Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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shoutout to my sm for admitting to retaliation (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by diotheleo
she's been shorting me hours and when i asked her about it today she flat out told me it's because i changed my availability and she doesnt like that i have 1 day a week as fully unavailable instead of entirely open availability. we have the hours, we're so short handed all the time that she's asking people to pick up shifts on the regular but nah, im gonna get shorted because i want one day to play dnd with my friends :)
LimeCompetitive5463 122 points 1y ago
That’s definitely something to go to ethics and compliance about
diotheleo [OP] 73 points 1y ago
oh yeah, i plan on calling the hotline in the morning, i've got ither reportd to also follow up on
Klthomp0127 7 points 1y ago
Only problem is it’s her word against yours. I’m sure when they ask her what happened, she’s not gonna flat out say “yeah I told OP” blah blah.
rudebii -50 points 1y ago
I advise against it. I saw the same thing in the 00s and it was worse for the partners that complained.
When I worked for the bux we had similar staffing issues and the first thing DMs did was direct their SMs to staff stores with the partners available and “encourage” opening up of availability…or else we’ll find someone that can.
Or maybe I’m wrong and Starbucks cares about partners being bullied to working more now, I dunno.
When I worked for the bux we had similar staffing issues and the first thing DMs did was direct their SMs to staff stores with the partners available and “encourage” opening up of availability…or else we’ll find someone that can.
Or maybe I’m wrong and Starbucks cares about partners being bullied to working more now, I dunno.
iWantToBeARealBoy 14 points 1y ago
> it was worse for the partners that complained.
Which is also retaliation.
Which is also retaliation.
Wonderful_Nightmare 12 points 1y ago
Lol good luck to them finding others when every store everywhere is hemorrhaging people left and right
persona-2 2 points 1y ago
I’m not quite sure why you are so downvoted. Retaliation has a pretty specific definition and it’s to protect your job if you report something like harassment. They can’t take any action against you for reporting it or getting them in trouble. Reducing hours because you reduced your availability isn’t retaliation in a legal sense. It’s crappy to do, but isn’t something ethics and compliance is going to take your side on.
rudebii 2 points 1y ago
SMs would get clever, and they always pulled shit like for example, if someone needs another day or half day blocked off because life things or school, they’d end up going from like 20 hours to 6 for a couple weeks, just to prove a point.
Or they’d put the person on the worst shifts and give them the worst stations.
There are loads of other sneaky ways DM/SMs know they can use to punish you without getting trouble.
That’s how it was back in my day, so like I said, maybe the company has gotten better about it and cares more about partners nowadays.
Or they’d put the person on the worst shifts and give them the worst stations.
There are loads of other sneaky ways DM/SMs know they can use to punish you without getting trouble.
That’s how it was back in my day, so like I said, maybe the company has gotten better about it and cares more about partners nowadays.
Tsunami_Eels 87 points 1y ago
That’s honestly really odd, I’ve never heard of someone being punished / shorted due to having ONE day fully unavailable. Hell, I have two days of the week I have fully unavailable: Saturday & Sunday for a side gig of babysitting & for church on sundays (we do both morning & night services) and haven’t been shorted because of that.
Buxxbarista 22 points 1y ago
My first manager did that if she didn’t like a coworker or if they were new and weren’t as good as the other baristas, even tho you need to practice when you’re new to learn
sheep_heavenly 7 points 1y ago
Ayup, it took a TON of convincing to get my manager to stop doing a similar thing. A manager cannot complain about a barista performing below standard when they're scheduled less than 20 hours a week and only sat on POS or DTR. It sucks supporting a newer partner sometimes, you have to take a productivity hit or add labor, but demanding people to be amazing out the gate at Starbucks is lunacy.
midgethepuff 3 points 1y ago
I have four days I have completely unavailable and I’m an SSV. I have another job and school, Starbucks is pretty low on my list of priorities.
rudebii 2 points 1y ago
It happened all the time when I was at Starbucks in the 00s and corporate encouraged it.
sheep_heavenly 1 points 1y ago
It's a petty thing that's stupidly common. Usually they'll blame it on something else.
It's so when the barista complains they can say "you need to open your availability more."
