Starbucks Aims to Improve Its Baristas' Hours

An internal memo calls for the company to 'go the extra mile.'

Already planning to hire 100,000 millennials, Starbucks executives are pushing managers to make sure employees are working regular, consistent hours and have ample ability to budget time off. Starbucks group president of the U.S. and Americas Cliff Burrows wrote in an internal company memo that the company needs to "go the extra mile to ensure partners have a consistent schedule," reports CNN Money.

"To our store managers, I want to stress that as we continue to evolve and improve the usability of our system, we have to go the extra mile to ensure partners have a consistent schedule -- free of back-to-back close and open shifts that are less than 8 hours apart -- that is posted 2 weeks in advance," he wrote.

The memo comes as a reaction to a survey of employees and New York Times story that reveal poor labor practices, despite the company's pledge to improve that area. The survey found multiple concerns for Starbucks baristas, including unpredictable work weeks, inconsistent hours, and obstacles to taking sick leave.

"Starbucks should establish basic protections to ensure stability, adequacy and predictability of employees’ schedules," reads the survey, which is based on interviews with 200 baristas in 37 states. "The company should work with their employees and incorporate their input to provide work schedules that are as reliable as Starbucks' dedicated customer base."

Despite the poor survey results, and some other unflattering headlines, Starbucks often does try to do good. In addition to its lofty hiring goal, the company is helping to pay for baristas' college tuition.

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