The world’s largest coffee chain is adding the most amazing perks for its employees. Starbucks Corporation just recently expanded its sick and parental leave policy this year. Giving its hourly employees who become new dads 6 weeks of paid leave, a benefit that had been offered only to new mothers and adoptive or foster parents. They are also giving its salary waged new mothers 18 weeks of paid leave where other companies only give 12 weeks. To top it off, Starbucks Corporation will now offer subsidized child care for all of their employees in the United States.
Starbucks noted that 2 million working parents quit their jobs in 2016 because of child care, according to National Survey of Children Health. It says it is among the largest retailers in the United States to offer the benefit.
Sheila Marcelo, CEO of Care.com states, “It’s hard for employees to actually focus on work if their families aren’t cared for.”
This new benefit, is partnership with child-care provider Care.com, a digital platform that connects caregivers with people who need them. Starbucks will provide 10 subsidized backup day-care days for parents when regular care falls through. In-home child care will cost $1 an hour or $2 an hour after the fourth child. Child-care at a day-care center will cost $5 a day.
The new care policy “is the final piece of the puzzle,” said Ron Crawford, vice president of benefits at Starbucks.
Unlike other Starbucks benefits, which require employees to work 20 hours before they can access, “Care@Work” is available to more than 180,000 U.S. employees, regardless of how much they work.
Americans pay almost as much for child care as they do for rent, and when it falls through or there’s an unexpected day off from school or day care, a parent either has to stay home or scramble to find a solution.
“This is a need we see in America today,” Crawford said. “Working parents need support for those days when stuff happens.”
For Starbucks, child care is the next frontier. The company may be open to broader based child-care benefits in the future too, Crawford said
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