Well-known coffee chain Starbucks announced in 2018 that it had “r eached 100 percent pay equity for men and women and people of all races performing the same work,” and the java giant has subsequently committed to a set of “Pay Equity Principles” as of Tuesday April 2, or “ Equal Pay Day ,” according to an article in QSR . Starbucks joined “25 other U.S. employers in the Employers for Pay Equity Consortium to share a set of ‘Pay Equity Principles’ intended to help eliminate the gender pay gap,” the article said. According to the article, “‘The Pay Equity Principles we signed onto today—equal footing, transparency and accountability—were created not only to help us but also other organizations and businesses seeking to eradicate the pay gap,’ Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement. ‘While the signatories to the Pay Equity Principles represent different industries facing different challenges to achieving pay equity, we all agree that by working together we can accelerate the elimination of the national pay gap.’” Other signatories included Adobe, Cisco, Lyft and PepsiCo, among others . The cross-industry commitment to closing the gender pay gap, and from such major players, could indicate widespread changes—and employee expectation—in the world of American business, including for franchise brands. Already, women in the foodservice industry are stepping into executive leadership roles and spearheading diversity initiatives . Given this, a focus on equity in the workplace looks like a continued theme in the U.S. Read the full article here .