14 Social Media Mistakes That Could Get Starbucks Employees In Trouble

The relationship between Starbucks and its store employees — referred to as "partners" by the coffee chain behemoth — has evolved into a heady mix of contention and harmony. Ever since the Starbucks Workers Union formed in Buffalo in 2021, baristas have developed the agency and the confidence to make their voice heard — like asking customers to delete the Starbucks app during a strike out of solidarity. It's a fine balance between representing the company who signs your checks and holding them accountable.

That representation comes to the fore regarding the social media actions of the green-aproned army. Starbucks has outlined what is and isn't acceptable for its baristas when it comes to Instagram, TikTok, X, and all the rest. This can be found in the corporation's Global Social Media Standard (henceforth the GSM). This aims to clarify the do's and don'ts for employees in the social media realm.

Is it corporate overreach? A fair rulebook for those on the payroll? That can be debated. Yet, the guidebook is very real and lends itself to an ongoing dialogue amongst Starbucks workers and beyond, bringing into question when flouting the rules takes a backseat to freedom of expression, and vice versa. With that in mind, here are 13 social media mistakes that can get a Starbucks employee in hot water.

The Starbucks logo is one of the most recognizable corporate symbols on the planet. The famous siren depicted in the original design — back when the logo was still brown — actually featured bare breasts. After Howard Schulz took over in 1987, and the brand started to grow (and switch to green as its trademark color), the semi-nudity was done away with.

Like any major business entity, Starbucks takes its logo seriously. So much so that, even if employed, you need express permission from upstairs to use it in personal broadcasting. As the company puts it in the GSM: "Partners must not use Starbucks logos, trademarks or visual identity to communicate on behalf of the company with customers in social media without Global Marketing permission."

This issue came to the fore when Starbucks sued Starbucks Workers United for using the likeness of the trademarked logo on websites, merch, and, yes, social media. To a business, the brand is everything, and the suits often won't settle for anything less than total control of the image.

It's one thing to argue over abstract, ideological issues when it comes to personal worker freedoms versus corporate interests — a back-and-forth the social media age in which we live practically begs for. However, when diddling on your phone is preventing you from doing the work you're hired to do, it becomes less an academic consideration and more a case of workplace negligence.

As per the GSM: "Partners must refrain from using social media in any manner that interferes with their job responsibilities." This is the case whether one is doing so out of lack of care, or because one is just so over the many Starbucks customizations that annoy baristas. The latter is, ironically, something that social media has brought to the forefront, like this barista on Reddit enlightening us: "Y'all don't know how annoying it is to go (through) the day with people ordering 10 different TikTok drinks and 6 of them being some sort of layered frapp."

Regardless of the reasons or the pet peeves, Starbucks, like any employer, isn't a big fan of employees not doing the work for which they're paid. Co-workers don't really like it either, such as this Redditor who states, "someone i worked with was filming on the floor and i was so close to knocking her phone into a blender and turning it into an iFrapp."

Gone are the fun days when regrettable, flippant email addresses were a regular thing. You know, things like sexymanwich58@hotmail. Instead, professionalism has won the day and email handles are decidedly straightforward and pedestrian. Shame. Good news is, one can still do plenty of inappropriate things with a blandly named email, even a corporate one. Bad news is, corporations like Starbucks frown upon that.

To be fair, personal business and work emails should probably stay very separate from each other. But, Starbucks takes no chances with leaving that up to employees' better judgment, so they put this language in the GSM: "Partners must not use Starbucks email addresses to register social media accounts intended for personal use."

Pretty clear, pretty straightforward, and, really, do you want your social media behavior to be traced directly back to your job anyway? Especially if you want to parody the cute messages on cups baristas hate writing? (Just a thought. Or maybe even a pitch.)

Listen, when a barista is fully uniformed up, working the line, acting as the human face for the business they're contracted with, it's easy to feel like you're a legitimate representative of that entity. After all, you commit the hours, effort, and countenance to the cause. It's a horse of a different color, however, if you're approached by anyone in the media — on social media or anywhere else.

