PleStarbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generousase read the following case and answer the questions given at the end. [10 marks] Starbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generous and competitive for a retail chain. For example, it gives Starbucks corporate office workers 16 weeks paid leave if they gave birth, and 12 weeks if they are new fathers or adoptive parents. Starbucks says its program is exceptional because even employees who work just 20 hours a week can use it. But Zevin says the problem is that the policy is discriminatory because retail store workers who give birth or adopt only get six weeks of paid leave and fathers get none. Some shareholders say this will harm Starbucks’ reputation, because it is on record as saying that it tries to treat corporate and retail partners the same. Although shareholders often reject proposals like these, employers may still implement the recommendations, particularly when they involve equitable treatment. Several years ago, for instance another investment firm proposed that several tech giants like Amazon and Apple pay male and female employees equitably. The proposal never came to a vote, because the tech firms soon closed their gender wage gaps. So at the end of the day, such proposals present top managers with a dilemma. Starbucks, for instance, believed that its parental leave policy was already one of the best in the industry, and that was probably true. Yet it did seem somewhat inequitable to offer better benefits to corporate office workers then to those in the retail stores. Q2b. What arguments would you make as Starbucks’ CEO concerning why the current policy is fair?

PleStarbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generousase read the following case and answer the questions given at the end. [10 marks] Starbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generous and competitive for a retail chain. For example, it gives Starbucks corporate office workers 16 weeks paid leave if they gave birth, and 12 weeks if they are new fathers or adoptive parents. Starbucks says its program is exceptional because even employees who work just 20 hours a week can use it. But Zevin says the problem is that the policy is discriminatory because retail store workers who give birth or adopt only get six weeks of paid leave and fathers get none. Some shareholders say this will harm Starbucks’ reputation, because it is on record as saying that it tries to treat corporate and retail partners the same. Although shareholders often reject proposals like these, employers may still implement the recommendations, particularly when they involve equitable treatment. Several years ago, for instance another investment firm proposed that several tech giants like Amazon and Apple pay male and female employees equitably. The proposal never came to a vote, because the tech firms soon closed their gender wage gaps. So at the end of the day, such proposals present top managers with a dilemma. Starbucks, for instance, believed that its parental leave policy was already one of the best in the industry, and that was probably true. Yet it did seem somewhat inequitable to offer better benefits to corporate office workers then to those in the retail stores. Q2b. What arguments would you make as Starbucks’ CEO concerning why the current policy is fair?

Understanding Business

12th Edition

ISBN:9781259929434

Author:William Nickels

Publisher:William Nickels

Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1CE

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Q2. PleStarbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generousase read the following case and answer the questions given at the end. [10 marks] Starbucks is progressive in terms of gender equity policies. By the 1990s it was offering health insurance coverage to Starbucks partners (employees) who were in lesbian and gay relationships, and its health care insurance covers gender reassignment surgery. More recently it announced that it had eliminated its partners’ gender wage gap: Starbucks male and female partners performing similar work are paid almost exactly the same—within 99.7% of each other (compared with about 70% nationwide). However, several large Starbucks shareholders think its gender efforts still fall short. For example, Zevin Asset Management proposed that Starbucks report on whether its paid family leave policy was discriminatory. According to Starbucks, the policy is generous and competitive for a retail chain. For example, it gives Starbucks corporate office workers 16 weeks paid leave if they gave birth, and 12 weeks if they are new fathers or adoptive parents. Starbucks says its program is exceptional because even employees who work just 20 hours a week can use it. But Zevin says the problem is that the policy is discriminatory because retail store workers who give birth or adopt only get six weeks of paid leave and fathers get none. Some shareholders say this will harm Starbucks’ reputation, because it is on record as saying that it tries to treat corporate and retail partners the same. Although shareholders often reject proposals like these, employers may still implement the recommendations, particularly when they involve equitable treatment. Several years ago, for instance another investment firm proposed that several tech giants like Amazon and Apple pay male and female employees equitably. The proposal never came to a vote, because the tech firms soon closed their gender wage gaps. So at the end of the day, such proposals present top managers with a dilemma. Starbucks, for instance, believed that its parental leave policy was already one of the best in the industry, and that was probably true. Yet it did seem somewhat inequitable to offer better benefits to corporate office workers then to those in the retail stores. Q2b. What arguments would you make as Starbucks’ CEO concerning why the current policy is fair?

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