Starbucks Will Now Offer Subsidized Childcare Benefits For All Employees

The unemployment rate is down, so restaurants are upping benefits in an attempt to attract more workers. Case in point: Starbucks reports today that it will now offer subsidized childcare for all employees, including part-timers. Through a partnership with childcare provider Care.com Inc., Starbucks will offer 10 subsidized backup-daycare days for employees to cover them when regular childcare arrangements fall through: "Starbucks has joined with Care.com to offer Care@Work, an online service connecting families and caregivers. All Starbucks partners who work at U.S. company-owned stores will receive 10 subsidized backup care days a year for kids and adults." Employees will pay only $1 an hour for in-home backup childcare or adultcare, $2 an hour after the 4th child, or $5 a day for care at a daycare center. As noted, this benefit will also cover adult care for those with elderly relatives to take care of. The benefit also offers the option to connect with an advisor for senior care planning.

Earlier this year, Starbucks offered paid sick days for the first time, and expanded parental leave to six weeks (even for the non-birth parent) for most of its hourly workers. The childcare and adultcare benefit sweetens the Starbucks employment deal even more. Bloomberg points out "only 2 percent of more than 3,000 employers surveyed by the Society of Human Resource Management in 2018 say they help employees pay for childcare fees. Only 4 percent offer backup child care services," making Starbucks an even more attractive employer for parents.