By media, of course, we're talking about publications, news outlets, and shining beacons of journalistic integrity such as The Takeout. A Starbucks worker contacted by a reporter or the like needs to take the standard operating procedure into account, as outlined in the GSM: "Partners should not speak to the media on behalf of Starbucks without contacting the Public Affairs department."

One ex-barista on Reddit immediately disabused the notion brought up by another Redditor that there is no policy against talking to the media: "There is, it's the media policy and if your name is plastered on a viral article you can and will be fired." Yowza. There you have it.

This is a transgression that might not only get you in trouble with your bosses at Starbucks, but put you in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC outlines that the courts define insider trading as "information which, if known, could reasonably be expected to affect the value of the Company's stock, or which would affect the investment judgment of a person making a decision to buy or sell the stock."

Granted, most Starbucks employees are probably like, "listen, I just make coffee." Yet some might find themselves privy to company developments that might raise an eyebrow or two on Wall Street. Maybe it's an as-yet-revealed promotion, impending layoffs, or some other kind of big corporate move that someone who sells stocks may be interested in.

It's doubtful that someone would be, ahem, unaware enough to publicly comment on a day trader's X account with delicate Starbucks info. That would at least have to be a DM, right? Kidding, that's not okay either. The GSM makes sure of that: "It is illegal to communicate or give a 'tip' on inside information to others so that they may buy or sell stocks or securities. Such online conduct violates Starbucks Insider Trading Policy."

In the same vein as insider tips, any official information that's strictly internal to Starbucks cannot be shared with anyone outside the company. This might sound dramatic, and an employee might assume that some boring-ass policy or procedure wouldn't matter to anyone anyway. Is any rando on the street really itching to know the Starbucks Code of Conduct?

Internal reports, however, might be a different story — especially when it comes to financial data. That's something certain people might want to get their hands on. But, really anything that reveals material Starbucks deems sensitive should stay in-house. As one worker on Reddit relayed: "A barista got fired for filming in BOH due to communications being visible in her video."

The specific language in the GSM is as follows: "Partners must not distribute internal reports, policies, procedures or other internal business-related, confidential communications." These guidelines don't seem to extend to the "secret menu" that Starbucks baristas wished you stopped ordering from — not that they'd want customers to know anyway.

Man, it's easy to lie. Sometimes it's fun too. Which is probably why so many of us do it. But, there are, of course, consequences. In personal lives this can come in the form of broken relationships, social distrust, and, maybe worst of all, significant eyerolls. In the professional realm, however, the fallout can seriously effect one's livelihood. Especially if one is just making crap up about their employer on social media. And, especially, if that employer is Starbucks.

A fib-ridden post might come from a place of anger or even a sense of injustice. No matter the motivation, however, it's a big no-no in the GSM: "Partners must not make false or misleading claims about Starbucks products and services."

With that stated, a particular Reddit post from a barista might fit the bill for this very violation, an open admission that they lie to customers about food in stock, the content of the order, or customizations available: "If you want to call me a terrible worker or tell me I am doing a disservice to x people, that is fine too." Hey, you're making your own bed.

Coworkers can be an interesting collection of personalities. Sometimes when people are brought together under the common aim of simply making a living, friendships (and even meet-cute romances) can come about. Yet, since a workplace is not technically a chosen family — at least not chosen by the people there— there's nothing necessarily stopping personality clashes and even bad blood. They're just humans sharing a space, after all.

What to do if you work at Starbucks and have a beef with a colleague? Well, here's what not to do: Blast them on social media. At least according to Starbucks policy, which states: "Partners must always be fair and courteous to fellow partners, customers, vendors, suppliers or others who work on behalf of Starbucks."

Peer warnings also come from places such as Starbucks Reddit as well, like with this worker: "i have seen baristas and above get fired for saying they work at Starbucks online and then talking sh*t about things at work be it customers or policies or coworkers."

Even a giganto-firm like Starbucks understands that employees are flesh and bone. Meaning that, every so often, even the best, most loyal partners will feel the need to gripe about their job, in this case perhaps the espresso drinks they are most sick of making. It's only natural. Bad days are inevitable. Bad weeks, even. Hell, a bad season is never out of the question. It doesn't necessarily mean you even hate what you do, as one barista on Reddit put it: "I love my job and one of my favorite activities is complaining about it lmao."

