"My son was fired last week from Starbucks for having tattoos..."

"He was hired with these tattoos and then they became an issue," Jennifer wrote on this site earlier in the week. "He kept them covered however he was still let go." I've seen Starbucks employees with tattoos (and bizarre holes in their ears, too), so this must be the case of a store manager dictating policy on his/her own. Correct? || Jump to the second page of comments.

Comments

[Waltie]

Anybody who wonders what happens when people don't follow the rules should go rent Gremlins. Those rules may have sounded ridiculous and arbitrary as well, but Billy Peltzer was the foolish one for breaking them so quickly.

Bottom line: Follow dress code, or Gremlins will eat your face.

[drive]

@Barista:

Why would the co-owner of the largest modeling and talent agency on the east coast not receive insurance through her company?

All of the people at my store who are working for insurance do not co-own large businesses. They are usually freelancers or struggling artists, or their spouses have been laid off and lost the family's insurance. Such a statement as yours demands an explanation.

[javagirl666]

@drive: I was thinking the exact same thing??? I would assume that would be a fairly prestigious position and one that would provide some sort of healthcare for its employees..not to mention, I wouldn't want to be representing Naomi and be worried that if I didn't make her drink correctly, she would throw it at me.

[Cthulu Coffee]

Not a fan of tattoos myself as I've see a lot of really bad ones out there looking mostly like prison art. I suppose most people that get them don't think of the long term. What you think looks so cool, rebellious, and makes a statement when you're 20 years old will not mean the same to you in a few decades. Most people I know that got tats when they were young now regret having had it done.

Thinking back to all the really lame "tribal art" or barbed wire ink people had done on their bicep only 15 years ago. Seems pretty silly now, eh? I liken it to buying a concert t-shirt of whatever lame popular band you're into at the moment and wearing it every day for the rest of your life until one day your grown grand kids are saying with great sarcasm, "Awww, isn't that just quaint. Grandpa looks so cute sleeping in his rocking chair wearing that old faded Justin Beiber t-shirt."

[Hipsterdufus]

just because some tattoos are "lame" and 'a lot' that 'you have seen' are 'really bad ones' doesn't not make them lame or mean that most people that get them don't think of the long term.

Not a single friend of mine regrets their tattoo going on 10 years after they got them.

Most tattoos I have seen on people are AMAZING. Great art. I have seen some really really horrible ones, but the vast majority are good work.

I don't regret my tattoos, and they are by no means 'prison quality'. I myself spent thousands of dollars on my tattoos, so you better damn well believe that I didn't just get them on a whim.

Do some people regret their tattoos, sure! Do some get shitty tattoos, damn sure! And I am sure those that get shitty tattoos are the most of the people that regret them. But I do not think by any means that most people regret their tattoos. Especially those that go to a legitamate tattoo artist, who research their choice well, and especially those that get custom work.

Millions and million of people have tattoos, some get them for trend, some get them to be cool, but many if not most get them for self expression and despite what you think really think about their decision.

[hearbutloud]

Bottom line: Starbucks' dress code is both simple and reasonable. Follow it or find another job.

[I <3 music]

I think it's funny when dudes get tramp stamps

[James Connolly]

hearbutloud: Simple and 'reasonable' is in the eye of the beholder.

[Waltie]

"Simple and 'reasonable' is in the eye of the beholder."

And yet nobody has managed to point out any Starbucks dress code policies that are the least bit complicated or hard to follow. Name one aspect of the dress code that is complicated or hard to follow on a daily basis. Covering tattoos might be uncomfortable or a nuisance, but it's not complicated or hard to do.

And, no, having to wear the same color undershirt as your overshirt is not complicated or hard to follow. It might be arbitrary, but everything can be considered arbitrary when taken on a case by case basis. But not even the Union spin doctors can make the claim that putting on a black undershirt is complicated or difficult.

[Coffee Soldier]

Let's talk about the new Reserve coffee! I tried it yesterday! I thought it was wonderful...very juicy mouth feel and leaves you wanting more....reminded me of a toned down Sulawesi.

I'd love to see some of those unroasted blue-green beans!

[joe]

barista, she co- owns the largest modeling agency on the east coast and cant afford to buy insurance? just curious about that one.

[I.Heart.Spirit]

The SKU for the starbucks double shot on ice isnt working for our store anymore. :(

Also, we finally got an action item on the price increases some people were discussing. For our store the changes begin Tuesday. It includes the price difference between iced and hot venti drinks and the difference between the tall/grande hot tea. I was pretty stoked to finally see this though I find it slightly humourous that the reason for tea increase is because 'customers expect to prices to vary by cup size'.

