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Starbucks will pay more than $35 million to thousands of its workers in New York City in a local labor law settlement. Last Monday, the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection announced an agreement with the megachain to pay 15,000 workers for failing to provide stable, predictable schedules over the course of three years.
New York’s Fair Workweek law requires employers to give workers their schedules at least 14 days in advance and to keep those schedules consistent from week to week. According to the agreement, Starbucks failed to provide workers regular schedules, cut hours without obtaining written consent, and prioritised new hires over existing employees when assigning shifts.
Affected hourly workers will receive $50 for each week they worked between July 4, 2021, and July 7, 2024. The agreement is the result of an investigation launched three years ago that grew from 27 workers at 23 locations to include more than 300 stores across the city.
“With this landmark settlement, we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours and basic dignity,” New York City mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. In addition to worker restitution, Starbucks will pay $3.4 million in civil penalties and agree to comply with the law in the future.
Starbucks said that, while it is committed to complying with local laws, New York’s Fair Workweek law is especially complicated. “This (law) is notoriously challenging to manage and this isn’t just a Starbucks issue, nearly every retailer in the city faces these roadblocks,” company spokesperson Jaci Anderson said.
Read more on the Starbucks settlement from ABC News here.
Photo by Far Chinberdiev on Unsplash
