Starbucks: Tax law changes fueling raises, other benefits
Starbucks is giving its U.S. workers pay raises and stock grants this year, citing recent changes to the tax law.
All employees will soon be able to earn paid sick time off, and the company’s parental leave benefits will include all non-birth parents. Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that the changes affect about 150,000 full-time, part-time, hourly and salaried employees, most of whom work as baristas or shop managers. The new benefits apply to workers at more than 8,200 company-owned stores but not at the 5,700 licensed shops like those found inside supermarkets.
Starbucks is the latest to say it’s boosting pay or benefits due to the passage of the Republican tax plan, which slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Walmart, for example, raised its starting hourly salary from $9 to $11 earlier this month, and Target also announced it would raise its starting hourly wage to $11, and said it would raise wages to $15 by the end of 2020.
Wilson to head BlueCross giving
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has named Scott Neal Wilson as its director of community relations and health foundation.
Wilson will be responsible for directing the execution of a long-term community relations strategy for BlueCross through charitable giving and civic support across the state. That includes the implementation of a new strategic giving focus on creating active, healthy spaces in communities across Tennessee and promoting well-being, the company said.
Wilson joins BlueCross from Volkswagen Group of America’s Chattanooga operations, where he served as head of communications.
U.S. home sales drop 3.6 percent
U.S. home sales slid 3.6 percent in December, as rising prices and a declining number of available properties stifled purchases.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units. Despite the monthly setback, sales totaled 5.51 million in 2017. That was the highest level since 2006, yet it marked a slight 1.1 percent gain from 2016 as the months’ supply of properties on the market fell to the lowest level ever recorded by the Realtors.
David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance, said sales should increase modestly in 2018, but they’ll be “held back by a lack of inventory.”
Just 1.48 million homes were listed for sale at the end of December, a 10.3 percent drop over the past year.
The median home sales price increased 5.8 percent from a year ago to $246,800 in December, a pace more than double gains in average hourly earnings.
NTSB probes crash of autopilot car
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the California crash of a Tesla Model S electric car that may have been operating under its semi-autonomous “Autopilot” system.
It’s the second time the board has looked into a Tesla crash, and likely means that it wants information about whether Autopilot was on and if its sensors somehow failed to see a stopped firetruck Monday on Interstate 405 in Culver City near Los Angeles.
The board sent two investigators to Culver City, NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said Wednesday. The NTSB said on Twitter that investigators will focus on driver and vehicle factors.
The Tesla driver told the California Highway Patrol that he had activated Autopilot before the crash, but the highway patrol said in a news release that it was unable to verify the driver’s statement at the time of the crash.