[Barista]

She could if she wanted to. But she worked for Starbucks before (and likes it) and always wants more money. So instead of buying insurence, she works 20 hours a week and gets insurance from them. More money is always better, but she doesn't really have any free time.

[wow]

still cant decide if james connolly is a real partner or just a random dumbass troll... really?? he never ceases to amaze me with the crap he thinks up...

[sannyd]

@Barista
you said the keywords about your coworker..she is a CO OWNER and she works in insurance. meaning she works for HERSELF. when you are the owner you can set the rules.
modeling agency aint 9 to 5 last time i checked. i work in a str8 laced office in oil and gas and ive worked in “non creative” places where ink is not the norm. i have ink and i work in an office that is pretty red republican. i am not. i got my tats in college getting my business degree so knowing i was gonna work in corp america and getting visible tats has consequences. you are putting yourself on a certain track.
sbucks has shareholders and i bet they aint the free thinking kind..they are the yours and mine grandmas and pas who are from a different time than us now. thats who the company has to answer to. until the day comes that us ink loving hearts are owning shares and making it count then we can set the rules..but until then..this bites.

[Time will show the truth.]

Tats are like hoola hoops, bell bottoms, grunge wear, etc. The big difference is that you will be stuck with them or be saving your money to remove them. That design which means so much to you now, isn't going to mean nearly so much later in life. Every generation of young people has a tremendous passion about setting new standards. That's normal and to be expected. But you will outgrow your tats. And if you don't, then you probably didn't grow much.

[notthathard]

@I.Heart.spirit-it's supposed to be wrung up as an americano plus syrup and that's been the case for a long time

[I <3 music]

@time
You can speak for yourself about growth. You shouldn't judge others growth on if they still like their tattoos. If you get the right tattoo will mean something to you for a life time. If you can't see that....you need to do some growing!

[A Non eMoose]

Time, it's not really apt to compare tats to those other fads. I don't recall seeing bellbottom jeans and grunge music in multiple other differing cultures and civilizations, unlike tats. You also seem to refuse to take into account the people (not all tat'd people of course, but some) who get tattoos for passionate personal reasons, such as their love of art or maybe as a token for something that has always been really important in their life. If you want to feel superior to others, you might wanna choose another line of argument.

[red cup]

I suspect someone on here is using different aliases in order to back him self up how funny. James connolly makes sense most of the time i dont think he is a dumbass actually, the real dumbass is waltie who is a know it all type that thinks that everyone should do as he says.

[Waltie]

I don't think everybody should do as I say. I think everybody who works for Starbucks should follow Starbucks policy. What's so hard to understand about that?

[EliNicole]

I work for Starbucks and have tattoos and facial piercings along with more than two sets of earrings on my ears. ALL facial piercings are removed before my shift, All but two earrings are taken out of my ears, and my neck tattoos are covered with bandaids and i wear long sleeves and long pants to cover everything else! i also have to wear a turtle neck now because of my chest tattoo.

Honestly knowing that i live near big cities where its allowed doesnt bug me! you see dresscode is dresscode! But yet it depends on the manager and then their district manager and so on and so on.

I know its stupid that some cities can and some cant, but i get more attention for the fact that i wear bandaids and so do fellow coworkers rather than showing my tattoos, but in this economy you do what you can for your job, and i love love love my job!

[Aaron]

Waltie said: "If your managers says your socks are against dress code, ask them where it exactly it says that. Since it doesn't say that, there's no problem."

That's not always a good idea. Face it, there are good managers and there are bad ones. If you have a good manager, they will be reasonable and check the written policy and concede that you are in the right. If you have a bad manager, they'll think you are challenging their authority and get mad at you and take it out on you somehow. They may simply refuse to admit you're right, and insist that they see some hidden meaning in the policy that you don't. Or they may find another way. And if you get written up for violating their imaginary policy, good luck getting that undone. Have you tried getting a write-up undone? It's damn near impossible. I have tried, in a case where what happened what blatantly illegal, and I had to resort to legal action, after hours of conversations and pages of written correspondence with my manager, DM and partner resources. They simply won't ever admit they're wrong on any disciplinary action unless they believe doing so will save them more money than the potential liability it creates, and in almost every case they'll see the potential liability as higher, because if they undo a bad write-up for one partner, they have to undo bad write-ups for every partner. First of all, that takes a lot of time just to sift through and figure out objectively which ones were just and unjust. In some cases, it's very simple. So and so was written up for violating a non-existent dress code policy, for instance. But it's not always that simple. What about a case where so-and-so was late 5 minutes and got written up? Well, sure, the COULD be fairly written up, but in such a case, in order to be free of LEGAL liability, you have to show that everyone else who was a mere five minutes late for their shift was written up. Because if that's not the case, then obviously judgement calls are involved, and frankly, when people make judgement calls, they sometimes make mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes are (deliberately or inadvertantly) biased by race, sex, age, disability, etc. So..... That in a nutshell is why it's impossible to have a write-up reversed. It opens up a whole can of worms starbucks doesn't want to deal with because they can't trust their managers to excercise sound judgement. It's easier, less costly, and creates less liability to just protect the manager all the time, and blame the barista, regardless of who is actually right or wrong.

