Okay, I have some questions and want to rant a little

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Okay, I have some questions and want to rant a little

(23 posts) (15 voices)

Started 1 year ago by BlueButtonVengance
Latest reply from BlueButtonVengance

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BlueButtonVengance

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So I have a couple questions -

What is the break policy?

I thought it was a 10 min break for every 2 hours work, and a half hour if over 6 hours worked. But when I ask my shift for a second 10 minute break, he looks at me like I'm crazy. He goes 'it has to be when we're slow and you have to complete any assigned tasks'.

what the ****? Fast food was better than this. Christ. How the hell can they expect you to be productive when working a 6 hour shift and having to take your first break in an hour and a half. That is the POINT of those breaks, so you have a few mins to rest and recoupe rather than drag on for the rest of your shift.

So if there an official corporate policy I can cite?

Secondly....

How many people are supposed to close? I am closing regularly now, and we NEVER have more than 3 people. I hear it's SUPPOSED to be four, but we never get four scheduled. Not so bad when it's slow but it sucks when we're busy, and our manager (who is functionally retarded) wants the close done in half an hour. I don't even try anymore, it's just not possible unless we're dead all night.

Any info is appreciated. Honestly, this is my second SM already and she's already as bad as the previous. Where does starbucks find these people?

Posted 1 year ago #

Magical rainbow ponies
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I wish I could help you... but I work in a licensed store.

All I can tell you is that... it could be worse lol. After 9 months, I finally get a lunch break on a semi-regular basis... and I used to do 13 hour shifts straight. Good times... good times. Or something. Also, wtf is a 10 minute break? lolzfml

The trick is, once you've been to hel1, everything else seems so much nicer. :/

Posted 1 year ago #
karmatose

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I was told that tens were a privilege, not a right. If our SM is the keyholder, you can bet you're only getting one ten your entire shift, and it's probably only going to happen after working for 3 hours. All our shifts try to give out tens to everybody at 2-hour intervals, though... except this one who always seems to "forget" to give me one but always gives herself one or even two in the meantime.

Closing with 3 people is the norm at our store on weekdays, since we get a fairly low number of customers. Usually whoever is on bar will be pre-closing at the same time, but everybody is pretty fluid when it comes to stations/positions so others help out wherever and whenever they can.

The weekends are a whole different story, but we can almost always get the close done in half an hour, anyway.

Posted 1 year ago #
theoneyoulovetohatexo

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10's are paid breaks given to workers, protected under state law.

if you aren't getting these by your shift, go to the manager. if the manager isn't giving you them, go above them. or you can call the partner hotline thing.

however, if it get's busy you can be pulled from your 10 to help out. we used to use timers -- set it for 10 mins, stop it when you need to work, then go back to your break.

a break can also be refused if it is super busy and all partners are needed. if it is like that 24/7 then fcuk that, take your break! if not, then wait until it slows down.

you can always look at the schedule in the partner book for that day. it should tell you when your 10's and 30's are scheduled.

Posted 1 year ago #
notpikespeak

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I've always been told that 10s are legally paid breaks given to everyone and you're required to get one at the 2ish hour mark. In Colorado, we have to take our 30s before 5 hours or we violate. If there's time, we'll get second 10s, but that's a pretty rare thing.

As for closing, it varies from store to store. My store has 4 pre-closers and then 2 of the 4 stay to actually close. They have 30 minutes to do that. I've never closed so I don't know if it's difficult, but I do open a few times a week and that's difficult to do sometimes in 45 minutes with 2 of us. Talk to your SM if you think your store is having trouble closing and you could use more people.

Posted 1 year ago #
Allison

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Closing at my new store is ALWAYS three people, with a really aggressive pre-closer. Meaning, they actually do a LOT before they leave. At my old store, closing was done with four people, but that store was a lot larger and closed later.

