Starbucks threatens to fire employees who don't show up to the office – weeks after new CEO is allowed to work from home
Starbucks has warned corporate workers they could lose their jobs if they don't report to the office three days a week – weeks after sparking backlash for allowing its new CEO to work from his Southern California home.
The Seattle-based coffeehouse chain will introduce a new policy in January that will include a “standardized process” to hold employees accountable for failing to follow the company's office-to-office policies, according to a memo that was circulated in a Company Division
Employees who don't meet the three-day week threshold will face consequences “up to and including termination,” according to the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg News.
The Java giant began requiring its approximately 3,500 corporate employees to report to the office for a minimum of three days per week at the beginning of the year.
“We continue to support our leaders as they hold their teams accountable for our existing hybrid work ethic,” the company said in a statement Monday.
The step-up was implemented just weeks after Brian Nicol was installed as the company's CEO.
Last month, the former Chipotle CEO told employees that the company expected them to work wherever they needed to do their jobs adequately — though he added that the best place to do that was in the office.
When Nicole was first brought on board, it was reported that Starbucks would allow her to run the company remotely from a small office at her residence in Newport Beach, Calif. — about 1,200 miles from corporate headquarters in Seattle.
The company offered him the benefit as a lure to defect from Chipotle, the company he led for six successful years that included sales growth and significant improvements in overall performance.
Starbucks also threw in a private jet that would shuttle Nicole from her Southern California home to the company's headquarters in Seattle.
The company later clarified that Nicole would spend most of her time at corporate headquarters.
Starbucks also said Nicole would use the private jet and her miles allotment to visit some of the company's stores worldwide.
“Brian's primary office and most of his time will be in our Seattle support center or meeting with partners and customers at our stores, roasteries, roasting facilities and offices around the world,” a company representative told The Post.
Nickle was given a $10 million signing bonus after agreeing to work for Starbucks, he will be paid a base salary of $1.6 million.
He will also collect millions in additional cash depending on the company's annual performance, according to Starbucks filings.
Nicole was brought in to replace Laxman Narasimhan, who had run the company for less than two years.