I ended with 448.96 hours this past audit that ended June 26 (hours were reduced to 450 because of Covid) Starbucks started sending me Cobra information and stated that my insurance would end in September. The only way I could keep my insurance was if my manager and DM agreed to do a 1X add on of 2 hours of my vacation time to make up for the 1.04 hours I missed (I have 27 available hours to work a week and was constantly scheduled for 12-15 during the labor cuts for the past few months. I tried so hard to pick up shifts when I could and everyone else was scrambling too.

Yes, they are very strict about the required hours.

Sadly it is very strict, I ended up having to plead with my dm and work two weeks of 55+ hours to meet my eligibility at the end of the benefits period. I barely skimmed by and even received a letter of notice that if I wanted to keep my benefits the next audit period I needed to be more consistent on the hours. Starbs use to be super chill about it and If needed you could rack up the hours towards the end but not anymore. If I were you I would have your sm apply your vacation and sick hours way before the deadline so you have a safety net. But def talk with your sm about how you can make those hours work. Sometimes it means going to another store once a week but bring it up before it’s a deadly issue because so many baristas wind up there and can’t find hours as someone else is at their home store trying to get them too

It’s enforced no matter what and your individual store can’t change that and corporate is zero percent flexible on it. You either meet the hours or you don’t regardless of scheduling.