The coffee chain now strongly encourages its workers to get COVID vaccinations and boosters and to disclose their status, instead of requiring it. On Jan. 3, the company said U.S. workers must be vaccinated by Feb. 9 or submit to weekly testing.
In an email to employees, COO John Culver said the company is complying with the Supreme Court ruling that rejected a federal rule mandating vaccination or testing.
“We continue to believe strongly in the spirit and intent of the mandate,” Culver said in the email. He added that more than 90% of store workers have disclosed their vaccination status and the “vast majority” are fully vaccinated.
The court’s ruling prevents the federal government from imposing a vaccine mandate on private employers outside of health care, but it doesn’t stop companies from enforcing their own mandates. However, requiring vaccination threatens to hinder retailers’ and restaurants’ efforts to staff their locations at a time when many have already left the industry.
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Due to staffing pressures, Starbucks has shifted some cafes to takeout only and given local managers leeway in determining hours of operation. The company is also facing a growing push to unionize its stores after staff say they haven’t been treated fairly regarding scheduling and pay.
The new vaccine policy comes after some employees said they didn’t want the vaccine mandate to be obligatory, according to Reggie Borges, a company representative. The company always intended to follow the emergency temporary standard, as the mandate is known, and is now responding to the court’s ruling, he said.
The Associated Press earlier reported the
Seattle-based Starbucks is also instructing employees to use the three-ply medical-grade masks it provides instead of cloth facial coverings, changing its prior guidance amid a wave of omicron infections.
“Cloth masks are not as effective against omicron,” the company said in a memo to U.S. district managers on Jan. 18.
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In addition to the medical-grade masks, employees can wear N95, KN95 or KF94 face coverings, but the company isn’t providing those due to supply constraints. The coffee chain said it updated guidance at its 15,000 U.S. locations after reviewing the latest recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With the recent surge of COVID-19 infections, restaurants and retailers are struggling to keep their stores staffed and running as more workers call in sick. In some cases, operators close dining rooms and shift to takeout and drive-thru only. Denny’s recently said it periodically turned off its delivery orders because there weren’t enough people to prepare meals.
That temporary directive is a departure from CDC guidance, which says that fully vaccinated individuals exposed to the virus don’t have to self-isolate if they’re not having symptoms. Starbucks said it is “going above and beyond that after hearing from partners who were concerned.”
