Starbucks Standing By Tip Policy
I am a fan of Starbucks coffee and like to drink their White Chocolate Mocha on occasion. However, recently they have been ordered to pay 100 million in tips back to their employees in California. Other states have also filed suit regarding this. I do not agree with their policy that they should be sharing tips with the shift supervisors. I think that this policy is wrong and it makes me want to avoid the chain for treating employees in this manner. The Baristas are the ones that earn the tips by making your cappuccino's and lattes not the shift supervisors. Starbucks defends this policy saying that shift supervisors are not management. I think that after they wind up paying all these back tips that they are going to be in a worse position than they are currently in. They are already closing non profitable stores and also scaling back how many new stores they open. I hope that Starbucks changes their minds on their tip policy because it currently is not fair to their employees.
Labels: Coffee Drinks, News, Starbucks
posted by Suzanne @ 4/03/2008 09:58:00 PM
3 Comments
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3 Comments:
Though I have never worked at Starbucks I have had my fair share of working in different positions in retail and obviously they need to just pay their supervisors a little better and let the baristas split the tips. Seems easier to me than a lawsuit.
I have to agree that the lawsuit seems like it would be harder to settle than to pay their supervisors more.
The problem is that the shift supervisors often work as baristas on their shifts. My son is a shift and he was always making drinks because the store manager left them understaffed. So, he had to pitch in and cover. He thought (and still does) it's part of his job. So cutting him out is unfair. He is not management. Rather more of a reference person, i.e. how to make a certain drink, how to fix the silly machines when they break, etc. I used to be a busboy and all I did was clear tables and set up. I didn't serve the customers. But I always shared in the tips, so the logic that the baristas are the ones who should be tipped doesn't hold much water with me. Who do you think gets the coffee from the back, keeps the floor clean and sanitary so that you don't have to drink your coffee in a pigsty. Or how about stocking and cleaning the bathrooms? I agree that management, defined as someone who is salaried, should not receive tips, but running a store is a team effort.
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