Starbucks doubles parental leave after employee email caught new CEO’s eye

Starbucks CEO Brian Nichol has shared that the company is doubling its parental leave policy after an email from his employee caught his attention.

The American coffee company shared a message from Nichol on Monday (December 16) to announce the change in the parental leave plan, which takes place in March 2025.

“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,” he said in a statement. “Birth parents will receive up to 18 weeks of fully paid leave, and non-birth parents will receive up to 12 weeks of leave at full pay.”

He explained that the work benefit came “after hearing from some partners who shared the leave as new parents weren’t adequate.”

The new initiative comes as a part of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” plan, which aims to establish Starbucks as “the unrivaled best job in retail.”

Speaking to Fox Business, Nichol described how the email from one of his employees, who are referred to as “partners” in the company, encouraged his decision to change the benefits for workers. He noted that the worker asked to take parental leave for a longer time, which “caught [his] attention.”

“I followed up with the team, and then we reached out to a few more partners,” Nichol explained, before noting that he quickly decided that longer parental leave was something his company “could take action on.”

Although he admitted that Starbucks has “a culture of learning,” Nichol maintained that the brand is dedicated to following through with the plans it makes.

“We have a culture of ideas, but we also want to have a culture of we make decisions, we take action and we hold ourselves accountable on the execution,” he added. “That’s been kind of the deal I’ve been making with people as I go to stores, as I reply to emails, as I do communications, whether it’s letter or video.”

The former head of Chipotle — who was named the new CEO of Starbucks in August — previously detailed the changes he wanted to make to the coffee franchise. In an open letter on the Seattle coffee giant’s website, which was shared in September, he said he wanted to focus on improving service particularly during the morning rush, and that he wanted to reestablish stores as gathering places.

Starbucks sales have fallen this year due to weaker U.S. store traffic and other issues, including rising competition in China and boycotts in the Middle East. Nichol said improving the store experience for both baristas and customers will help turn that around.

“Many of our customers still experience this magic every day, but in some places — especially in the U.S. — we aren’t always delivering,” he said. “It can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic. These moments are opportunities for us to do better.”

In his letter shared on Monday, Nichol also cited some of the major goals that have been set in place this year.

The brand established a goal last month “to fill 90 percent of retail leadership roles internally, creating a way for our hourly partners to build a career at Starbucks.” Throughout December, more than 230,000 employees also “got a Bean Stock grant giving them an ownership stake in Starbucks.”