Being that social media is our most accessible public outlet, that's often where a worker will air their often understandable grievances. And, that's fine — as long as you don't go overboard. As outlined in the GSM: "If a partner decides to distribute complaints or criticism, he or she should avoid using statements, photographs, video or audio that reasonably could be viewed as malicious, obscene, threatening or intimidating; that disparage partners, customers, vendors, or suppliers; or that might constitute harassment or bullying."

Guess the lesson here is, don't go putting a coffee supplier on blast on X with an NSFW meme, or doxx a customer on Facebook who refused to leave you a tip. In short, vent sensibly.

This is about what a Starbucks employee does after the bell had already been rung: The frustration had already swelled, the thumbs already tapped the keys, the diatribe had already been posted and viewed by John and Jane Q. Public. Oh, and Starbucks may have already caught whiff of it. So what now?

The answer is certainly not do nothing — at least from a Starbucks perspective. Leaving an unsavory post up without amending the things corporate sees wrong with it is a recipe for job troubles. "Partners must quickly correct any mistakes they make and be open about any previous posts they have altered," declares the GSM.

Look, we're all capable of doing things when we're highly caffeinated — and Starbucks baristas definitely are, whether you know it or not — that we may later regret. Owning up to it and seeing the error in your ways, at least with Starbucks, might be enough to salvage your employment.

Personal views are personal views. We all have them and, thanks to social media, we all have a platform on which to broadcast them. Whether anyone wants to actually hear them is obviously another issue, but the venue is there. The one thing that should always be remembered (even if few do) is that a personal opinion is just that: Personal.

This is worth keeping in mind if you're a Starbucks employee opining on whatever, and you make it seem as if it's the viewpoint of the company. One way to get around this is by a suggestion right out of the GSM itself: "It is best to include a disclaimer such as 'The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Starbucks.'"

Now, this may not be a complete exemption depending on the extremity of the material posted and the prominence of your connection to Starbucks on that same profile — making these thoughts from a barista on Reddit misguided: "I mean they can post whatever they want about work on the same profile they post f*tish content on. The only problem would be if they're filming/creating content behind the counter/on the clock." Best not to take that as gospel.

The internet does an interesting thing when it comes to incendiary language. It seems to give people license to turn the dial all the way up to "Jeez, dude, just chill a minute!" The relative anonymity and human disconnect of social media can give people the self-declared freedom to let the worst version of themselves off the leash.

As per the GSM: "Inappropriate content includes discriminatory remarks, harassment or threats of violence or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct." One barista on Reddit came across a colleague who was quite distasteful, in fact: "A coworker recently posted content to their social media promoting violence towards the lgbtq+ community. Literal physical violence, as well as religious condemnation."

Plenty of support came from fellow baristas on the chain, like this colleague: "My SM says they can separate someone for this — you're always a partner even if you're not clocked in." Another even offered advice: "I would just take screenshots/recordings of the content and anonymously send an email to your SM and/or DM as a concerned individual."

Hey, the world isn't a mafia movie, as much as some of us would like that. Glorifying the cosa nostra ethos of omerta — silence — is something that even ex-mobsters have chuckled about over an espresso. You may cross a line on social media and, yes, someone may out you for crossing that line. That's life. And, in a workplace like Starbucks, that may mean a coworker going to higher-ups and letting them know about your viral misdeeds.

And, sure, you have every right to defend yourself. What you can't do, as per Starbucks policy, is take negative action against whoever rats you out — because the GSM says so: "Starbucks prohibits taking negative action against any partner for reporting a possible deviation from this Standard or for cooperating in an investigation."

Notice the language is not, "Snitches get stitches." You may feel hard done by, but any retribution you feel the need to enact is not going to be worth it. There may be seven ways to become a better Starbucks customer, but there are numerous ways to become a better Starbucks worker. Avoiding this and other social media mistakes are very much included.