Starbucks to offer employees loans for rent and roll out Living Wage
Starbucks is to offer interest free loans to help staff pay deposits on rental properties.
The coffee chain said its ‘Home Sweet Loan’ scheme, developed with housing charity Shelter, was a recognition of the soaring costs of renting.
Across England the average rental deposit is £1,226 but significantly higher in London.
The scheme will apply to to employees who have been working at Starbucks for more than a year and the the maximum loan will be a month’s wages which the employee will pay off over a year.
Starbucks European division President Kris Engskov said: “We know the cost of living is a key concern for many and with over half our staff being under 25 years-old, rent affordability affects them.”
The company has also said that it will pay its UK staff the living wage from Spring next year, meaning a pay rise for around 4,500 employees.
It said it will pay all staff the minimum wage of £7.20, not just those aged 25 and over, which the government has ordered. Over half its UK employees fall below that age.
As a result barista pay will move to £7.20 from April 2016 and supervisor pay will move to £8.72, from £6.77 and £8.20 respectively.
