What is the real, true Starbucks sick policy?

I received this in an email from a fellow Barista. It tells their unfortunate situation with the company earlier this month and it begs the question, what is the real Starbucks sick policy?

Please read this experience because it just might happen to you next time you're sick. No names will be mentioned nor will the region/state. This is a copy/paste from the email I received. 

Why I loved working at Starbucks until my first sick day

This is a true story from a real Starbucks Barista. #baristaproblems is a real thing. Trust me.

    I got hired at Starbucks not too long ago and have been working every shift, doing every task, and learning just about anything I can about how things work in there with no issues. I learned the drinks, how to work the register, and the basics of their customer service pretty easily and quickly. On my first bar shift I was even complimented by my fellow partners on my customer service skills and how quickly I picked the recipes up.

Bottom line, I was really loving my new job. I spent about two weeks training as a Barista and was doing practice shifts, talking with my shift leads and manager, and was really getting into how great they seemed to treat their employees (at Starbucks we are called Partners). Everything was smooth sailing until it came to having to take my first sick day.

I woke up to a pleasant 2:30am with vomiting, all the other fun intestinal issues, and a fever. I was not happy for a couple reasons; I was obviously not happy about being sick and I was upset because I was scheduled to work that day for a full shift. I haven’t been employed all that long and I was thinking in my head, “what great timing to have to take a sick day.” When my alarm went off at 6:30 I felt even worse. My temperature was higher, my stomach was still not agreeing with me, and I was not in great shape at all. I realized after walking back to my room from the bathroom that there was no way I could run around working for 7 hours.

I did what I was instructed to do during my training and I called my store with over 3 hours notice before my shift. My store manager was not scheduled (bad luck) so I talked to the shift lead on duty. She told me that it was not only my responsibility to find coverage for my shift but that if I couldn’t I would be required to work anyway. Yes, all of that despite me being ridiculously ill. I did what was asked and called the two partners that were scheduled off that day asking if either of them could cover some of my shift and, not surprisingly, got two “sorry, I can’t today” responses. I called my store back and got more phone numbers to call. This time I had to call other stores in my district to see if any of them had any partners that could help out. Only one store helped me and the two people I got numbers for told me they couldn’t do it.

At this point I had just spent about an hour of what should have been me going back to sleep trying to find coverage for my shift. I called back a third time to ask for my options. I was told that my only option at that point was to ask the partners working that day if they could pick up some extra hours and stay a little later and come in earlier. The catch was I would still have to come in later in the afternoon. I called the partner coming in to close and left a voicemail asking if she could help me out and come in a bit earlier to cover some of my shift. I never got a call back.

I waited a little while because at this point it was barely 8am and I figured most people I could call wouldn’t even be awake yet. During this wait I decided to call the Starbucks Partner line and see if what they were making me do was even right. I say this because of what the Partner Handbook states on page 20:

“If a partner knows in advance that he or she will be unable to report to work for a scheduled shift, it is the partner’s responsibility to arrange for another partner to substitute. In the event of an emergency or sudden onset of illness, injury or other emergency circumstances, however, the partner will not be held responsible for finding a substitute. The partner will still be responsible for notifying his or her store manager or assistant store manager of the absence; the store manager or assistant store manager will arrange for shift coverage.”

    It also states in the resource manual that you are ineligible for work and void from the schedule if you have vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, fever, or any other contagious illness. Out of those options I had three of them. I asked the partner I spoke with on the phone if it was within Starbucks policy to still make me come to work and she said it was not and advised me to try and contact my store manager or the district manager. She even gave me my DM’s phone number and asked if I wanted her to push through a complaint and investigation into the event. I said no, but she still advised me to file one within 24-hours because my store was breaking policy and it should be on record. I also did some Google research and found several forums and blogs about the “true” sick policy for Starbucks. Apparently this happens a lot which was one big reason partners were pushing for a union a couple years ago.