[Coffee Drinker]

I've learned what a "tramp stamp" is and that's what the manager at my local sbux has. And she shows it off regularly, which I guess is the point of those humongous tatoos...and here I thought she just didn't realize her pants were down her a** and her shirt a bit short in back. My the men do stare when she's on the floor, bending ever just a bit...which she seems to find occasion to do. Hilarious! It doesn't bother me; it makes me laugh because she's so stern about the "rules" and such. Glad she has a fun side though her behaviour about it, to me, reeks insecurity. YMMV ; )

[James Connolly]

@wow: I'm a real partner. I work somewhere that I won't reveal here because I'm not currently publicly part of the union and I don't want to spoil my organizing efforts to prove myself to random people on a Starbucks blog. I will tell you, though, that I've been with the company long enough to have had worthless stock options and that I miss working on the La Marzocco.

[cafenoir]

Waltie, I usually agree with you about policies, and I agree with you on this one. It isn't complicated. As my dad always said, "If you want to succeed at any job, just do this: show up, shut up, and follow directions." This advice has helped me be a successful individual in any place I have worked.

Working for Starbucks is a voluntary commitment. I said I'd work for them. They said they'd pay me. They say, "here are the rules" and I say "okay."
The dress code rules are not unreasonable, nor are they "dark ages".

[Bween]

Tattoos are unprofessional and I don't want to see them when I am purchasing beverages. The written could not be more clear. When I make commitments I live up to them.

[Joe the Barista]

There is only one day of the year you can show your tats at starbucks......haloween. My SM is covered and he goes to work as himself on haloween. For the other 364 days, he covers the tats.

And to everyone who says that the dress code is just there to fire people easily, its not. Tucked in shirts, nails, hair tied back, etc are related to health and safety.

And I can tell you that if I walked into a store and the partners had visible tats, piercings, jeans, etc I would most certainly be reporting that to the DM.

People don't get fired for forgetting to wear black on black, hiding their tats, removing their piercing once or twice. If its happening again and again, you get fired. You signed the policy when you were hired.

[Mystikalrose69]

I'm a manager here in NY. I went to a local store near my Mom's houe and was shocked. The female barista that took my order had he entire head shaved, a nose ring, large earlobe stretching earrings, tongue piercing and visible tattoos on both arms. I am not exagerating. I casually brought it to the attention of my DM. He asked me where the store was. When I told him his reply was, 'yeah thats (so and so) store and he's very lenient'. What the heck!

[L.M.]

Tattoos are fine, I have 6, however they can't be visible. If you refuse to cover them, then yes you will be let go. It's policy, they signed the paper no arguments necessary. However if the tattoo was accidentally visible, then the mgr should tell them to cover it and move on. Termination is only necessary if they refuse to cover them.

[NewBarista]

sorry i know this is a bit off topic, but i need some help. I am a new barista, but when i was supposed to come in a go over employee policies and this like that the store manager had an emergency and i was told basically to just come in on monday wearing all black and i would start my first day's training. After reading some of the posts i'm worried about what else we can't do or wear. What ae some of the other company policies regarding hair make up, nails? any help would be appreciated.

[Penny]

ok, for those who say the dress code is unreasonable, i'd have to say i disagree. I have a tattoo behind my ear which i've been more than happy to cover with a band aid, but apparently that's not good enough. I have to go buy expensive makeup to cover it up (but it comes off a little as im working because of perspiration), so i get in trouble for not covering it up. the band aid covered it completely and never came off.. makeup will eventually come of; especially if your working hard and perspiring. I've made, and continue to make an effort to cover it. SO is the Starbucks dress code unreasonable.... as of now, yes.

[Southern Barista]

Can i just say that I'm a barista, have been for awhile, i have tattoos that i have to cover up, and i think its beyond a dress code issue. this to me is an equal rights issue because of this scenario: starbucks uses this blanket policy to make sure that no customers are offended by any questionable tattoos. good idea, except, that homosexuality is still offensive to a lot of people (especially in the south where my store is), yet our company is fighting tooth and nail for gay rights. and im proud of that, i love having gay partners, as flambouyant as some of them may be, im all about equal rights, but it still offends a lot of people. so i hate having to cover my tattoos up when the customers at my store are less offended by tattoos than they are gay people.