The new policy will come into effect from May 15, 2016 and will benefit over 1200 employees working in 83 stores in India.
F&B retail stores stay open 365 days a week. This means lesser number of leaves for the employees. Six days a week is the standard in this sector. However, Starbucks in India, which is a JV with the Tata Global Beverages, is setting a new trend by adopting a ‘five-day week’. This new policy will come into effect from May 15, 2016 and will benefit 1200 plus employees or partners — Starbucks refers to its employees as partners — working in 83 stores across India in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune.
“Both Starbucks and Tata believe in putting our partners (employees) first and sharing the company’s success. We acknowledge that our success would not be possible without the contributions our partners make on a daily basis, to provide an exceptional third place experience for our customers. And we are pleased to adopt a five-day work schedule that also recognizes their commitments outside of their work,” Sumitro Ghosh, CEO, TATA Starbucks.
“As a progressive workplace in India, we will continue to engage in discussions with our partners to determine how to make their experience better and more valuable in line with the mission and values of both Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks,” Ghosh adds.
The company plans to continually invest in the partner experience and believes in partner development, through mentorship, leadership and personal development courses, life-coaching and training programmes for all store partners.
The company claims that this is the first phase in a series of investments the company is making in the partner experience, based on partners’ feedback. The company strives to become the Employer of Choice in India.
Earlier this year, Starbucks China announced a monthly housing allowance subsidy to help their partners in China overcome the financial challenges of starting their careers.
In 2015, Starbucks UK launched the Home Sweet Loan programme providing an interest-free loan to help partners pay rental deposits on moving into a new home. In 2014, Starbucks launched the College Achievement Plan that creates an opportunity for US partners to earn their bachelor’s degree with full tuition coverage.
