Report: Starbucks’ scheduling changes unlikely to ease worker burdens

New York -- Following Starbucks Corp.’s announcement that it would change its scheduling rules to prevent employees from having to work an opening shift after a closing shift the previous evening, some workers have expressed skepticism that the changes would be universally enforced.



Several of the 130,000 impacted Starbucks’ workers at corporate-owned chains have spoken with media outlets and said that the new policies may be difficult to enforce as the onus is on the individual store managers to implement the changes.



Some workers expressed concern that their managers would cut back on their shifts if they complained about the irregular scheduling. Others said they would still be allowed to work back-to-back shifts, although not required to.



In an email sent to employees on Thursday morning, Cliff Burrows, Starbucks’ president for the U.S. and Americas, outlined the scheduling changes in response to a New York Times article detailing a single mother’s plight as she tried to balance her job as a Starbucks barista with a three-hour commute and a continually changing schedule. Burrows said that in addition to the closing/opening shift change, Starbucks will also now transfer employees whose commute is longer than one hour to a closer store and post schedules at least one week in advance.