News – SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered Starbucks to pay its California baristas more than $100 million in back tips and interest that the coffee chain paid to shift supervisors.
Good enough for them. It takes a lot of balls for someone in management to mandate what the lowest level employees have to do with gratuities that are given TO THEM. It pretty much falls under "theft" if you ask me. I think it would be fair if someone served a little time for this. It's despicable (using Yosemite Sam dialect).
(Sigh)
Yet another case of government meddling in business, and costing the taxpayers.
Starbucks should be able to do whatever they want with the tips they receive. If word gets out that baristas are having to share their tips with management, no one will want to work as a barista, and they'll have to stop the practice in order to get good employees. Let the market decide.
Why is the government getting involved in this, and how much of OUR tax dollars did it cost to form a government committee to investigate, hold hearings, etc.??
Nobody ever seems to remember the millions of dollars in tax revenues that Starbucks generates, the tens of thousands of jobs they give people (who in turn pay taxes), or the goods and services the company provides.
I'm not banging the drum for Starbucks - personally I hate coffee and never patronize them - but I AM wondering why government always has to interfere in and muck up businesses.
Yes, I'm sure you're just GOING BROKE over this, saintetienne. I'm sure your personal taxes have simply SKYROCKETED over "The Starbucks Barista Tip Imbroglio Tax Scam"
I can see the headline now! "Wage Slaves Get Tips Back, Saintetienne's Taxes Rise Not One Stupid Bit!"
Well, don't fret, you won't suffer financial ruin! I've just cut a penny in quarters to cover your fictional losses, where do I mail your fraction?
By the way, do you have any legitimately earned gratuities I can steal, er, borrow?
ind06,
You ARE aware that roughly 40% of what you earn is being TAKEN by the government, aren't you? That's right - you may work a 5-day week (Monday through Friday) but you're only taking home a 3-day pay (Wednesday through Friday) due to the government TAKING your other two days' wages. But wait - that's not all. The government is also taxing you on what you buy, the property you own, the money you save, the money you invest, the money you inherit, the money companies make in profit....is any of this news to you, ind06?
All of which I wouldn't mind if I saw some rather stellar results. But the sad fact is, our infrastructure is falling apart, our schools are a joke, and poverty and homelessness have increased despite TRILLIONS of dollars taken from working people and thrown into welfare. Yet you liberals want to increase taxes and have the government run healthcare, so that - like the post office and the DMV - it, too, can become bloated and inefficient
CONT.
So to answer your question, yes, I'll take any money you're handing out, since most of mine has been TAKEN FROM me and WASTED.
And no, I don't have any "gratuities" or any other form of money that you can steal or borrow. It's all been safely invested, and thankfully, is earning me more interest than the government can tax away from me.
You DID read the article, saintetienne? If you did, then you know that Starbucks has violated an existing California statute. Put simply, Starbucks broke the law. So, unless you think that stopping or not stopping corporations breaking the law is how tax rates are determined, I would suggest your concern over this somehow being a waste of your tax dollars is misplaced.
But hey, you might be right, perhaps if we ENCOURAGED corporations to break the law all our taxes would go down!
St. Steve,
You KNOW I'm about as libertarian as they come, but I'm with the gov't on this one. There is NO reason for management to be snagging their employees tips. In fact, the fact that wait staff will receive tips is factored into the minimum wage for waiters -- it is usually considerably less than anyone else's.
I don't even think waiters should be required to pool their tips among themselves. If I receive really good service and therefore leave a really big tip, I sure as hell am not leaving it for management nor for the other 10 (or whatever waiters that didn't have anything to do with my service. Splitting with the bus people is a totally different thing.
and poverty and homelessness have increased despite TRILLIONS of dollars taken from working people and thrown into welfare.>>>>>
My god. When you're wrong, you're wrong. Poverty has increased because wages have DROPPED. The working poor has steadily grown (notice i said WORKING poor) over eight years. They have jobs, but the jobs are low paying. The U.S. is no longer the manufacturing giant it once was. Manufacturing is going overseas for slave wages. Welfare has DROPPED across the country because of changes made during Clinton's administration.
You want to know where your taxes are REALLY going? To the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX! Of course our infrastructure is crumbling! We're broke. HELLO! We have no money. We borrow our money. Your taxes pay the interest on that borrowed money. BILLIONS down the toilet for interest. And that money you're getting after you file taxes? BORROWED.
Saint Etienne. If I leave a tip for a member of staff who has been helpful I don't expect that a line manager who is behind the scenes to steal it, because that is what it is. I had until now thought better of you.
Don't leave a tip then.
Besides, how do you know what that line manager has or has not done? They are responsible for training the person who helped you, are responsible for enabling them to do their job properly and efficiently, and they are certainly responsible for hiring the person who helped you. Without that line manager, there wouldn't be ANYONE to help you.
Why are you so concerned about how a business runs itself? You got your coffee and were charged a price that you deemed fair - what difference does it make where your tip goes? You pay roughly 40% of your hard-earned wages to a faceless government that wastes, mis-manages and is unaccountable for the money they TAKE from you, so why are you so concerned about chump change that you VOLUNTARILY left behind at a business who provided a product and a service for you?
are you really this heartless?
