Get'em!

NYT alway a step behind!

I think this is the most telling quote

Ms. Locke said that she is paid $10.03 an hour after three years on the job, while one shift supervisor she works with makes $10.25 an hour after three years with Starbucks.

This was a law made to protect minimum wage employees from sharing tips with salaried employees.... Shift Supervisors are nothing more than glorified key handlers who get a few more duties on top of the normal duties a employee gets.

I cant believe this is being made a big deal NOW after everyone in the country does something similar in practice.

@Falconfire:
I think this is a more telling quote:

" "On one hand, Starbucks sees them as management," she said. "They handle the cash. They handle the keys. They lock the doors. They run the stores when managers are away. They have power to discipline baristas through performance reviews. But on the other hand they are paid significantly less than the other managers, and they often work along side of us."
She added: "So part of me feels that they should be able to receive part of the tips. But under the language of the law, I feel they shouldn't receive tips."

I think in order to solve this Starbucks is going to have change it's management structure or their pay scales. Either their Supervisors are underpaid or their Line Workers are overpaid. But they don't appear to be in compliance with either stats laws

Of course, Mass. already has a suit underway -- [www.boston.com]

Starbucks is screwed here. I agree that intuitively, the "shift supervisors" were more like regular baristas and should have gotten their share of those tips. BUT, the law is what it is. I'd agree that the law should be changed, probably so that it only applies to employees earning a service wage or setting a higher standard for qualifies as management. Until then, Starbucks is really screwed because if they have to deny a share of tips to shift supervisors, they are looking at a mass exodus through resignations or demotion requests on top of the multi-million dollar settlements. Time to get lobbying.