Really Weird Rules Starbucks Employees Are Forced To Follow

Starbucks has clearly developed a good method of getting your coffee to you as quickly as possible, and despite the laid-back feel of the coffee shop, there are a lot of rules that the employees have to follow. Some of them feel really weird, especially in the present day, while others are understandable when you think about them. The good news is that you’re pretty much allowed to stay in the coffee shop as long as you like, but just don’t try to take advantage of this policy. Let’s take a look at some really weird rules that Starbucks employees are forced to follow.

#Starbucks #Coffee #Espresso

Colorful hair must be permanent | 0:00
No 'loud' personal styles | 1:22
No light wash jeans | 2:24
Tattoos and piercings | 3:06
Nail polish and perfume | 4:01
No asking customers to leave | 4:52
Limitations of working quickly | 6:08
Public bathroom use is okay | 7:08
Saying no is prohibited | 8:22
Strict exceptions to saying 'no' | 9:15
Employees must split tips | 10:04

[frankgallegos]

They should’ve added how customers show up right when closing time is and expect you to take their order in the drive thru even though “you’re supposed to close exactly at closing time.” Then turn around and want to call corporate and lie about how long they were waiting. The customers have gotten worse and the quality has gone down since my time as a partner. This Corporation has given its customers a sense of entitlement, they will yell, spit, flip off and use harsh words towards an employee, then they call and blame the employees for being rude and not only get a free beverage but also get the employee in trouble for their own actions. The company doesn’t care about its employees, it cares about the income and the customers experience “i.e. lies”. How about some recognition for your employees who work hard every day and all they get it criticized. Plus favoritism in the workplace. Like Morning shifts always get favored by the store manager cause they work that shift, and it’s always the night crew that gets blamed for doing everything and anything wrong. This place truly has become the McDonald’s of Coffee Shops lol.

[Covrdcovered]

so I actually work at Starbucks. Some stores are different. At my store, we cannot warm up your drink for you because it’s been sitting out. Instead, we will just remake it.

[AndromedanPrince]

I worked at Starbucks for five years at three locations during that time and they never tell you to limit how fast you work on drinks and seen tons of other baristas make more than two drinks at a time lol

[drewadams]

The whole staff at my starbuck dyed our hair green for St Patrick's Day in 2018. The next day we were all written up.

[rebeccawhitmer]

Okay but about 5 years ago we had to wear a uniform, no visible tattoos, no unnatural hair colours, and all that is pretty normal for restaurants/ fast food. So those rules are actually a huge upgrade!!!!

[ladybugsie]

During our visit to the US in 1997 we were visiting the Starbucks on Market St in San Francisco. The barista who was making my coffee accidentally squeezed the cup to hard or something and got steaming hot coffee on his hand. I worriedly asked him if he didn't need to go hold that hand under running water, and he replied: I'll die later. I have always been shocked by that, as it gave me the feeling that he could've lost his job by making a little mistake or showing he was human. Dear barista, if you read this: I hope your hand healed. I felt your pain. Talk about work-ethics.

[sundaynightdinnerswithdebo]

most of these are standard health department rules, and none of these rules are "really weird rules"

[gamesmarts]

We wear darker and boring clothes so our apron stands out more. these policies arent weird, they're normal

[TheDragonforce]

This video makes the dress code to seem far more strict than it actually is. I showed my manager my septum piercing and I was wearing canvas shoes and she still seemed ecstatic and hired me on the spot. It just depends on how strict your manager is but that isnt to say you shouldnt follow dress code. I had to buy a new haul of clothes just to start working

[ericamoney]

yeah no I’m a partner and many of these are just false. I can and absolutely will tell you no if what you are asking for isn’t possible or if you’re disrupting the third place. Also, there’s no such thing as “too fast.” Experienced baristas will be making 4+ drinks at once because we get admonished if our window times are too long 🙃

[britaobrien]

soooo you're not supposed to tip because the employees have to share them? i think ill just tip more money lol

[NovahLia]

Most of these guidelines have to do with sanitary reasons since you're working with food and drinks.

[ElphabaHeartshaven]

This video makes all these rules seem like it's life or death code in North Korea. Seriously, if you've ever worked in food service or retail, these are pretty much standard common sense for food safety and professionalism. And the amount of mid-rolls are ridiculous.

[skyeminnerup]

The policy is to make the moment right, not that we can't say no... What a load of bullsh!t

[niko]

I've worked in different food settings, mostly factories, and most of these are universal: no temporary hair dye, no nail polish or you have to wear gloves, no jewelry except a wedding band, no perfume. I've never heard the 2 drink thing as a limitation. Sequencing is very technical and optimized to get drinks out FAST. If you are working on more than 2 at once, that means something is sitting and people are waiting. I'm bad on bar, but I'd bet there are baristas that overlap 3 drinks. I'm actually angry that they imply we intentionally go slow when your whole being is getting drinks made and out. It's chaos. Also, yes, we steam each drink individually to get the foam to milk ratio right and warm milk is a breeding ground for LOTS of pathogens.
The dress code is odd though. I'll give them that. But it is in a lot of places.

[savannahellis]

The jewelry thing is all about health safety. Stones in rings/bracelets can collect bacteria and possibly contaminate drinks/food. The only reason we could ask someone to leave is if they were making a HUGE scene by attacking employees verbally or physically. I worked for starbucks for 4 years and quit in 2019. Also the working on multiple drinks thing was never enforced and I personally worked on 3+ drinks at a time. And the just say yes thing is real.... it was incredibly annoying but we would figure out ways around it especially for super crazy requests.

[stavi]

Please don’t ask your baristas for more than coffee. Y’all it’s busy and there are so many drinks to be made. Sure, they are suppose to say yes but it slows them down

[Cteelphoto]

Trust, I've said 'NO' more than once

[_Peachyb_]

The rule about asking customers to leave isn't entirely updated. We went through confrontation training a couple months ago that allowed us to deny a customer service if we felt threatened or thought they were a disruption to the store. Mind you, we have to ask calmly and politely.

We are also allowed to respond to negative talk like, if a customer is saying nasty things to a barista, we shifts can step in and say, "I'm sorry you are upset with us and what can we do to make the situation better." or "I don't appreciate being spoken to like that and i'm sorry you feel that way."

[Taryncloud]

So the whole “say yes” thing isn’t real and hasn’t been a thing in years. It’s been replaced with the third place model. Furthermore we can NEVER reheat a drink behind the bar(basic food safety, are you stupid?) we remake the drinks. We are absolutely allowed to say no, however, as a service worker why would want to say no?