Starbucks Increases Parental Leave for Employees

Starbucks has increased the amount of fully paid time off employees can take to care for a child. This necessary change ensures time off and pay replacement for those who welcome a new child, whether by birth, foster placement, or adoption.

The company’s new plan means paid time off will be at 100% of a worker’s average pay, according to a recent announcement. Retail hourly workers, shift managers, and retail management partners (both birth and non-birth parents) are eligible. Birth parents will get up to 18 weeks of fully paid leave, and non-birth parents up to 12 weeks, beginning in March 2025. Birth parents are also eligible for six or eight weeks of additional paid leave, depending on the method of the child’s delivery.

“We are more than doubling paid parental leave for our U.S. store partners who work an average of 20 hours a week or more,” CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement on Monday. Currently, birth parents receive six weeks of paid leave and up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

In the United States, full-time Starbucks employees become benefits eligible on the first day of the month following 60 calendar days of employment. Part-time workers are also benefits eligible on the first day of the second month of work after receiving at least 240 total hours over three, full, consecutive months. To continue benefits eligibility, employees must have at least 520 total hours on paychecks received between the first and last days in each six-month measurement period.

Starbucks Claims ‘No Other Retailer’ Offers a Better Parental Leave Package for Parents

Starbucks claims that “no other retailer” offers this type of parental leave benefit. The company is proud of the changes it has made in order to create a better quality of life for its employees.

“No other retailer offers a better parental leave benefit for new parents,” Niccol said in the statement regarding the change. “Our benefit was already the best in retail, but after hearing from some partners who shared the leave as new parents wasn’t adequate, we reviewed the program and have decided we’re making a change.”

Niccol added, “Whether it is about career, college or family, we offer competitive pay and a collection of benefits that are best in class.”

Starbucks’ modifications go above and beyond the basics granted by the United States government. The U.S. Department of Labor created the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to entitle eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.

The FMLA grants 12 workweeks of leave in 12 months for the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth, the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement, and to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition.