Now this is a bit messed up. For starters, Baristas only make $8 bucks an hour, so they rely on the tips. Another reason why I hate Starbucks. Im sure this practice does go on more often than not, BUT it is illegal and Im glad this Young Barista spoke out about this incident. http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2008/03/21/Starbucks.Tipping.Suit/
I hate starbucks and I'm still irritated that they are now at all Coffee People locations.
RIP Coffee People- Your "Black Tiger Mochas" are truely missed!

Starbucks is fast food type work. $8 per hour is more than generous for operating a cash register or making cups of coffee.

So you think they should be making less than $8 ann hour Vitalogy? Thats barely above minimum wage. I realize its a low skilled job, but my god, when those places get swamped those baristas are working their asses off.

How many other companies offer benefits (health insurance, stock options, etc.) for working only 20 hours/week? I think Starbucks employees have it pretty good for what they do.

Andrew

Hey, people work their asses off in all kinds of jobs, but let's face the facts here, Starbucks is a glorified fast food joint and the skill it takes to perform the work of a barista or operate the cash register can be done by anyone, therefore, they are minimum wage jobs and are paid fairly if you ask me.

I thought it was common, to have shared tips in food service jobs, IE the waitress shares her tips with the guy that clears the tables and kitchen staff.

NO, the problem was the upper management were taking all the tips and giving NONE to the Baristas. .

Justin_timberfake writes:
NO, the problem was the upper management were taking all the tips and giving NONE to the Baristas. .

No, they weren't taking all the tips. It seems they were taking 1/2 which I agree is unfair.

Andrew

Management and supervisors souldn't expect nor demand it though. If your staff wants to tip out their boss because all contributed to a successfull shift then so be it. The wages in some sectors of the food service business are not as big of a disparity as one would expect from management and supervisory staff to front line and back of the house staff as one might expect but it is still not something to be expected or demanded when it comes to tips.

So the settlement is 105 million so I am assuming a third to half will go to attorneys and the rest will be divided among I am guessing around 10k california baristas. Is my estimate accurate?

Why the heck does management and upper management need tips at all??? That is just STUPID!! Give em to the Baristas for godsakes!

I see it as a simple labor law violation. How good that law is, or if it should be changed is really up to the people of California.

Starbucks made a big mistake not following it, and they are a large organization too! Very bad combination! A few attorneys working to prevent this stuff would have paid off huge.

What's going to happen now is that tip jar will disappear because of the "risks", and those dollars will go elsewhere besides the baristas. IMHO, it's more like "see what can happen when you rock the boat" corporate punishment, but that's just my jaded view of how those kinds of things normally go.

Is that law the same here in Oregon? I'm asking because my oldest works somewhere as a shift super and does share tips! Just wondering...

In her case, she does act as the super, but also pinch hits for the others when things get busy. There are times when it's all running good, but you need every hand available to get the people served. Not a bad deal overall, where the tip sharing is concerned, if the super is helping out and not just watching it all go.

It depends on your definition of Manager, if your talking about a shift leader, who is working as much as everyone else, in meeting customers orders, but ususwlly doesn't serve customers, or a store manager.

I know nothing about CA law, but I can speak to how tips are handled here. I was a Shift Supervisor and Store Manager for Stabucks before becoming self-employed.

Tips are allocated on a weekly basis, and all HOURLY partners are entitled to them. Store Managers and Assistant Managers, being salaried, are not. The week's tips are totalled, and divided by labor hours (or store ops hours) to determine tips-per-hour, then each partner is given that dollar amount per hour they worked. In the last store I managed, this amount averaged $3.00 per hour. This varies week to week, and seasonally. Here, SS is an hourly position, and therefore, SS are entitled to tips, but at the same rate as any other hourly partner. Salaried partners do not calculate or monitor tips in any way.

Starbucks partners enjoy a benefits package most in the service industry can only DREAM of, including stock options (with partner discount!) and the same medical/dental/optical/homeopathic/chiropractic etc...as Howard Schultz for 20 hours a week, as Andrew mentioned.

And, unlike some other large corps, we never allowed our partners to work only 19.5 hours to save money.

"homeopathic"

Ha ha ha. Surely you're jesting?

Skeptical: Not at all. Alternative medicine, mental health,substance cessation, and family counselling, all covered, for 20 work hours a week.

Why not just forget the stock options and pay the Baristas better?
Whats the point of Stock options when you're making $8 bucks an hour?

When I was offered a Store Manager position at Starbucks, I was hesitant to accept and wanted to work for the company as an hourly partner first, so accepted a position as a Shift Supervisor. Luckily I was in a financial position to do that.

The store I was hired for was still under construction, and my training at another store was not to start for 2 weeks. During that time, before I ever worked a day for the company, I got a .75 per hour raise, as did all the SS in the NW Region, as the result of a market study by the company.

The hourly rate you keep quoting may be the starting point, but I can tell you partners are doing better than that, and they take advantage of those options more often than you'd suspect. That annual grant was something we ALL looked forward to. I started my business with profit from them. Partners with long term goals, personal and career-wise, use them just as I did, or keep them as a nest egg. With the partner discount, you can buy and sell the same day with a decent margin to be made.

(Welcome Back, EN!)

Just don't be like my cousin's husband who is...WAS a big poohbah at Bear Stearns, who has...HAD all of his assests invested in his own company. Now he is both out of a job AND probably basically penniless. Hmmm, just how will he pay the mortgage on that Upper East Side multi-million $$$ penthouse they own?