It's so when the barista complains they can say "you need to open your availability more."
gabby24681 1 points 1y ago
Yeah I have weekends off but I asked everybody first before even trying and I agreed to open every other day and have not been ‘punished’ these managers be wacky
legoshis 35 points 1y ago
is it usually frowned upon to have one day a week as fully unavailable…?
diotheleo [OP] 58 points 1y ago
as far as i know, no. my store manager is just awful
ryzzostar 22 points 1y ago
I'm fully unavailable on Tuesdays, always have been, and no one has said anything against it...
krty98 17 points 1y ago
Not at all. I’m a full time student and I requested to only work weekends to help myself focus on school. My manager has been fully supportive of me and has even asked when my concerts are (I’m a music major! so he can arrange breaks for them as well
Swordxxxx 17 points 1y ago
I have Saturdays fully out of my availability. I would rather jump off a cliff than work a Saturday ever again. My manager is ok with that and I always get Saturdays off.
dthomp0806 6 points 1y ago
No, not at all. Most everyone at my store has 2 days unavailable every week.
cpv_91 3 points 1y ago
Bullshit.. 117 here. At our store, we all have days which we are not available. It is not frowned upon, it's your life, you can set it up however the hell you want. We have students, we have mothers, fathers, families. These are things you discuss at your interview. Schedules change when semesters start and life happens. We've, unfortunately, cycled through 5 managers(some great, some assholes) in 5.5 yrs and just started with #6 but schedules and availability are still discussed and existing agreements are honored, despite the hell we're ALL going through with staffing and horrible customers on the daily.
Professor_Sqi 3 points 1y ago
??? What
legoshis 0 points 1y ago
asking as a green bean who genuinely didn’t know but ok lol
prettylilfears 2 points 1y ago
i have two days fully unavailable due to therapy and such. nobody cares in the slightest and my manager encourages taking time off to take care of yourself.
legoshis 1 points 1y ago
ok! that’s a relief, i also have fully unavailable days for therapy :)
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
[deleted]
HamburgIar_ 23 points 1y ago
You should pick up shifts at surrounding stores to find one you like and then transfer.
diotheleo [OP] 15 points 1y ago
unfortunatrly, she also hands out write ups like candy to keep people from transfering
Alarmed-Regular-6151 6 points 1y ago
report them to you district manager, i’ve been a shift over a year and have never had to hand out a single write up. nor have a seen any one else
midgethepuff 1 points 1y ago
Well, as a shift you can’t hand out write ups. Only the manager can do that
analdelrey- 13 points 1y ago
I'm glad your sm admitted it because all store managers are fucking babies.
queenrara -9 points 1y ago
ALL managers are babies? That's a robust statement.
Ordinary-Theory-8289 4 points 1y ago
People seem to have this belief that SMs are corporate shills. They don’t seem to realize that in the eyes of the big wigs of this company, an SM is not that far removed from the barista position lol
queenrara 1 points 1y ago
Definitely. SMs are struggling too, and a bunch have left or stepped down recently in my area.
Ordinary-Theory-8289 1 points 1y ago
Right. Barista, supervisor, SM, we’re all peons in the eyes of corporate and we’re all on the same team
analdelrey- 1 points 1y ago
It's not.
queenrara 1 points 1y ago
I'm sorry that has been your experience. I've had great managers. They definitely have flaws but I've been supported.
mxs4235 5 points 1y ago
Oooo fellow barista D&D player! Sorry to hear! I recently tried to change my availability for a night that worked for all the other folks in my campaign (only the afternoon I booked off, available for opens) but I was denied. Out of 5 supervisors, I’m the only one who can close that particular day 😭😭😭
diotheleo [OP] 3 points 1y ago
nooo im so sorry, its such a pain working out group schedules 😭 im so glad im not a ssv trying to do that bc my sm is very much theh "all shifts have to have completely open availability" type, and i value dnd too much
mxs4235 2 points 1y ago
Ironically this group was started by my old SM. He’s our dungeon master, and it was two shifts and me (barista at the time) and then our store was closed last October. Got split up. Now it’s our old SM who no longer works for the siren as our DM, three SSVs (me and another at the same store) and another at a nearby store.
