Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On December 13, 2007, the Management Development and Compensation Committee
of the Board of Directors of Waste Management, Inc. (the "Company") set the
fiscal year 2008 performance criteria for annual bonuses for executive officers.
The bonuses are paid under the Company's annual incentive plan, which was
approved by stockholders at the Company's Annual Meeting in 2004. Pursuant to
the criteria approved by the Committee, 100% of the executives' target bonuses
are based on financial measures, although the Committee has the discretion to
adjust the awards by up to 25% based on the executives' personal performance.
The financial measures are divided equally between an income from operations
margin target and an EBITDA target, which is calculated as income from
operations before depreciation and amortization. Although each of the executive
officers has certain personal performance goals that are used and reviewed in
judging performance, those goals are not specifically a part of the annual bonus
targets. Instead, it is anticipated that in the event of unexpected performance
by the individual, the Committee may adjust the award that would have otherwise
been granted.
Each of the executives is subject to an employment agreement with the Company
that sets forth such executive's target incentive bonus, which ranges from 50%
to 115% of the executives' annual base salary. Further, the agreements provide
that the executives' actual bonuses may range from zero to two times the target
bonus, depending on the achievement of the goals set forth under the annual
incentive plan.
The criteria established by the Committee include calculations as to how
actual bonuses will be paid, depending on the level of achievement of the goals.
Specifically, the financial measures state that unless income from operations
margin is higher than in the previous year, there is no payment of that portion
of the bonus. If income from operations margin is 10% or greater than target,
the executive will be paid 200% of that portion of the bonus. To receive a
payout under the EBITDA piece of the bonus, the Company's actual performance
must be above 90% of the EBITDA target. If the Company's actual 2008 EBITDA is
10% or more than the target EBITDA, the executive will receive 200% of that
portion of the bonus. Additionally, the annual incentive plan provides that in
no event will any award made under the plan exceed 0.5% of the Company's pre-tax
income from operations.
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