Starbucks increases paid parental leave benefits

Starbucks ups paid parental leave in bid to retain workers

What you probably already know: Starbucks this week announced it would double its paid parental leave benefits for all employees. The company has increased benefits for birth mothers from six to 18 weeks, and non-birth parents can get up to 12 weeks paid leave at 100% their average pay. Only 27% of private sector workers have access to any paid family leave, a number that has been very slowly increasing in recent years despite little movement on federal regulations to require paid leave like most other developed countries do.

Why? For Starbucks, it’s a retention issue. While the company fares better than many fast-food competitors, it’s become harder to find workers, making retention even more important. Starbucks has around 381,000 employees globally, and about 60% of those are in the U.S. and would be subject to the new policy. New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said that after just a few months on the job, an employee emailed him asking for longer parental leave and made a compelling enough case that he decided to take action.

What it means: Often, when large employers start offering programs like this, it can drive competitors to do the same. While the U.S. does not require companies to disclose their paid leave policies, many do and a researcher at UCLA has compiled them into a database. Top companies include Adobe, Netflix, PayPal, Meta, Salesforce and American Express. Starbucks wasn’t on the list of top companies and has previously ranked in the middle of the pack for paid leave and the transparency around its policies.

What happens now? While there had been some hope that paid family leave might end up a federal issue, neither presidential candidate laid out a plan during their campaigns leading up to the election. In his previous term, President Donald Trump signed into law paid parental leave for federal workers, and the issue is popular among voters on both sides. About 96% of Democrats support paid leave, while 76% of Republicans do.