To: CEO Kevin Johnson

Starbucks: Extend paid parental leave policy to ALL employees

WE WON! Starbucks announced on January 24, 2018 that it is finally going to offer paid parental leave to all employees. I am so full of love and happiness to know that partners like me will have some protected, paid time to welcome new children to their lives.

Starbucks is only one company, but it’s a leader and many other companies follow its example when it comes to how to treat employees. Starbucks is still giving its corporate executives MUCH more parental leave than it gives everyone else (corporate moms still get 3x the leave as baristas, and corporate dads get 2x more) but now, nobody is left out.

I’m asking Starbucks to change their new paid parental leave policy (announced in January 2017) to be equal for ALL U.S. employees before it kicks in on Oct 1. The folks who make the coffee should have the same paid parental leave as the executives in the corporate office.

Why is this important?

I was a barista at Starbucks a little over a year ago when my kids were small. Overall it was a great place to work, with nice regulars and a hardworking manager who’s a dad like me. So I was really surprised when I saw Starbucks make an announcement on January 19, 2017 that it would be updating its parental leave policy in the U.S. starting in October 2017.

At first, the new policy sounded great: new parents in their corporate office will be getting some of the most generous paid leave in the industry -- at least 12 weeks of fully paid time off - which is the way it should be. But partners in the stores will be getting much less: barista moms are getting less than half of what corporate HQ moms get (six weeks paid at 100% of their annual pay), and for barista dads like I was or adoptive parents? Nothing. Not a single day of paid parental leave for those hard working, and deserving parents in the U.S. We would only be allowed unpaid leave.

When I worked there, I felt like Starbucks worked hard to take care of their employees and overall, is a progressive company. Giving all new parents the same amount of leave whether they’re in the stores or the corporate office should be a no-brainer. It’s something you’d expect a company like Starbucks to just do automatically. For me, a working dad, it’s an obvious choice.

But sometimes a large corporation needs a little nudge to get their attention. Join me in asking Starbucks to do better for all of their employees - including their baristas!

Partner

PL+US

Updates

2018-01-29 12:52:48 -0500

Petition is successful with 4,859 signatures

2018-01-24 19:42:31 -0500

WE WON! Starbucks announced today that it is finally going to offer paid parental leave to all employees. I am so full of love and happiness to know that partners like me will have some protected, paid time to welcome new children to their lives.

Starbucks is only one company, but it’s a leader and many other companies follow its example when it comes to how to treat employees. Along with the announcement of Walmart’s new parental leave policy a few weeks ago, I know that THIS is a moment when everyday working people can speak out and be heard. This is THE MOMENT!

That’s why I’m supporting people who work for other companies - like CVS, Target, Staples, and TJX -- to get parental leave too. And, we’re still going to fight for equality with the execs at Starbucks too. Will you join me? Add your name!

http://paidleave.us/takeaction/2018/starbucks-expands-parental-leave-benefits?source=coworker

2017-10-03 13:03:08 -0400

Yesterday, Starbucks quietly updated its website -- and baristas who are adoptive parents are now included in the paid parental leave program! This is a major change that is a direct result of your advocacy and demonstrates the power of public pressure to transform workplaces.

Starbucks's policy change demonstrates that our campaign is working. Spread the word to keep up the momentum until we win equal paid leave for ALL Starbucks employees.
https://www.facebook.com/PaidLeaveUS/photos/p.496621030698546/496621030698546/?type=3

2017-10-03 12:58:33 -0400

Last week, in partnership with PL+US, five leading investment firms with assets under management totaling nearly $7 billion filed a first-of-its-kind shareholder resolution challenging Starbucks’s unequal paid parental leave policy. Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/02/starbucks-investors-coffee-family-parental-birth-leave.

2017-08-23 16:18:37 -0400

Hi all --

We are keeping the pressure on Starbucks and building a team of online supporters to help us win paid family leave for all partners--not just those in the corporate office.

Please JOIN our new Facebook group and INVITE your fellow Starbucks partners, friends, and paid leave supporters to join as well:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/paidleaveadvocates/

This is an online space for you to share your experiences, thoughts, stories, and ideas. This group is also a place for regular campaign updates and ways to take action to win equal paid parental leave for ALL Starbucks partners.

Let's win this!

2017-07-13 16:47:24 -0400

A few weeks ago Starbucks partners Niko and Ryan flew to Seattle to meet with the Starbucks Vice President of Global Benefits, Ron Crawford, deliver Niko's petition signed by more than 30,000 paid parental leave supporters like you.

After delivering the petition signatures, we asked for Ron Crawford to participate in a national conference call to hear from store employees about how they’re impacted by the company’s discriminatory policy -- and Starbucks agreed to participate.

This is great news! Now we have to get the word out to make sure that all partner voices are heard by Starbucks HQ. We are in touch with Ron Crawford's team to coordinate the details of a listening session/partner forum, but it will most likely take place in September. We will keep you all in the loop as things progress and when we have more details.

Please email [email protected] if you are a Starbucks partner and interested in participating! We would love to hear from you.

Let's win this!

2017-05-09 17:42:52 -0400

A big reason why I went to work for Starbucks, where I’ve proudly worked for nearly 7 years, was because of their inclusiveness of the LGBTQ community. Will you join me in urging Starbucks to continue to be a strong LGBTQ ally by including ALL families in the paid parental leave policy? http://plus.nationbuilder.com/starbucks_niko

I am a transgender male and Starbucks is a place that I, and my LGBTQ friends who also work for the company, can be authentic. I’m writing today because I was surprised to learn that the paid leave Starbucks offers to store employees does not extend to fathers or adoptive parents -- a policy that hurts LGBTQ parents.

Sign our petition urging Starbucks to continue to be an inclusive leader by providing paid parental leave to ALL employees: http://plus.nationbuilder.com/starbucks_niko

Every family of every kind deserves time with their loved ones.

-- Niko, Starbucks shift lead

2017-01-31 16:46:13 -0500

Find out more about what the updates to the paid parental leave policy announced by Starbucks in January 2017 in this coverage by Fortune:
http://fortune.com/2017/01/19/starbucks-paternity-maternity-leave

2017-01-29 14:06:48 -0500

500 signatures reached