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.
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00:00Starbucks baristas have to follow a lot of rules. Some of the strange policies include
00:05a strict dress code, rarely saying no, and being limited on how fast you can work.
00:10Here are some other weird rules for Starbucks employees.
00:14Starbucks really has no problem with employees dyeing their hair any shade of the rainbow.
00:19However, if they're going to go all out with some unnatural hair color,
00:23the chain asks them to commit to it. In other words,
00:26Starbucks doesn't allow its workers to wear temporary hair dye and other temporary hair
00:30changes. Including colored hairsprays, hair glitter, and hair chalks are also off-limits.
00:36The Starbucks employee style guide asks that all hair color is permanent or semi-permanent
00:41for the sake of food safety. It seems like Starbucks is worried some unsuspecting customer
00:46might open the lid to their macchiato and find a bit of hair glitter floating on top.
00:51You might be wondering, though, if semi-permanent hair color is okay,
00:55then why not temporary hair color? What's the difference?
00:58Semi-permanent hair color sits on the surface of your hair and lasts between
01:02four and 12 shampoos before fading. Temporary hair color, on the other hand,
01:06washes out with one shampoo, making it much more susceptible to fall out.
01:11If you've ever used temporary hair color, you can likely attest to the way it can get
01:15just about everywhere if you're not careful, which could mean staining clothes, tissues,
01:19and anything else that your hair touches.
01:22When it comes to employee regulations, including about clothing,
01:26Starbucks can seem pretty militant. Think about it. Every time you've gone into a Starbucks,
01:31what were the employees wearing? Probably nothing memorable, right?
01:35The Starbucks employee handbook and style guide goes a long way to ensure that this
01:39is the case by inviting employees to wear a variety of colors that are, quote,
01:44"...subdued."
01:44According to the guide, these subdued colors include black, white, gray, navy blue, and brown.
01:51But Starbucks goes beyond simply monitoring the color of its employees' clothing.
01:55The guide specifically addresses patterns, too, once again using the words
01:59muted and subdued to describe what's acceptable, including small stripes,
02:04plaids, and tight patterns. Busy and bold patterns are also a no-no,
02:09with Starbucks stressing that overall, solid patterns are okay.
02:13Specific shirts that Starbucks employees aren't allowed to wear include any shirts with loud
02:18colors or busy embroidery, as well as those featuring large logos or an inconsistent wash.
02:24When it comes to jeans, the trends change almost every year. From bell-bottoms to skinny jeans,
02:29dark wash to light wash, blue jeans come in many forms and fashions. Light wash jeans have been
02:35growing in popularity over the last few years, but Starbucks still says no when it comes to
02:40employees dressing in this particular pant style. Instead, it asks employees to only wear bottoms
02:45in darker denim or fabrics in black, navy, or brown. The only light colors permitted for
02:51Starbucks employee bottoms are grays and khaki. Other types of pants that Starbucks employees
02:56can't get away with include jeans with holes, baggy jeans, jeans that are too long, leather
03:02pants, athletic pants, and sweatpants. When it comes to tattoos and piercings,
03:08Starbucks employee rules are just as strict as you'd probably expect them to be. Considering the
03:13other items on this list, Starbucks employees cannot show off any face or throat tattoos,
03:19and any tattoo with questionable imagery must be covered as well. The chain also doesn't allow
03:24more than two earrings per ear, as well as no septum piercings. No jewelry is allowed on the
03:30hands or wrists, including watches. You can wear one plain band, so wedding rings are good to go,
03:36though engagement rings are not. While you might think that Starbucks employee dress code rules
03:41are a bit harsh, they were once much harsher. In 2019, Starbucks slightly adjusted its dress
03:47code to allow facial piercings for the first time, including no studs and ear gauges,
03:53though they couldn't be larger than a dime.
03:55Oh, dumb Starbucks. Okay, okay."
03:58Oh, you thought it was Starbucks."
03:59I did."
04:00Most working adults probably understand that they should go to their place of employment
04:05having showered and made themselves presentable, especially when it comes to food service. But
04:10Starbucks wants its employees to wash away a few other things from their bodies, including things
04:15that might be acceptable in most other work environments — nail polish and perfume. Regarding
04:20the former, the Starbucks employee handbook notes employees can't wear anything that could fall into
04:25food or drinks. Perfumes, as well as fragrant products like lotion or body wash, are prohibited
04:31for similar reasons, because according to Starbucks, strong scents could interfere with
04:36customer experiences. The rule against perfume makes some sense, at least. As scent is a huge
04:42part of the dining experience, you likely wouldn't want the aroma of your coffee interrupted by a
04:47whiff of someone's Axe cologne or overly floral perfume. If you like to go to Starbucks to work,
04:53you may feel like you need to earn your favorite chair with consistent purchases.
04:57A coffee every hour should be enough to keep your place, right? Well, turns out you don't
05:02have to buy anything to sit inside a Starbucks — not even a single coffee. In 2018, PBS reported
05:08that Starbucks changed its policy to allow anyone to sit in their cafes for as long as they want,
05:14and employees could not ask that person to leave. The change was a result of controversy.
05:19A Philadelphia Starbucks employee had called the police to report that two Black men,
05:24who were waiting for a meeting with a real estate investor, had not made purchases at the cafe and
05:29refused to leave when asked. Video taken by a bystander revealed the men were sitting calmly,
05:34yet when Philadelphia police arrived, the two men were arrested. The video of the arrest went
05:39viral, and Starbucks announced it would close many of its stores for a day of racial bias training.
