We provide a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that attracts, values, and retains the employees who help our business succeed. Based on benchmarking and local research, we have consistently offered a compensation and benefits package that is in the 50th–75th percentile compared to other local consumer product manufacturing companies. Our wages paid in 2009 totaled $545 million in the U.S. and for Nestlé Waters Canada, $27.1 million (Canadian dollars).
We offer a range of benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees, including a 401(k) savings plan with company match, disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, employee assistance programs, profit sharing, and paid time off. We also provide full healthcare and dental benefit plans, and we pay more than the average employer contribution to these plans. Employees who work at least 30 hours per week are eligible for these benefits, and our full-time employees are offered medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, vacation, paid holidays, paid military leave, matching 401(k), profit sharing, employee assistance program, and Healthworks – a program sponsored by Nestlé to promote healthy living habits for employees and their families.
We will continue to conduct local and national compensation and benefits benchmarking studies, and adjust salaries annually, as appropriate and feasible.
We conduct regular surveys, as well as a full-scale employee engagement survey every two years. This feedback is used to identify improvement strategies, and then we monitor regularly to ensure issues are addressed appropriately.