    The point is, I did not know I was going to have to call in until I woke up sick. It’s not like I sat down at 5pm the night before and thought, “I think I am going to be sick tomorrow.” As the policy states, I should not have even been held responsible for finding coverage because it was sudden onset illness. I called my store back yet again and told them I had left voicemails and also mentioned the policy that I had read during my training. My shift lead’s response was, “well that only applies if you’ve already found coverage.” So, I guess it was my responsibility to call around at 2:30am and try to get my shift covered so I could call close to my shift to notify them. I was so dumbfounded that I didn’t even respond. I quickly debated saying that I had called the partner line, but I didn’t want to make the situation worse. Not only were they violating their own policy by making me do their work, but they weren’t budging on making me come in despite how sick I was.

She eventually told me that if I had to come in she could delay it until at least 1:00 and that she’d make some calls to see what she could figure out. I fell asleep for about 40min and was awakened by my phone ringing. It was my shift lead telling me she got one of the partners to agree to stay until 1:00 and had also left a voicemail for the closer asking if she could come in earlier. I dozed off for maybe 10min and was awakened again to a call saying they had the shift mostly covered, but that I would have to come in for at least 90min in the evening to cover their lunch breaks. I figured at that point I had no choice so I agreed to come in at 3:30 if I absolutely had to. I guess she could tell I wasn’t too happy about it and asked if she could call me back one more time. I got another call within 10-15min and she told me she called another shift lead who agreed to come in for a while in the evening so I didn’t have to come in. After about five hours it got resolved and I went back to sleep.

What gets me about this whole ordeal is if she would have done her job in the first place it would have gotten resolved a lot faster. I wasted 3 hours of the morning with no result, including four unanswered calls to my DM. It barely took her an hour to get everything done. Baristas are not supervisors and managers. They can’t expect us to do their job because people don’t listen to us. I am not in charge and I don’t have the power to make decisions. If Starbucks wants Baristas to have the exact same responsibilities as supervisors and managers they need to update their company policy and pay us more for the extra duty. I feel like I should get paid for all my efforts because it felt like I was on the clock working. At any other company you see managers and supervisors working all the time. If someone is sick and can’t come in it’s not their responsibility to find coverage or come in anyway. It is the job of the manager or lead to find coverage or help cover the shift. I see it all the time at other food service places and at retail stores.

Another thing they need to do is have their leads read is public health code and food safety regulations. It’s technically unlawful to make people that sick work in food service. That is how you infect other people. What I learned about my employer from this entire ordeal is:

• It is unnecessarily difficult to call in sick
• Starbucks is willing to have sick partners come in to potentially infect their products, fellow partners, and customers
• They allow their shift leads and managers to pass responsibility off to Baristas
• They don’t follow their own policies

I previously worked a job in retail and I have had to call in sick before. I never had any difficulty prior to this event. Everyone gets sick at some point and needs a day to rest and shake it off. I can understand if someone wants a specific day off and you’re scheduled that you need to find someone to swap shifts or cover for you. That is a no-brainer. I do not understand a company that states you are not responsible for becoming ill, but when you need to exercise that policy you get dumped on and might be forced to still come in and work. Which is it?

Do you still come to work or stay home?

Do I have to find coverage myself or is it really the responsibility of my leads and manager?

Better yet, will I be forced to do my boss’ job whenever they don’t feel like it?

    I do like working at Starbucks. The pay isn’t bad, the work itself is simple, and the benefits of being a partner is not bad at all. However, after this fiasco I am kind of rethinking things a little bit. If I am going to have a problem like this whenever something comes up is just more trouble than it’s worth. I am anticipating a write-up or warning and if that happens I will be calling the partner line again and will be filing a report and request for investigation. It’s one thing if they don’t care to follow their own policies, but it’s another if they stand by them but let people get away with it. 

-end

What feedback can we give here? As far as I was aware this Barista was right in doing what they did by giving notice that morning and should not have been held responsible or forced to come in, especially with the listed symptoms. I don't think customers would have been too happy to hear or see someone with the stomach flu was making their drinks. 

Anyone else experienced sick days? What advice can you give?