Starbucks Redefines Partner (Employee) Benefits with a Critical Illness Insurance Plan for Aging Parents in China
11 April 2017 - 5:11PM
Business Wire
New benefit will provide fully-sponsored
critical illness insurance coverage to more than 10,000 parents of
its Chinese partners
Program honors the strong role parents have in
the success of its partners, while recognizing the deeply-rooted
Chinese family values
Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today established a new
precedent for the role and responsibility of a public company
leading through the lens of humanity in China – its largest and
fastest-growing second market. Beginning June 1, 2017, Starbucks
will offer a critical illness insurance plan for the parentsi of
its eligibleii full-time partners (employees) in company-operated
stores across Mainland China. This industry-leading investment will
benefit over 10,000 parents of its Chinese partners.
The ‘Starbucks China Parent Care Program’ was announced by
Howard Schultz, executive chairman, Starbucks Coffee Company, and
Belinda Wong, ceo, Starbucks China, at a Starbucks Partner Family
Forum in Beijing, the latest in a series of family forums the
company has held with its Chinese partners and their families since
2012.
“Our core purpose and reason for being has always been driven by
a set of beliefs steeped in humanity and I’m extremely proud to be
able to support our Chinese partners and their parents through the
Parent Care Program,” said Schultz. “Supporting critical illnesses
for aging parents exemplifies what we believe is our responsibility
as a global public company and honors the family values
deeply-rooted in the Chinese culture.”
Addressing a key concern of partners
In 2010, the company introduced Starbucks Caring Unites Partners
(C.U.P.) Fund in China which provides financial assistance to
partners and their families in times of need. An analysis of the
C.U.P. Fund requests over the past seven years, as well as
conversations with partners revealed that more than 70 percent of
Chinese partners are concerned about the health of their parents as
they age. Those who are single, making up 80 percent of retail
partners in China, are specifically concerned about their financial
ability to provide for their parents’ long-term care should a
critical illness occur.
“Culturally, parents play an important role in the lives and
career choices of our Chinese partners and they are a natural
extension of our Starbucks family in China. Through this new
investment, we are stepping up on our responsibility to help our
partners take care of their aging parents by alleviating the
financial costs that may arise during a family emergency,” added
Wong. “Starbucks success in China is directly attributed to the
passion and dedication of our partners as well as the unwavering
support from their family.”
Redefining health care benefits in China
The ‘Starbucks China Parent Care Program’ is a unique,
innovative plan created in collaboration with one of the top
insurers in the country to complement the current China Social
Medical Insurance Program. The plan leverages Starbucks
considerable partner base in China to create a tailored program to
alleviate health care and treatment costs associated with a
critical illness for its partners.
“The active participation by the private sector is critical to
China’s efforts to further enhance the social security system to
support our aging population. Starbucks has responded positively to
the Government’s call to elevate the commercial health insurance
industry, our social security network and to promote a ‘Healthy
China.’ It is also a firm demonstration of Starbucks social
responsibility efforts to give back to the community in a
meaningful manner,” said Mr. Jiang Chongguang, Deputy
Secretary-General of the Insurance Society of China.
Li Ling, 29, a Starbucks store manager and Coffee Master in
Deyang, Sichuan Province, and her family experienced the financial
burden when both her mother and grandmother fell ill at the same
time.
“I’ve always been concerned by the financial responsibility of
caring for my family and now I have my Starbucks extended family
here to support me,” said Ling. “It’s a great relief to me, and all
of my Chinese partners, that Starbucks has taken a leadership
position to support the health and care of our aging parents. I’m
incredibly grateful to be with a company that understands our
hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future.”
With more than 2,600 stores across 127 cities, and nearly 40,000
partners across the country, the ‘Starbucks China Parent Care
Program’ builds on Starbucks health insurance coverage available to
both full- and part-time partners, their spouses and children
across the country and its unparalleled, locally-relevant partner
benefits, including: the Starbucks China University, Starbucks
China Talent Exchange Program, a housing allowance subsidy for
full-time baristas and shift supervisors, and a Career Coffee Break
(sabbatical).
Starbucks has a long history of providing industry-leading
benefits. Since 1988, Starbucks has offered comprehensive benefits,
including affordable and comprehensive health care to eligible
part-time and full-time partners in the U.S. To address the growing
cost of higher education in the United States, Starbucks created
the Starbucks College Achievement Plan in 2014 for eligible U.S.
partners to earn bachelor’s degrees through Arizona State
University with full tuition reimbursement. Announced in 2015, the
innovative Home Sweet Loan programme in the U.K. provides an
interest-free loan to help partners pay rental deposits when moving
into a new home and, last year, Starbucks Korea introduced its
College Achievement Plan to provide tuition support for partners
who want to finish their four-year college degrees.
About Starbucks
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to
ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today,
with stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster
and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our
unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we
bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer
through every cup. To share in the experience please visit us in
our stores, online at Starbucks.com and through the Starbucks
Newsroom.
i Parents of Starbucks partners must be below the age of 75 to
qualify for the insurance program. Other conditions may apply based
on pre-existing health requirements stipulated by the insurance
coverage provider. It will cover the medical treatment of 30 common
critical illnesses among the elderly in China.
ii Fully sponsored critical illness insurance program will be
extended to partners who have served at least two years in
company’s company-owned markets. The parents must also currently be
residing within Mainland China.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170411005541/en/
Starbucks Coffee CompanyMarianne Duong,
206-318-7100press@starbucks.com
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