Posted 1 year ago #
theoneyoulovetohatexo

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at my store we usually had 2 people closing and 1 pre-closer. i loved pre-closing and closing, mainly because i'm one of the few people who actually love cleaning and setting everything up for the next day. i rarely closed (b/c i was a regular opener), so i also knew having everything that could get done and ready the night before means a lot less stress for the morning!

but a 30 minute close? that's crazy. most people i closed with purposely wanted to take their time just to get paid for the full time we were scheduled for, even if that meant finishing early and just sitting for 10 mins!

Posted 1 year ago #
DecafAtWill

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10s are paid breaks. It's something you're entitled to. It's the MOD's job to make sure you get those breaks. Every now and then I forget, but I try to make sure my baristas get their breaks. Sometimes I don't take one because of that, but that doesn't bother me one bit.

As for closers, it depends on the type of store and the volume of the store. Most, if not all, stores have 30 minutes to close. It used to be 45 in my district. My store gets one preclose and only two closers cause it's a Cafe store. If you've got a Drive Thru store, you get a minimum of 1 extra person. If you've got a store that's always busy, you can afford to have more employees at any given time. If the store isn't busy, you don't get that luxury. One store I used to work at was very slow and got to have 8 people on staff. My current store has 11 people.

Posted 1 year ago #
starbuxmaiden

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10 minute break four hours, 30 minutes meal break 6 hours, second ten optional

Posted 1 year ago #
not quite sirens eye

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I'm at a DT store and we preclose with 3-4 and close with two. One of my closing shifts is a champion at assigning preclosing tasks and we close just inside ten after, with all tasks complete. One of our district's stores takes over 70 mins. And we're a higher volume and bigger store than them.

Posted 1 year ago #
Custom box

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I have always understood the break policy to be one 10 minute break for every four hous worked, and a 30 if you work more than 6. So if you have a six hour shift, you should get a minimum of one 10 minute break. A second 10 is optional but I try to give my baristas a second 10 if I can spare them. If you have an 8 hour shift or longer you have a mandatory 30 minute lunch break and two tens.
We have two closers, andone pre closer who leaves a good three hours before we lock the door, so the two closers really have to do most everything. We get thirty minutes to close. I always get out on time when I close. Other closers don't but I think that is because they get too chatty with the regulars and just hang out. I am all business when I am at work, and don't waste time on idle chit chat.

Posted 1 year ago #
eightpumpchai

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On the DCR it spells out the breaks very clearly (although the times that are posted are slightly ridiculous). I go by that as far as giving breaks. One of my shifts (the one I didn't get along with) told me once that 10's were optional and I pretty much laughed at her. It is 1 ten at 4 hours, 6 hours even gets 2 tens, over 6 hours gets a lunch and 2 tens. Even if someone is working a 7 hour shift it's marked down as lunch and two tens and I really do my best to get everyone all their breaks... people are happier when they are getting their breaks. I've seen it in myself when I had the shift who wouldn't give me all of them. I would get really cranky, even more so because I knew she was hanging out in the back basically making her shift into a gigantic break while I was busting a$$ to get things done so that everything would be ready for the closers. Then I'd say, can I have that 2nd ten (and this would be when we were super slow) and she'd tell me no and continue to sit in the back. It was frustrating. But like I said, look at the DCR for the day and next to your name it will say the hours you work that day, a time for your meal break (which like I said is kind of ridiculous, I don't follow those because if I did I would be sending people on lunches in the middle of the morning rush) and then little black lines with white spots for breaks. I color those in when I send people on their breaks because that way I keep track of what I've done and like Decafatwill said, yeah, sometimes I don't get my second break and that's fine with me because I would rather the people I'm working with be relatively happy so they actually work...

Posted 1 year ago #
Skreeee4

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My old manager gave us 12's instead of 10's so we could make drinks and then sit down..o.o
But a 10 after 2 hours, 30 minutes before the 6 hour mark, I usually get a 2nd 10 if not, I get an apology....>.>

Posted 1 year ago #
Custom box

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One other issue we have with tens is that we have two man deployment most of the day. Now, we are relatively slow, but we get random bursts of customers, and there is always plenty to do, because we run so lean on labor. So when we take tens it leaves the other person alone, which can be really difficult.

