sale of the company at $43.60 per share, employees realized gains on stock option grants made in 1994 and 1999. The 1994 options awarded to all staff were issued at $16.75 ($26.85 gain) and the 1999 limited awards were issued at $23.63 ($19.97 gain). In 2000 18% of the workforce or 131 employees also participated in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.

In 1998 the then Board of Directors approved a Livable Wage Policy for the company. They defined a livable wage as a starting wage for a single person that will sustain a quality of life that includes expenditures for housing, utilities, out-of-pocket health care, transportation, nutrition, recreation, savings, taxes and miscellaneous expenses. Based on an analysis of such costs in Vermont, they determined a livable wage to be $9.40 per hour or $19,552 annually for 1999/2000. Any employee whose regular weekly earnings did not equate to $9.40 an hour was eligible for a supplemental check for the difference (the $9.40 calculation is based on salary only and does not include the value of benefits). In 2000 this resulted in adjustments for 12 employees.

Five percent of pre-tax profits were placed in the profit sharing pool. Profits were shared among all employees with the exception of senior management (OCEO) under a formula that allocates half the pool based on number of employees (704 in 2000) and the other half on tenure. In 2000 the pool amounted to $524,244. Each employee received $337.28, half of the pool based on headcount, and $4.72 per month of service for the half based on tenure.

In 2000 the compensation ratio of top-to-bottom, not including stock options awarded and cashed out as a result of the acquisition, was 17-1.

Gender equity in pay remained constant from 1999. In the categories of Professionals and Middle Managers, we essentially have pay parity between men and women.

In 2000, 56% of our workforce was male and 44% female, compared to 57% male and 43% female in 1999 and 1998.

In 2000, 51% of open positions (outside of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer) were filled internally, compared to 58% in 1999 and 54% in 1998.

In 2000 we offered three training programs and staff development opportunities in The Business & Values School, The Leadership & Management School and the Technical School. Through Ben & Jerry’s University, utilizing internal resources and external providers, over 11,000 hours of classroom training was provided, involving 424 employees from all departments and sites.

The Business & Values School offered courses in personal development and in targeted business skills. The key initiatives in 2000 focused on Diversity & Inclusion Workshops, Project Management and Effective Communication. Additional programs offered were Presentation Skills, Business Writing, Collaborative Negotiation and Train-the-Trainer. The Leadership & Management School offered courses in the Ben & Jerry’s Performance Development Series, a set of six workshops that provided leaders with the tools to develop staff performance. Four of the six workshops in the series were delivered for all departments and five workshops were delivered for Manufacturing operations and included managers, supervisors and coordinators.

The Technical School offered courses in job-specific skills. Key initiatives focused on Safety training and the Supply Chain supporting the Manufacturing operations. Course offerings included: Introduction to Ammonia Refrigeration Systems, HazMat Response Team Training, HAZWOPER Spill Containment, Basics in Supply Chain Management, Inventory Master Planning and Inventory Management.

In addition,the Information Systems Group provided approximately 9200 hours of computer training.

In 2000 we made a 1% gain, from 3% to 4% in the People of Color in our workforce. Vermont only has a 2% nonwhite population. Among the eight senior managers that comprised the Office of the CEO, one was African American and two were women.

In 2000 the eight-member Board of Directors of the company included one African American man and one African American woman.

In 2000 we employed 141 temporary workers, 131 of whom were part-time or seasonal workers in our tour and company scoop shops. In 2000, manufacturing began filling short-term (less than six-months duration) seasonal production positions by utilizing employment agencies. The agencies provided health insurance for these temporary workers. 35 positions were filled through agencies. We also employed 10 temporary staff for six months or more to meet manufacturing needs and provided them with health benefits.

During 1999 the company announced its decision to seek contracted novelty production under a co-packing agreement and to stop making novelties at the Springfield plant. We offered a generous severance package and provided other opportunities and/or job training and placement assistance for any Springfield employees who at that time might be adversely affected by this business decision. With the acquisition in 2000, the novelty production plan was placed on hold. However, the company allowed those workers who had already planned future jobs to sever their employment under the original terms and conditions of the reorganization.

In 1999, following a 1998 Union organizing vote by 19 maintenance employees at the St. Albans plant, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) became the authorized collective bargaining unit for that group. The company and the union negotiated a contract that took effect on November 10, 1999 and expires on October 31, 2001. The company’s goal in negotiating the union contract was to maintain equality of working conditions and benefits throughout the company; the negotiated contract is essentially modeled after the Ben & Jerry’s employee handbook.

At the beginning of 2000 there were 16 employees in the IBEW union. One member resigned from the company and two others were voted out by union members during 1999. No additional employees have sought membership. During the year there was one verbal grievance that was resolved within two days.

Since 1990 we have administered a biennial Work Life Survey. In 1998 we completed a partial survey. A comprehensive survey was scheduled for 2000, but with the acquisition it was not undertaken. A survey is intended in 2002.

There were no workplace-related regulatory actions against the company in 2000.