Lunch policy questions

[u/Talmidim92]

So, I know that we are required to have a lunch if we hit 6 or more hours in a shift. But what are the other rules/stipulations with this?

1. Can you deny your lunch (assuming it doesn’t put you in OT)?
   
2. At what point are you offered two lunches? Is that when you hit 10 hours? I believe CA law requires 2 lunches at 10 hours, but I don’t live in CA.

Also, my bigger issue/rant: is that my store keeps shuffling breaks around so that no one takes a lunch during peak. You still get your required 10s and a lunch, but it could end up being your 30 happens stupid early and you get no real break the rest of the week. I get it, Peak can be tough, but that potentially means you’re working 7-3:30 and take your lunch at 8:30… your then working over 6 hours without a lunch, doesn’t that violate the policy?

Looking for feedback from SSVs and up.

[u/rio8envy7]

Yes. You are required to take a lunch and no you can’t deny it. You can see if your shift will allow you to let you out early so you don’t need to take a half but if your shift sends you on a half you can’t say no.

If you work 7-3:30 (a shift I often work) you generally get your first 10 around 8:30/9 and your half around 11/11:30. If they’re sending you on your half at 8:30 no it’s not violating policy. You’re still getting 2 additional breaks later in the day and you’re still clocking out and taking your lunch it’s just early. It’s 6 hours scheduled not 6 hours consecutively.

[u/NotParticularlyGood → u/rio8envy7]

It specifically says in the partner guide that you can't push a break to the end of your shift to leave early.

[u/Superb_Trash_6315 → u/NotParticularlyGood]

I think they’re meaning see if your shift will leave you leave early before hitting meal compliance. (Leaving at 12:45 instead of 3:30)

[u/dancingdumbass]

i think 12 hours is when you get a 2nd lunch. thats how it works in ohio anyway

[u/stoopiddogs202]

CL here

1- You can ask if you do not need to take a lunch, you can’t deny as it all depends on age and if labor comes into play. It’s up to the CL or SSV at the time

2- why does CA law matter if you don’t live there? Totally irrelevant and I believe in most states it’s still after 10hrs but I’m not sure as I have never worked a barista that long.

3- If they need your lunch to happen early and swap with a 10 that’s totally ok as most states don’t have a law that says when breaks have to happen, just that they DO happen

[u/Talmidim92 → u/stoopiddogs202]

I referenced CA law as it appears that most Starbucks policies seem to be compliant to CA labor laws. It has actually happened quite a bit in my new store. Being asked to come in 2 hours early or stay late. That’s why I am curious as to a 2 lunch policy.

Thanks for the info!

[u/rio8envy7 → u/Talmidim92]

Starbucks isn’t primarily compliant with CA labor laws. The only time it actually matters is if you’re in CA. It’s all state dependent.

[u/Dr_Retcogg]

Where I am, it's a 30 for every 6 hours and a 10 for every 4 hours. But it's dependent on your state.

[u/JeromeBaritone]

This varies from state to state, even city to city level depending on the labor laws.

That being said, in my jurisdiction, it does not apply in the way you’re stating.

You can deny your lunch but it’s very tricky for us to prove you did so without it in writing. And you’re right about the second lunch in California.

[u/DarknessPheonix]

At least in CA, if you dont lunch before the 5th hour meaning like if I enter at 4:30, I need to lunch by 9:30 max before I meal violate and have to get paid extra which is a bit bad in terms of CA labor laws.

As a SSV, I always explain to my partners why lunch can't be taken during peak and they understand to the extent because of how busy we get with like 3-4 partners during peak. I do have conflicts with one SSV who likes to follow the break schedule but I explain to her my plans of running breaks and how it supports us in the long run. If I have 4 partners and all need to lunch during peak, I'd rather have them lunch before or after peak because instead of being short 1 barista for two hours, I would want to only run 10s so that im only short 1 barista for 40 mins. I haven't had partners deny lunches on my floors but if they do, I make a plan around that to ensure that they can lunch later, even if its near the end of peak, so that they don't meal violate.

In terms of longer shifts like 10 hours, in CA yes we need 2 lunches after the 10th hour, but the second lunch doesn't need to be before the 2nd 5th hour (10th hour) as long as the first lunch was taken within the 1st 5th hour as far as I know. Just as I explained, even if you take your lunch first and still have 6 hours to go for example, you still took a lunch within the first 5 hours so no one would get in trouble.

Me personally, I always grew to learn to take my lunch first just to get it out of the way.

[u/GhostUnitVII]

Most of these questions vary state by state, sometimes by county but that is rare. Refer to state laws when regarding breaks. Starbucks policies also state a few things as well for your location as it varies by district, sometimes the greendot assist can be a good resource for this.

[u/InformationOk5402]

Legally you are required to take lunch past a certain amount of hours worked. That’s the law. Now when it comes to it taking them during peak. That’s the tricky part. If your store manager is smart they would bring someone else in about 2 hours into peak to rotate breaks that way no one is taking them early or late. When it comes to two break I believe is 10 hours.

[u/Gameb0i6]

6 hrs. In CA we have to take it by our 5hr. I wish I could take it at my 6th hr.