Company: AOS
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001193125-25-037641
Chunk: 82

Company: SMITH A O CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 82
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 and interacting with our customers, our employees and the communities in which we do business. Our success depends upon all of our employees, officers and directors sharing the same fundamental values and working towards the same goals.

One of our five key Values is to make A. O. Smith a good place to work, and inclusion is at the heart of this Value. This key Value, incorporated into our Guiding Principles, states: “In operating our company, we will attract imaginative and highly capable people. We will emphasize teamwork and promote diversity in seeking our objectives.” It further provides that our objectives are to “[c]reate a climate where respect for the individual is fundamental; [e]ncourage the freedom and personal growth that comes from hard work, passion for continuous improvement and uncompromising ethical values; [t]reat each other fairly and without discrimination; [p]ay individuals equitably according to their contributions; and [p]rovide equipment, materials and training to ensure a safe working environment.”

The Guiding Principles incorporates this Value by providing “[w]e operate in a global environment and will strive to create a workplace where men and women from diverse backgrounds can thrive and achieve their fullest potential.” The Guiding Principles are available at https://www.aosmith.com/About/Governance/ (which is not incorporated by reference in this Proxy Statement).

**Safeguards to Prevent Hiring Discrimination**

Our company has multiple safeguards to prevent hiring discrimination, including measures to prevent disqualifying job candidates because of their criminal record or prior incarceration where not directly relevant to the position or consistent with business necessity.

66A. O. Smith Corporation

Stockholder Proposal Requesting A Board Report On Our Hiring Practices With Respect To Formerly Incarcerated People For instance:

| • |     | A. O. Smith does not have any automatic, across-the-board exclusions for job applicants with criminal convictions that disqualify them from employment or limit their employment opportunities. Furthermore, the company’s job application forms do not include questions about criminal convictions, nor does the company ask any questions about criminal convictions prior to a conditional offer of employment (unless otherwise legally required to do so). |

| • |     | A. O. Smith works with an accredited third-party vendor to conduct comprehensive background checks on all candidates. There is no automatic, blanket exclusion from consideration for any conviction. Rather, we review each case individually and take into account the context, recentness and severity of the crime, and its relevance to the job. We also give the candidate