Shortly after Starbucks implemented catastrophe pay for employees that feel sick or choose to quarantine during the coronavirus crisis and subsequently closed all cafes, with the exception of drive-thru and delivery in the U.S. and Canada, the company is now enticing employees to keep coming to work with a temporary $3 per hour pay raise for employees that can still work. Starbucks Service Pay will be in effect for all store-level employees from March 21 through April 19, the same time period as the catastrophe sick pay for those who are unable to work.
“It is the responsibility of every business to care for its employees during this time of uncertainty, shared sacrifice, and common cause,” CEO Kevin Johnson said in a Sunday letter to customers.
This is just one of a list of growing measures Starbucks has taken to protect its employees and provide answers as COVID-19 worsens globally, including continued access to health benefits, extended sick leave for affected employees, expansion of their mental healthcare program, and an extension of the Starbucks childcare program, Care@Work so that all hourly and salaried employees can access childcare, particularly if their child’s school is closed.
Starbucks has maintained that their aggressive strategy to this global pandemic has been aided by their response in China, where they closed more than half of their stores for a month from the end of January to the end of February in order to diminish the spread of the virus.
“Though the situation remains fluid, Starbucks stores in China are now on a solid path to recovery,” Johnson said in the letter to customers. “The key takeaway is that we will continue to exceed public health requirements, where it comes to increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols and social distancing operating models, to create the safest possible environment in our stores.”
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