Why it matters:
The settlement, the largest in NYC’s history involving a worker protection law, follows a three-year investigation into Starbucks’ scheduling practices.
Details:
The city found that Starbucks failed to provide regular schedules, cut hours without consent, and gave shifts to new hires before offering them to existing employees.
The agreement requires Starbucks to pay $35.5 million to more than 15,000 workers, as well as $3.4 million in penalties and costs.
Workers will receive checks this winter, including $50 for each week worked between July 2021 and July 2024.
The big picture:
NYC’s 2017 law was among the first in the U.S. to restrict “on-call scheduling.” Similar laws now exist in Oregon, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities.
Business groups argue the laws are unworkable and could lead to job cuts.
What they’re saying:
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, joining striking baristas in Brooklyn, said: “These are demands for decency. These are workers who are simply being asked to be treated with the respect that they deserve.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders stood with workers, saying they are “sick and tired of corporate greed and union busting.”
Starbucks said it supports the law’s intent, but compliance is challenging: “The law treats almost any adjustment as a potential issue – even starting a shift two hours later than planned.”
Zoom out:
The announcement coincided with baristas in New York and other cities staging picket lines for better working conditions, underscoring growing labor activism in the service sector.
Hossein Amiri - Mahboubeh Habibi