It usually works because the other SSV is solely an opener and opens 5 days a week. I honestly thought that with three others (including myself) that getting that ONE afternoon/evening wouldn’t be a problem. 😢😢
We are apparently on boarding another SSV and my current SM said they’d make Sundays mandatory for them so I can get it off. 🥰
It usually works because the other SSV is solely an opener and opens 5 days a week. I honestly thought that with three others (including myself) that getting that ONE afternoon/evening wouldn’t be a problem. 😢😢
We are apparently on boarding another SSV and my current SM said they’d make Sundays mandatory for them so I can get it off. 🥰
diotheleo [OP] 2 points 1y ago
yesss im so glad you're gonna be able to get the day to play!! im standing firm and now matter how much bs my sm gives me about sundays, im not giving up my dnd group, it's one small thing that makes my mental health better and i value that over this store lol
Gameb0i6 3 points 1y ago
I’ve always been unavailable on Saturdays for the past 8 years. None of my managers have said anything about it. You just got stuck with a bad manager. I had one of them. Luckily she got fired.
shiftyclub 3 points 1y ago
i’m fully unavailable thursdays and fridays as an ssv because i enjoy the two days off in a row and need consistency. i’ve rarely had an issue with it (besides when 2 other ssv’s were out and i needed to cover) and still work 40+ hour weeks during the 5 days i do work so they can’t complain
FearlessSentence9667 3 points 1y ago
i just changed my availability and have been getting less hours. now i’m curious if this is why…
hellopie7 2 points 1y ago
My old SM (I am a recently ex partner,283****) told me in anger to get out of her store at the end of my two weeks because i wanted to get my tips.
tacticalcop 2 points 1y ago
that’s such an asshole move. i hate how common it is for managers to short their employees hours just because they’re having a temper tantrum.
far_outtahere 2 points 1y ago
When I put in my two weeks my SM straight up didn't schedule me anymore shifts. Never thought how that was straight up retaliation. Another day, another reason why I am happy I left that company. I wish you the best.
Theotar 2 points 1y ago
Call partner contact center/ HR. This is a big no, and might be seen as discrimination.
Gameb0i6 2 points 1y ago
It’s hard to use lack of hours as retaliation. You’d have a better chance of getting them fired if they did something that was more out in the open.
diotheleo [OP] 2 points 1y ago
such as making someone work when the covid coach told them to leave? cause yeah i have a LOT of stuff against my sm because she seems to think because our dm wont do anything about what she does, that she's entirely untouchable. its a fun time
Gameb0i6 5 points 1y ago
You must live in a really bad area. Nothing like that happens in my area.
sero5074 2 points 1y ago
I think the same thing is happening to me so I’m gonna ask
ugh_yeahmetoo 1 points 1y ago
my SM did this shit all the time. they took/take (I quit) everything as a personal attack and retaliate as such. sorry you’re dealing with something similar’
Assiqtaq 1 points 1y ago
I hope you didn't tell her what you wanted the day for. It shouldn't matter, but some people are shallow.
rudebii -20 points 1y ago
If you go over your SM to cry foul, you’re likely to get nowhere, and worse, word will get back to your SM to “handle this,” resulting in more retaliation.
Corporate is pushing your SM to have sufficient staffing with the staff they have, so complaining to them will backfire. When I was with the siren in the 00s they did the same things to pressure you to open up your availability when staffing levels were tight.
Corporate is pushing your SM to have sufficient staffing with the staff they have, so complaining to them will backfire. When I was with the siren in the 00s they did the same things to pressure you to open up your availability when staffing levels were tight.
Kaylushhh 16 points 1y ago
This is false. Starbucks is VERY against retaliation. This has nothing to do with shortened labor hours. This is specifically them being retaliated against for their availability. I know two manager that got fired for doing just that. Call ethics and PCC straight away.
Buxxbarista 3 points 1y ago
It might be a few districts that don’t care then bc my district is the same. There was harassment and retaliation at my store. We called ethics, the DM, and the regional manager and nothing has happened sadly. And that was over a year ago and still happening to this day. We’ve had 4 people quit bc of the harassment of 1 person and they haven’t done anything even tho over half the store has spoken up
GaggleGuy 1 points 1y ago
Mmm.. if a company is having problems filling gaps in coverage because people want normal days off in the week I’de argue the answer is to simply hire more people.
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