I don't think he's "allowed" to just say you don't have to go, these meetings are being pushed by corporate. My SM is trying to work with a couple of other stores to get coverage so we can have the meeting midday during the week.

I would 100% not attend, but I don’t know the official policy. Also, your u/ is S-tier.

nah i don’t think you can. we had a store meeting where several people couldn’t come in for whatever reason, plus the openers were allowed to
Leave early because they were coming in the next day. i think you should talk to your manager and let them know that you won’t be able to attend the meeting. it’s not a forced thing

I feel like so many stores are having meetings and extra training but my store isn’t doing anything. Not sure why

Your SM can schedule you outside your availability per the partner guide. I know stating so may be unpopular here, but clarity is kind.

That said, talk to your SM. State your concerns and your willingness to work with them to find a solution that benefits your both!

I don’t advocate lying, BUT this is such an awful situation, if it were me I would probably just keep acting like I was planning to go and then 30 minutes before just call and say my car keys are missing and I can’t find it. Since it takes you longer than 40 minutes to get there what are they gonna do?

If you really don't want to, tell him you are unavailable at that time. They can't force you to be available, they really can't. You don't need to explain it either. Just tell them you have somewhere you need to be, that is rather personal and you don't feel comfortable discussing it with an employer. And so sorry, but he'll have to fill you in later.

Hi! As an ASM who just led the meetings that your SM is probably scheduling I can say that it is mandatory and is counted as a missed shift if you don’t attend. I do know it really sucks - I had several partners who chose to stay at the store until the meeting or who were able to leave and come back. I will say I was able to talk to my DM and get approval for doing 3 smaller meetings instead of one so it sucked less for my openers and we didn’t have to do them after close. I also sent partners to a neighboring store so they could do it while the store was open. There are some creative solutions if your DM is willing to allow it. I would very respectfully explain your concerns and offer some of the solutions I listed. He might be able to make one work!

Edit: After reviewing comments further down - SMs do widely vary in their enforcement of attendance at these meetings - so the best approach is talking it out with him. But to those saying you can’t be scheduled outside your availability, according to the Partner Guide you can be required to come in at times outside of your availability.

Ask them if there's a way to have you on zoom or just phone call for the meeting

One my old store managers told me that they couldn’t schedule two shifts within 8 hours of each other unless we approved it. Not sure how it works by state

Most of these meetings that have been happening across the board are “100% mandatory” and literally just about unions

Ask if you can go to a different stores meeting closer to home maybe? Our store had barustas from another store come work drive through while we had our store meeting... just another idea

Usually my stores had multiple meetings and the week was scheduled so almost nobody had to wait/come back for their meeting. I've also gone to another store's meeting, same information. You can see about finding one closer to home? Maybe it'd be a better day or time for you too.

No u shouldnt get fired for not attending if u just say u cant go for a personal reason. Ive been with starbucks for a teeny bit over 2 years now. The first meeting we had at the store, my manager closed the store 1 hour early and every single person was there. Then the second meeting was this past one less than a month ago talking about wat was in howards video and talking about benefits and wat we can do to make things better at the store. We also closed 1 hour early for the second meeting as well but the second meeting, not everyone came. My manager said beforehand that whoever couldnt make it can let her kno and she will do mini little one on one meetings with them

It would be considered a split shift in most states. Check your local labor laws

If the meeting falls outside of your availability, don't show up. Tell them you had something else going on. If they try to fire you over it you can sue them.

Depends on the state/county

Call the prsc if you are being forced to work less than 8 hours between your shifts

Every time I see these posts abt mandatory meetings I wonder why my store has never held one. Lol

So a meeting should be scheduled as non converge, and should be on the dcr. I’m pretty sure Starbucks policy says that you cannot be scheduled more than 8 hrs without consent, and if it’s not in your availability then there’s that too. Unfortunately, you’re gonna have to tough it out if it’s on the schedule, but you can certainly let your dm know.
Also- I’ve worked at two stores and usually for a store meeting the meeting either melts into your shift or all you have scheduled is the meeting. I would also ask your dm if your manager is allowed to schedule you to come back after a shift is complete.

Can you FaceTime during the meeting? One of the partners at my store had to do that because they have kids and are a single parent.

NO

They aren’t going to fire you for not coming to a meeting… say something came up, your cat is sick 🤷🏻‍♀️ obviously you won’t want to miss meetings repeatedly but if this one in particular is super inconvenient just don’t go