Starbucks introducing new dress code for baristas, a move protested by some
(KTLA) – Baristas at your local Starbucks might soon be sporting a new, more consistent look after the company announced an update to its dress code this week.
The change, announced Monday, is part of CEO Brian Niccol's effort to overhaul the coffee chain's image with "simplified color options that allow our iconic green apron to shine," according to the company's website.
“The more defined color palette includes any solid black short and long-sleeved crewneck, collared, or button-up shirts and any shade of khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms," according to the site.
Currently, baristas are allowed to wear any color top and bottom under their aprons, a Starbucks spokesperson told Nexstar.
Starbucks will also provide baristas with two company-branded T-shirts at no cost.
But some workers protested the move. Starbucks Workers United, a labor group that has unionized workers at more than 550 of Starbucks' 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said it told the company last week that it has already negotiated a tentative dress code agreement during bargaining sessions with the company. The union said it opposes any changes to the dress code until bargaining concludes and a labor agreement is reached.
Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista and union bargaining delegate, said the company should be focusing on things that improve store operations, like appropriately staffing stores and giving workers a guaranteed number of hours.
“Instead of addressing the most pressing issues baristas have been raising for years, Starbucks is prioritizing a limiting dress code that won’t improve the company’s operation," Leli said in a statement provided by the union. “They’re forcing baristas to pay for new clothes when we’re struggling as it is on Starbucks wages and without guaranteed hours.”
The new guidance comes nearly a decade after Starbucks loosened its dress code to give employees more opportunity for self-expression. In 2016, the company expanded the color of shirts employees could wear, adding gray, navy, dark denim and brown to the previous guidance of black or white. It also allowed patterned shirts in those colors.
In 2019, the company tweaked the dress code again, allowing one facial piercing as long as it was no larger than a dime. The new dress code still allows one facial piercing.
The new dress code goes into effect on May 12.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.