BBC - Starbucks has agreed pay more than $35m to thousands of workers in New York City, to settle the city's claims that the company denied them stable schedules and arbitrarily slashed their hours.
Over 15,000 hourly workers are set to receive $50 for each week they worked during from July 2021 through July 2024, city officials said.
Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, cited alleged violations of city law requiring predictable schedules for workers.
Starbucks said in a statement that it is "committed to creating the best job in retail and to ensuring our practices follow all laws". It added that it has recently outlined plans to invest $500m to improve coffeehouse staffing and training.
Officials in New York City started investigating Starbucks in 2022 - a probe that began with dozens of worker complaints and grew to encompass all Starbucks locations across the city.
The city's worker protection department found "a pattern of systemic violations", officials said in a statement. Starbucks broke the city's Fair Workweek Law more than half a million times since 2021, they said, calling the agreement announced on Monday the largest worker protection settlement in the city's history.
"All workers deserve to be treated with dignity, and we are proud to stand up for our neighbors when a multibillion-dollar company like Starbucks chooses to systematically violate their employees' rights," Mayuga said in a statement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Starbucks will also be forced to comply with the city's worker protection laws moving forward, which require fast food employers to give employees regular schedules and opportunities to take on extra shifts.
The company noted that New York City's worker protection laws are "complex".
"We support the intent of the law and remain committed to compliance, but its complexity creates real-world challenges," Starbucks said. Compensation to employees in New York City will be for legal compliance, not unpaid wages, the chain said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called it a "landmark settlement" that will "put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker's right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity".
Starbucks has in recent years faced consumer boycotts, a wave of new competitors and a customer backlash over high prices, as well as turmoil in its leadership ranks.
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