You may think that you are far too careful to get involved in an accident at work, but accidents can happen anywhere, even when you are working as a barista or a counter worker at Starbucks. When the unfortunate unexpectedly happens to you, you will be relieved to discover that your employer has had to take out workers’ compensation insurance which should cover you even if the accident was partly your fault. A successful claim can help to pay all those unexpected medical costs as well as compensate you at least in part for any time away from the job. Company Profile: Starbucks There are 24,464 Starbucks coffee shops around the world and anyone who is well traveled will have spotted a Starbucks pretty well anywhere they went. There are about two thirds that number of coffee shops actually operating somewhere in the U.S. The home of Starbucks is Seattle, Washington and the headquarters of the company are still located there after 46 years of continuous operation and expansion. Coffee remains the most important product on offer at Starbucks, although there has been considerable diversification over the years. Starbucks is claimed to be a “second wave” coffee maker, using primarily espresso machines and a dark, roasted coffee. There are 238,000 people working at one or another Starbucks outlet. Hourly Wages at Starbucks There is considerable variation in wages between different job classifications at Starbucks. At the lower end of the scale are baristas, who make and serve coffee. They earn anything between $8.05 and $11.23 with more if overtime or unsocial hours are worked. Retail shift supervisors earn between $10.16 and $14.38 an hour. Customer service supervisors earn between $9.97 and $16.00. Retail store managers, who are basically the bosses of each coffee shop, earn between $12.17 and $26.67. These rates of pay were provided by payscale.com and adjusted to known March 2017 earnings. How Regular Earnings at Work are Used to Determine Your Payment If you are injured at work and you find that your injuries are so serious that you cannot return to work straight away, you should be able to claim for some of the earnings that you would have otherwise have earned. This is never the full amount, but a percentage. Most states use similar percentages as workers’ compensation claim guidelines; these are generally in the two thirds of the normal wage range. A barista at a Starbucks who has been badly burned or scalded while at work and has to take a couple of weeks off work or more should be able to claim two thirds of what they would have earned while at work. That would be anything between $5.40 and $7.50 an hour, multiplied by their normal hourly workload. You May Find a Worker’s Comp Attorney Helpful Workers’ compensation claims can be hard to process all on your own. There is quite a lot of paperwork that must be completed diligently. Documentation is important and witness statements worth obtaining. If you think you are going to find it too difficult to tackle all by yourself, talk to a workers’ comp. attorney as soon as you are able to do so. *The content of this article serves only to provide information and should not be construed as legal advice. If you file a claim against Starbucks, or any other company, you may not be entitled to any compensation.
