Woke coffee giant Starbucks will reimburse U.S. employees if they must travel more than 100 miles away from their homes to get an abortion or “gender-affirming procedures,” according to a memo sent to employees this week.
In the memo, Sarah Kelly, the company’s acting vice president for partner resources, wrote that abortion is a “constitutional right” and that the company will do what it can to make sure employees “feel supported.”
The memo outlined that the travel expenses will be reimbursed for abortion and “gender-affirming care.” The latter is a term for a person who is “transgender” and is undergoing hormone therapy treatments and sex reassignment surgery. The memo comes after a leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court showed the Justices poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in all 50 states in 1973.
Partners,
Like many of you, I’m deeply concerned by the draft Supreme Court opinion related to the constitutional right to abortion that was first established by Roe v. Wade. I know this is weighing on many of you, so let me be clear up front – regardless of what the Supreme Court ends up deciding, we will always ensure our partners have access to quality healthcare. And when actions impact your access to healthcare, we will work on a way to make sure you feel supported.
Today I’m announcing that we are expanding our U.S. healthcare benefit to further protect your personal health decisions. Regardless of where you live or what you believe, partners enrolled in Starbucks healthcare will now be offered reimbursement for eligible travel expenses when accessing abortion or gender-affirming procedures when those services are not available within 100 miles of a partner’s home. This benefit will also apply to dependents of partners enrolled in Starbucks healthcare.
Whatever healthcare choice you believe is right for you and your family, you deserve access to those services and the benefits that Starbucks provides. We offer industry-leading benefits, including many benefits that support partners in planning for their future, including:
Family Expansion Reimbursement programs to assist with costs associated with growing your family, like adoption, surrogacy or fertility treatments
Paid leave for benefits-eligible partners who welcome a new child by birth, adoption or foster
Health insurance options for transgender partners to include gender-affirming care
Health insurance options to cover preventative care and contraception
Free mental health and counseling sessions through Lyra for all partners
And, coming soon, reimbursement for travel expenses for certain healthcare services not available in your community, as shared above.
At Starbucks, we have 240,000 U.S. partners with diverse views. That’s okay, because it’s what makes us Starbucks. My hope is that we will continue to honor and respect one another. And, together, we’ll become better listeners and learners – finding ways to support one another, as we always have. Because that’s what it means to be a partner.
Thank you to the perspectives and ideas shared by many of you, including those in our partner networks. Our Benefits team is working on the specifics and timing of our benefit expansion and we look forward to sharing more updates soon.
Your partner,
Sara
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Last week, tech company Microsoft announced that it would help offset costs for employees seeking an abortion or “gender-affirming” care.
Last month, online review and reservation service Yelp announced it would cover expenses for employees and their spouses who travel out-of-state to get an abortion. In March, multinational investment bank Citigroup announced a similar policy for its employees. Last fall, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told employees that he would relocate anyone who was concerned about access to “reproductive healthcare” in their state.
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