Like A Boss: Starbucks CEO Won’t Cut Employee Benefits Because of Obamacare
As company after company announces cuts to health insurance benefits and hours, blaming Obamacare for this “unfortunate” situation, one CEO refuses to compromise the livelihood of his employees.
“Other companies have announced that they won’t provide coverage for spouses; others are lobbying for the cut-off to be at 40 hours. But Starbucks will continue maintaining benefits for partners and won’t use the new law as excuse to cut benefits or lower benefits for its workers,” Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010, requires companies with 50 or more employees to offer health benefits to those who work at least 30 hours a week. Companies who do not abide by this law are fined, thus many employers, such as Papa John’s and UPS, have cut workers’ hours to evade the new mandate.
Many large companies claim that Obamacare has forced them to slash benefits and hours. However, studies show that employers have been doing this for years in an attempt to shift costs onto employees — years before the health reform law came into play. As Schultz pointed out, Obamacare is simply a timely scapegoat.
Starbucks will continue to provide insurance to even part-timers who work 20 hours or more, despite benefits costing the company $300 million in 2010 — more than it spends on actual coffee.
