Perks for part timers - Starbucks Corp - includes related information

Business & Health, Sept, 1996 by Alicia Ault Barnett

Cromar, who is beginning to specialize in selling plans to employers that hire part timers, is also a restaurant owner. When he asked workers what they needed, he says, he found dental coverage, followed by vision care, high on the list. "If you just come in and say 'here is the canned product we have,' you have not solved their problem," he concluded. '`These people have to use their dollars the wisest way they can."

As a result, Cromar pays half the cost of benefits for his employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Then he lets them choose from a broad indemnity package administered by the Blues or from "alternatives" in the form of a cafeteria-style plan that lets them select vision, dental and limited medical care. Part timers can only choose among the alternatives and pay the full cost themselves.

The author is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.