I'm torn on tipping when "forced" to visit Starbucks...sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, they do bust hiney most of the time, but still, most of us don't tip at other "fast food" places...

Thanks, Ms. M! Computer issues and stopping smoking have caused my absence: sitting here still makes me want to fire up a smoke!!! And I have gained 8 non-essential pounds...GRR

Hardest thing I've ever tried to quit...

Missed you all!

How can you do that in your business? Wow! I give you big double thumbs up, and you just smell soooo sweet!

Patches...TONS of water...linked the bad habit to the divorce from Hell 5 years ago...and eating anything I can catch, apparently LOL! Making a new friend that doesn't smoke helps keep me on track, though it was never mentioned.

Thanks! Yep, had to wash everything I own after just a few days...And the store has never been cleaner or more organized

I know, we digress...

WELL. If Baristas are getting tips, than why aren't gas station attendants getting tips? They have to stand out in the cold, freeze their asses off and pump gas. Plus they have to inhale the smell of gas all day long. (although I have to admit I LOVE the smell of gas stations.) I see no difference between "gas pumpers" and baristas.

I'm a pretty big tipper in restaurants. Only stiffed one server once ( at Jakes. It was a fluke because I love Jakes and go there as often as I can ) - they deserved it and they knew it. But I don't tip baristas.

When I get a gratuity automatically added to my bill, all I can think is " Well, if that's all you want then - ok."

I own a mansion and a yacht. - EJF

I also LOVE the smell of gas. (natural gas, not human gas
Theres just something about driving up to the pump and taking a big whiff of all the fumes. I love it. Anybody else love gas?

I sometimes tip baristas. Depends how often I frequent the place and how good the service is (if the service sucks, though, chances are I won't be back anyway). I have a regular Starbucks I frequent and the service is great (they know my drink, etc.) and I tip there sometimes (if I have change). I always pay with a credit card or gift card and you can't tip on those anymore, so if I don't have change I don't usually tip. Sometimes I tip a buck once but count that for the next time or two.

I do tend to tip a bit more at the independent places like pizza joints (where I also pay in cash). I feel like I'm tipping for previous service, however. I don't tip ahead of time for what may or may not be good service.

Andrew

Anybody else love gas?

I do.

But then again I'm weird.

I don't like the smell of many colognes or perfumes. I can't stand the smell of hand lotions!

I do like the smell of lacquer thinner, gasoline, acetone, etc.

I like the smell of gear oil. It brings back the days of my '64 1/2 Mustang and the $50 302ci engine I put in that ran forever.

I like the smell of gas and hot asphalt paving.

I despise the smell of my mom making turkey soup stock from the carcass after Thanksgiving. UGH.

I occasionally enjoy making other people smell my gas. Mostly Mr. M via the old "Dutch Oven" method. He deserves it.

I love a very classy, very subtle cologne/aftershave/lotion on a man. Burt's Bees Bay Rum is great, and it was an Armani scent where I followed one of Mr. M's co-workers around the Christmas Party with glazed eyes. Mr. M can't stand the guy, and said "NO WAY" could I buy him some so he smelled like the boss's boyfriend. I still spray it on a card every time I'm in Nordy's and stick it in my purse, OK, diaper bag.

merkin says 'I occasionally enjoy making other people smell my gas"

HA! Why is it that people don;t mind smelling their own gas, yet when someone lets a ripper it smells horrible. My girlfriend tells me that my gas is "silent but deadly". I disagree!

Ah, The dreaded SBD!


"Why is it that the novelty of a fart never wears off?"*



*For some people

A friend said that to me about 25 years ago, and I still find them (either mine, or ones I can't smell) funny, as does most of my family, even though we were prohibited from, and fined for saying "fart".

My sister, a stunner in the looks department and a flight attendant, loves to "crop dust" the plane occasionally as she walks the aisle. Nobody ever suspects she's the source of the SBD's.

flat•u•lence / Pronunciation[flach-uh-luhnse] –adjective

1. Female; An embarrassing byproduct of digestion.

2. Male: An endless source of entertainment and male bonding.

How did this go from tipping to farting?

Unless the service was so bad you leave them a fart for a tip!

Speaking of gas;

Arkansas Plant Explodes, Causing Gas Leak, Forcing Evacuations

BOONEVILLE, Ark. — An explosion at a meat packing plant on Sunday caused an ammonia gas leak that forced 180 people from their homes, but none of those working at the plant was injured, emergency responders said.

The explosion in the western Arkansas town of 4,000 occurred in the freezer section of the Cargill Meat Solutions plant, which makes frozen ground beef patties and steaks, said Renee Preslar, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Emergency Management.

Mark Klein, a spokesman for Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., said the plant is closed Sundays but that about 20 contractors and a few other employees were at the site at the time of the fire. The plant employs about 800 people, he said.

"Everybody's good. There's been no injuries," said Gina Kinney, a dispatcher with the Logan County Sheriff's Department.

Maybe it was methane from the cows farting!!!

"Everybody's good..."

Is it even possible to tell if people in Arkansas have been affected by gas fumes?

JT sez "...Why is it that people don't mind their own gas, yet when someone lets a ripper it smells horrible?"

I'm too lazy too look, but there must be gov't-funded research and an explanation out there in the methane, I mean ether, I mean ozone.

Hey Merkin, Ever fart on a chair, than quickly jump off the chair and smell the seat?

I think thats called "fart sniffers" I knew a few of those girls in college.

http://sounds.wavcentral.com/movies/monty/fart_direction.mp3