Starbucks to End COVID-19 Sick Pay for Employees Beginning October 2nd
Starbucks on Monday said it is ending COVID-19 sick pay for its workers beginning on October 2, describing the pandemic as shifting into “the endemic phase.”
Workers at the company’s almost 9,000 locations will no longer have benefits providing extra time off if they contract the illness. The COVID-19 program started in 2020, with the retailer telling employees that they could receive up to two weeks of “catastrophe” pay if they were diagnosed with the illness or were exposed to it and needed to self-isolate.
Now, if workers will need to tap their sick and vacation pay if they must isolate due to COVID-19, the company said. Under current CDC guidelines, people who contract COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for at least five days. The coffee chain said it is also ending its vaccine and side-effects pay as of October 2 — benefits that provided up to 2 hours of paid time off for workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as up to 4 hours of paid time off if vaccinations resulted in side effects.