05:45I want to begin by offering a personal apology to the two gentlemen who were arrested in our store."
05:52As a result of the policy change, the only time Starbucks employees are permitted to report a
05:57customer who is not leaving is if they feel someone is a threat to safety. Employees are
06:02also not allowed to ask that person to leave. Instead, they're supposed to call the police.
06:08If you ever feel you've had to wait a long time for your order at Starbucks,
06:12you should know that your baristas are most likely working as fast as they're permitted to.
06:17In 2010, Starbucks made changes to their employee guidelines that may have left customers waiting
06:22longer. This rule change dictates that Starbucks employees are not allowed to make more than two
06:27drinks at one time, and they can only start making a second drink once they are almost
06:32finished with the first. Additionally, employees have to steam milk for each Starbucks drink
06:37separately, versus steaming a larger batch of milk at once. The rules also say that employees
06:42have to wash certain tools after every drink, that they can only use one espresso machine at
06:47a time, and that they aren't allowed to move from workstation to workstation. The policies were
06:52intended to create a more efficient coffee line, but as soon as they were rolled out,
06:56Starbucks employees reported that things weren't as efficient as they should have been.
07:00The Wall Street Journal quoted one employee as saying that wait times doubled in some cases,
07:05and longer lines were the result.
07:08If you've ever been touring a city and needed to find a restroom fast, you've likely walked
07:13into a chain restaurant in hopes that they'd let you use the bathroom in exchange for a purchase.
07:20But it wasn't the restaurant.
07:21Oh no, no, no.
07:21Lillian, where are you going?
07:23I need a bathroom.
07:24But the next time you need a potty break and there's a Starbucks nearby,
07:28feel free to walk right into the cafe and ask to use the restroom. No purchase required.
07:34At the same time that Starbucks eliminated its no-loitering rule,
07:37it also changed guidelines around who could use the coffee chain's bathrooms.
07:42Now, anyone can head to Starbucks for a bathroom break without having to buy a drink.
07:46Even if you're in an area where the Starbucks bathrooms are typically locked,
07:50all you have to do is ask the employee for the key code or key, and they're not allowed to deny you.
07:56While the new bathroom rule was intended to better serve customers,
08:00according to a University of Texas study, the policy change actually reduced Starbucks visits.
08:06Starbucks in-store visits decreased by nearly 7 percent following the decision,
08:10and this decrease was more than 80 percent higher for stores located near homeless shelters.
08:15The customers who did go into Starbucks also
08:18reduced the amount of overall time spent inside the cafe.
08:22The Starbucks policy against telling customers no
08:25when they ask to use the restroom extends even further.
08:29Technically, Starbucks employees aren't supposed to tell you no at all,
08:33regardless of what your request might be. Rather, the policy is just say yes.
08:38According to former Starbucks employee Carrie Dills, the concept is simple.
08:42If a customer brings up a problem or a complaint, offer them a resounding yes.
08:47Don't focus on what you can't do for a customer, tell them what you can do for them.
08:51For example, Dills says if a customer asks an employee to microwave a drink for them
08:56because it's been sitting next to a laptop for an hour, the employee should not say no.
09:01Instead, the employee should say yes to warming up the customer's drink with some steamed milk.
09:06So, the next time you have a special request at Starbucks,
09:09and you think there's no chance that the employee will help you out, go ahead and ask.
09:15There are two specific customer requests that Starbucks employees are required to
09:20give a resounding no to. If you ask to go into your Starbucks a little early to get that perfect
09:25seat by the window, or if you ask to stay a little late to finish up that last email to your boss,
09:31you're out of luck. Starbucks employees are required to keep customers out until their
09:36exact opening time, and they must herd customers out the door as soon as the clock strikes closing
09:41time. If you think you're an exception, you might want to think twice. In fact,
09:45one Starbucks employee told Insider that asking to break this rule is one of the
09:50most annoying things a customer can do. The employee told the outlet,
09:54There's an entire checklist of things the employees have to do before they can open the
09:58store, and they really can't open 15 or 30 minutes early for an early bird customer.
10:03Showing your gratitude for the service workers and other professionals in your life via tipping is a
10:08pretty nice thing to do. However, if you're thinking of offering a holiday or even a
10:13just-because tip to your favorite Starbucks barista, you might want to think twice.
10:17Starbucks' tipping policy dictates that employees must split cash tips equally.
10:22According to a Reddit thread, how strictly this rule is enforced seems to depend on the cafe,
10:28though many employees feel peer-pressured enough to not break the rule,
10:31even when a good tip is at stake. Starbucks employees on Reddit also reported that some
10:37customers have worked around the splitting tips rule by putting cash in a sealed envelope with
10:42an employee's name on it and ask the employee to open the envelope later. However, it's unclear
10:48whether that employee is required to split what's inside. Some employees responded that
10:52they would feel bad about not splitting these kinds of tips, while others declared they
10:57understood that some of their colleagues absolutely deserved to keep them. Overall,
11:02it seems like the Starbucks team really is a team of people who support one another,
11:06and many employees indicate they get a pretty good share of tips,
11:09even when they're all distributed evenly.
11:18you