Not only that, but your stance is really quite inconsistent. People can hardly take care of themselves if they are not allowed to hang onto the money THEY EARNED THEMSELVES!!!
Why do I concern myself with how a business runs itself? I attempt to run my business in a fair and ethical manner -- treating my employees like valuable human beings. I believe that this not only helps my employees, but ultimately helps my bottom line as my reputation is important and how a business conducts itself IS important to most people who have a reasonable sense of decency. I try to avoid companies that do not deal honestly either with the public and/or treat their employees like trash.
What do I care about the "chump change" I "voluntarily left behind at a business"? I didn't leave the "chump change" for the business -- I paid them for the food or drink, or whatever, I left the tip for the person who earned it -- my waiter!
Does this mean that the tip jar will move to the pick-up area so I can tip on the service I actually receive instead of at the cash register? Maybe my order would be correct most of the time.
You make a good point, kboy. At a Starbucks, there is a cashier who takes your order, a barista, a person to clean tables and pick up trash, managers on duty and probably several other workers behind the scenes. If you leave a tip - - who should it go to? All are involved in your purchased product and your satisfaction. Should they not all share in your tip?
It's a bit clearer in a restaurant, where a waiter or waitress sees to your needs throughout the meal, over the course of an hour or an hour and a half. But at STARBUCKS? Again, WHY IS THIS AN ISSUE, AND WHY ARE THE TAXPAYER'S DOLLARS BEING SPENT ON INVESTIGATIONS, COURT HEARINGS, ETC.
This is NONSENSE. With everything that the government has now taken control of, don't they have better things to do with their time and our money than tell Starbucks employees what to do with the tips they receive?
I think the government ultimately wants to TAX these tips, which is why they are so interested.
Actually, the government isn't telling Starbucks employees what to do with their tips, they're telling Starbucks what NOT to do. As the article clearly points out, Starbucks has violated an existing California statute. They broke the law. When people or corporations break the law we expect them to be prosecuted. Are you now stating that prosecuting criminals is a "waste of your taxes"? What exactly should the California justice department do, if not prosecute criminals?
Wow!This is just another example of the widening gaps between the rich and the poor. Of course,this is not exactly what would be considered a literal one, but it shows the greed and can compare to what is happening between the rich and the poor. The managers, keep more of the tips while the waiters don't get much of it. If I am made President, I will have laws passed that increase minimum wage, I am thinking about 10 bucks per hour? Then, that money will circulate thruout the country, and gradually repair this weakened in power, but not in spirit! BUCKHEADD FOR PRESIDENT 2008!
$PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT$ As of 3/21/08, ALPHAGNOSIS has OFFICIALLY become the Vice Executive Manager and has replaced bronxbomber! I fired bronxbomber as he was being a VERY bad Vice Executive Manager, and I felt ALPHAGNOSIS could just handle the job better! ranchhand was fired as of 3/20/08, because he was also following the footsteps of bronxbomber. STONERS is leading effectively, and ENGINEER is also doing fine.
Widening gap huh? The rich are a growing class while the middle class and poor are shrinking. Explain that one to me please. Nobody pays attention to the reality of the upward mobility in the US.
Libs just like to whine and cry about the 50% of people who pay no taxes. A lot of them are in the middle class.
Endo,
Are you pulling these statistics out of your barista?
The rich are a growing class was the middle and poor are shrinking?
According to Tax Returns in 1996 the top 1% of the population made 15.5% of the reported income, the same as the bottom 52.2% of the population. In 2005 the top 1% of the population made 20.3% of the reported income, the same as the bottom 61.3%. That is the opposite of you sneering claim - the very richest stays the same while the bottom end of the scale increases.
You can do the math, and you can see that between those extremes there are both fewer people and less money.
If there is any mobility it seems to be more downward than anything else.
As for your claim that 50% of people don't pay taxes again the statistics don't support you. In 1996 approximately 24.4% of tax returns had no taxable income. I'll grant you that the percentage has gone up, but not to the extent that you claim. In 2005 32.5% of tax returns had no taxable income.
As an interesting side note to who is reporting no taxable income 3,718 people had income of more than $100,000 yet claimed no taxable income. By 2005 the number of people making more than $100,000 per year and claiming no taxable income had increased to more than 50,000. I don't know what to make of that other than a burning desire to find out who their accountant is and find out quickly.
I've frequented Starbucks shops for ten years, and have come to know many of the employees, including shift leads. The supervisors wait on customers as much as the regular barista's do. These aren't large individual operations, and normally have two people working. Occasionally I've seen three working in the very busy parts of Seattle. Dang, the area behind the counters is so small there isn't room for many more than three. Meanwhile, the shift leads not only wait on customers, they clean...keep the area supplied...order...teach the other one or two employees...etc. I have no problem with them sharing the tip I leave. They wait on me as much as the other employee(s) do.
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...and it was paid in the form of crumpled bills and loose change.
LOL! $100 Million in quarters, nickles and dimes!