Standing at Starbucks in Milan reminded me of an idea I had encountered in a documentary: caring for employees can also mean thinking about their parents.
Starbucks announced a parent-care programme in China in 2017. It offered critical-illness insurance for the parents of eligible full-time employees in company-operated stores. This was a specific benefit with eligibility conditions, not unlimited health insurance for every family. Starbucks’ original announcement.
In the video, I explain that this example inspired us at dua.com to include employees’ parents in our approach to health insurance. That is my account of a decision we made, rather than a description of today’s policy terms.
The lesson I took from it was about paying attention. A useful idea from another company can make you ask a better question about your own team: what matters to the people who work here, beyond their working day?
Original social post · 2026-10-08