Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.
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INSIGHT Justice and the tip jar I EDITORIAL OFFICE 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Visit us online: www.specialty-coffee.com E-mail: specialtycoffee@m2media360.com pan demetrakakes, editor a two-franc tip. In America, they might sue instead. As I worked on this issue's cover story about legal issues in coffeehouse operation, n "Down and Out in Paris and London," George Orwell describes how, during his career as a dishwasher, he once observed two waiters almost come to blows over some of the biggest disputes came in an area that I wasn't even expecting to be an issue at all: divvying up the tip jar. Before I started covering the retail coffee industry, I had, like most people, given little thought to tip jars. The first time I got an inkling of their importance was when I attended a lecture by an experienced coffeehouse owner who cautioned against having a superfluous person on a shiſt. Not only are you paying for labor you don't need, he said, but you're putting one extra hand in the tip jar, "and your staff will hate you for it." It stands to reason that, when the tip jar is the only source of extra remuneration, EDITORIAL STAFF Editor PRODUCTION STAFF Art Director Production Manager Pan Demetrakakes pan@m2media360.com Kathleen Sage Mary Jo Tomei CIRCULATION STAFF Vice President of Circulation & Collateral Services Joanne Juda-Prainito SALES STAFF Sales Manager EXECUTIVE STAFF Group Publisher CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ed Avis, Jack Groot, Maura Keller, Caroline Rath, Brenda Russell it's going to be the focus of some disputes. In the case of some of the major retail coffee chains, those disputes have landed in court. The biggest player in these cases has been—who else?—Starbucks. The court cases, in several states, have centered on who is a "manager" and thus does not deserve to share in the tip jar. In California and Massachusetts, workers sued Starbucks for letting "shiſt leaders" share in (and dilute) tips; Starbucks argued that the shiſt leaders were not managers and thus entitled to a share. (State labor laws vary considerably; the company won on appeal in California but lost in Massachusetts.) Starbucks found itself fighting this battle in reverse, in a sense, last year in New EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD York. There, it was assistant managers who sued for a share of tips, and Starbucks argued that they were not entitled to it. The company held, successfully, that because the managers (unlike the shiſt leaders) were salaried and not hourly employees, with health and other benefits, they could be legally excluded from the tip jar. When you're the size of Starbucks, it's natural to make these distinctions. In fact, Jason Burton, lab Desiree Farden, Cappuccine Jack Groot, JP's Coffee And Espresso Bar Wes Herman, The Woods Coffee Meghan Hubbs, Equal Exchange Rob Jeffries, North Atlantic Specialty Bag Craig Min, LAMIL Coffee Lon LaFlamme, Dillanos Coffee Roasters Kate LaPoint, Sound Provisions, Inc. Joe Monaghan, La Marzocco Tom Palm, Design & Layout Services Steve Schnitzler, Port City Java® Andi C. Trindle, Atlantic Specialty Coffee Bill Waddington, TeaSource 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 Corporate Office: PRESIDENT/CEO you have to, because when you're the size of Starbucks, you're a natural target for class-action lawsuits. But even an independent coffeehouse might very well find itself with a similar dispute on its hands, which is why it pays to be prepared with a written policy beforehand. It should be part of an employee handbook that spells out such things as vacation days, evaluation procedures and termination policies. The long arm of the law can reach even into the smallest, most remote coffeehouse. Many owners have found that out, to their chagrin, when it comes to things as seemingly trivial as playing the radio—which can trigger the threat of a lawsuit for violating a music copyright. Where money is concerned—from salaries to the small change in the tip jar—the potential for lawsuits follows. Smart owners will head that off by spelling out exactly what is expected of employees, and what they can expect in return. Membership applied for July 2010 4 Specialty Coffee Retailer (ISSN 1077-3460) is published monthly by Bev-Al Communications, 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068. Copyright© 2012 by Bev-Al Communications Inc. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Specialty Coffee Retailer, P.O. Box 4290, Port Jervis, NY 12771. Periodicals postage paid at Port Jervis, NY and additional mailing offices. VP FINANCE & OPERATIONS VP OF CIRCULATION & COLLATERAL SERVICES PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Marion Minor Gerald Winkel Joanne Juda-Prainito Mary Jo Tomei SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION AND REQUESTS Subscriptions: $39 for one year, $61 for two years, U.S.; $48 for one year, $72 for two years, Canada; $110 for one year, all other countries (includes airmail postage). Single copies $10 each; PRESS RELEASES: Press releases on supplies, services and new products are welcomed and encouraged. Direct them to Specialty Coffee Retailer. Color print photography is preferred, slides and transparencies are accepted. Specialty Coffee Retailer reserves the right to edit all submissions. Brian Grau bgrau@m2media360.com Charlie Forman cforman@m2media360.com