Posted 1 year ago #
eightpumpchai

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@Custom box that really sucks! It is really rough when your hands are tied as far as being able to give breaks because of the way things are staffed.

Posted 1 year ago #
Custom box

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Yep. And it sucks when you have to give someone their "lunch" at 10 am on a 8 to 3 shift because you are going to drop to two man deployment at 10:30. I hate the way our store is staffed.

Posted 1 year ago #
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As far as actual laws are concerned, it varies by state... but MOST states do not have any laws regarding breaks, as far as I know. You can look it up regarding wherever you live. But if corporate says you MUST be given your breaks, then you have some basis to complain if you're not getting them... even if there is no actual law.

Where I am, there are no laws about it, but the companies I've worked for have had their own policies regarding breaks. My last job, my manager would get into trouble from the company's auditor for not giving us breaks... this job, I signed a waiver saying I would give up any right to a break. :/

Posted 1 year ago #
bluebuttonjustice

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.. name theif.

But in other news, closing in 30 minutes is possible. Even if we get a rush right before close, we can close in less than half an hour even with 2 people.

You just have to do everything beforehand, pretty much prep work. Set up / date pastry case trays on an unused counter, pour venti coffees and clean the brewers 20min to close or so, dump teas in trentas and do dishes, all that.

Posted 1 year ago #
BCcoffee

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We get a 10 for 4 hrs, 2 10s for 6 & under, and 2 10s + unpaid 30 for 6hrs+.

And we close in under 30 mins with 2 closers in a high volume store all the time. It's never fun, but it's possible. Everything bluebuttonjustice said (except the venti coffees, we just go down to 1 and dump first chance we get).

Posted 1 year ago #
Quackers

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Internets:460

I can't help as much either because I don't know how the real Starbucks works. Where I work, it is mandatory [for some reason] to go on your 30 minute break no matter what hours you work and it's always a paid break.

I also do know where I live, there's really no law that says adults have to go on break. Minors under 18 must have a break but after you turn 18 there's no need which is stupid because people do get tired and hungry no matter the age.

Posted 1 year ago #
BlueButtonVengance

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Thanks for the info guys.

I have to say, I hate closing. We were stuck there until 2 am last night becuase the morning people didn't do some stuff they were supposed to, so my shift had to stay and do extra, which i guess meant the rest of us had to too.

So he spent the whole time telling us how terrible our closes are and how he's been hearing about it. Okay? Our store JUST STARTED CLOSING, we were 24 hours, and no one knows what's going on. So every time I close, we're told something new.

He actually pulled me aside and was like the manager is concerned because you've been closing for almost a month now and we still have to tell you what to do. I almost laughed right there...I don't know what to do because they changed the routine at least twice a week.

Oh and I'm apparently not showing enough 'urgency'. I have been busting my **** for this place working from 8 am to, in this case, 2 am, 5 days a week, what do you expect? I'm exhausted, you nimrods. This is so not worth less than 8 an hour. If I am still working here in the next 3 months I'll be surprised, I'm so tempted to quit right now. I have honestly never encountered a place with such terrible leadership. Where do these managers come from? We're on our second and she's as bad as the one before her, just in different ways. For some reason I thought starbucks would have had its act together more than this.

For those of you who make careers out of doing this, I don't get it at all. I'd honestly rather work fast food, it's the same BS without the cult like atmosphere.

Posted 1 year ago #
Unsweetened

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Welcome to the fold, brother.

Posted 1 year ago #
BlueButtonVengance

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Yes, now that I feel like I've been emotionally raped, I feel that I am truly one of the starbucks family. Kind of sad, really.

Anyway this shift has gotten better. I worked with the ASM he claims was concerned about me and he had no negative feedback to give. I think this was a case of a new shift on a power trip.

Both of my store's ASM's have my back so it's all good. Problem is the guy is basically the store's closing shift now and all I do is close so I have to work with him just about every day. Sucks.

Posted 1 year ago #

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