• Starbucks is expanding its paid parental leave policy for baristas, the latest change under its new CEO.
• It'll offer up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave for birth parents and 12 weeks for nonbirth parents.
• However, baristas will reportedly get smaller raises this year due to the company's performance.

Starbucks is giving baristas up to three times the paid parental leave they previously had access to.

Starting in March, the coffeehouse giant said it will offer up to 18 weeks of paid leave for birth parents and up to 12 weeks for nonbirth parents.

The expanded benefit applies to US store employees averaging at least 20 hours of work a week. In general, Starbucks' parental leave policy applies to parents welcoming children by birth, foster placement, or adoption.

The company currently offers US store employees 6 weeks of paid parental leave and up to 12 weeks unpaid.

"Our benefit was already the best in retail, but after hearing from some partners who shared the leave as new parents wasn't adequate, we reviewed the program and have decided we're making a change," the chain's new CEO, Brian Niccol, wrote in his announcement Monday.

The expansion is the latest change amid Starbucks' turnaround effort under Niccol, who took over in September after leading Chipotle, which offers its workers up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Starbucks retail employees trying to unionize at various stores across the country have named increased parental leave as one of their requests.

Starbucks Workers United said its union partners had put forth a bargaining proposal seeking to double parental leave. "We are proud of this victory for all baristas," Starbucks Workers United partner Michelle Eisen said in a statement.

It's been a tough year for the chain, which saw sales decline in multiple quarters. In its fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported its steepest quarterly sales drop in four years.

On the heels of the company's disappointing quarterly reports, baristas will reportedly get smaller raises this year compared to last and many corporate employees will only get 60% of their bonuses, Bloomberg recently reported. Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after becoming CEO, Niccol, whose pay package includes up to $113 million in total compensation, wrote an open letter about his plan to improve the business.

"A visit to Starbucks is about connection and joy, and of course great coffee. Many of our customers still experience this magic every day, but in some places — especially in the U.S. — we aren't always delivering," he wrote. "It can feel transactional, menus can feel overwhelming, product is inconsistent, the wait too long or the handoff too hectic. These moments are opportunities for us to do better."

• Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol aims for a brewed cup of coffee to take less than 30 seconds to prepare.
• He told ABC that the coffee chain will be "hitting pause" on increasing prices for this fiscal year.
• Starbucks plans to enhance mobile orders and transparency around pricing, Niccol said.

Starbucks' new CEO, Brian Niccol, says he hopes customers will one day be able to get a brewed cup of coffee in less than 30 seconds.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America, the coffee boss said he wants to prioritize speed while also saying that there would be no more price rises for the time being.

Niccol's vision for what Starbucks will look like in five years' time includes a more efficient mobile order business with its own pick-up area.

"You're going to have an experience where when you walk in and you interact with the barista, it's going to be really quick for that brewed cup of coffee," he told ABC. "My hope is we can get you a brewed cup of coffee in less than 30 seconds."

Niccol joined Starbucks as its CEO in September after spending six years at the helm of Chipotle.

Unlike Chipotle, which announced menu price increases of about 2% on Wednesday, Niccol said: "The approach we've taken right now is we're going to hit the pause button on any pricing for this fiscal year."

"I still think there's an opportunity for us to simplify the pricing architecture right now — I don't love the fact that in our app right now, while you're doing this customization, it doesn't inform you what has happened to the price, so I want to get more transparent with the pricing," he said on GMA.

Niccol also said Starbucks would bring back some old staples like the Sharpies used to write names on cups and the coffee condiment bar.

The coffee chain CEO explained that they're investing in technology to provide more accurate times about when drinks will be ready for customers.

"We've got a lot of offerings that there's just one or two of these ordered a day," he said.

"The way I talk about it is, we're going to do fewer things, but we're going to do fewer things better."