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Starbucks Benefits FAQ

Okay, I want to take some time to break down what the specific benefits for infertility are, and how to qualify for them.  Obviously, I am not an official rep of Starbucks and you should always check into this stuff on your own to make sure it's correct and nothing has changed.

How do I qualify for insurance?
Once you start working for Starbucks you have to work 240 hours over the course of 3 months.  They start tracking the hours the first paycheck of the second month you work.  I conveniently started at the end of January, so it started tracking in February.  240 hours averages to 20 hours per week.  Again, this is an average over the 3 months.  If you meet the hours by the end of the three months, you are qualified to choose your insurance plan the following month and the benefits kick in the month after that.

So for me:
January: Started working
Feb- April: Averaged 20 hours per week to meet 240 hr requirement.
May: Chose insurance plan.
June: Insurance becomes active.

So your insurance will kick in approximately 5 months after you start.

If I work more hours, can I qualify for benefits sooner?
Sadly, no.  At least not if you are working as a barista or shift supervisor.  There are different requirements for store managers etc but I'm assuming most people reading this are just trying to get a barista job :)

Which insurance carrier does Starbucks use?
This depends on which state you live in, however, Starbucks offers many options when you choose your insurance!  I had FOUR carriers to choose from (Aetna, United Healthcare, Premara Blue Cross, and Cigna).  These seem to be the standard from what I've heard other people say but there are some other carriers in a few states.

How much do benefits cost per paycheck?
This is the million dollar question and very difficult to answer because there are many factors going into your per-paycheck cost.  First, it depends on which state you live in.  Second, it depends on if you are covering just yourself, or if you are adding a spouse (and/ or other children).  Third, it depends on what plan level you choose.  Each carrier has FIVE plan levels (bronze, bronze plus, silver, gold, platinum) and each one increases cost per-paycheck.

Each of the plan levels have different deductibles, out of pocket max, co-insurance, pharmacy benefits etc.  It definitely takes a while to decide what is important to you!

I think most people who do IVF will pick a gold or platinum plan.  Currently (July 2018) the gold plan has a $600 deductible and $3,500 OOPM.  The platinum plans have a $0 deductible and $1500 OOPM (all this for in-network).  Obviously, the cost per paycheck is much higher for platinum, however we decided to go with platinum as we knew I'd be having a lot of expensive procedures.

In NC for a gold or platinum plan you are looking at $97-$395 per paycheck (for the 2018-2019 year).  You can see more of the costs in this post. 

How much money do they offer for infertility benefits?
Most of the carriers offer $15,000 towards infertility.  Some of them also offer an additional $5,000 for infertility medications!  As of right now, Cigna does not offer the $5,000 for meds but Aetna, BC, and UHC do.  The $15,000 is a lifetime max.  This means even if you change companies in the future and they offer infertility benefits, if you use your $15k, it's gone.  However, insurance companies do not talk to each other so if you use all $15k with Cigna, you can switch to UHC and have $15k more to use!

What other benefits can I expect from Starbucks?
Besides the amazing infertility coverage, Starbucks has plenty of other awesome benefits!  For starters, if you drink coffee you get as many drinks as you want while you are working!  You also get one free food item during your shift.  I usually pick one of their protein boxes or salads that are more substantial and eat that as my lunch!  When you aren't working you get a 30% discount on everything, at any corporate Starbucks.

Starbucks has an awesome college program for those looking to get their first bachelor's degree.  You do it all online and it's 100% paid for!  Just like the health benefits, you only need to average 20 hours per week to qualify for this.

They will reimburse you for fitness events like if you run a marathon or 5k.  They have retirement and stock options.  The list goes on and on!

Starbucks Schedules FAQ

How many hours are required to be eligible for insurance?
You must work an average of 20 hours a week over the course of three months (240 hours).

Can I do Starbucks part-time, along with a full-time job?
While it's difficult to work a part-time job on top of a full-time job, it's definitely doable!  From the women I've seen going the Starbucks route, it seems like at least half to 3/4 of them also work a full-time job!  My biggest piece of advice to people doing this is make sure there is time to shower between Starbucks and going to your next job!!!!!!  I can't put too many exclamation points on this.  You will smell and look terrible after finishing a shift and there is no way on earth you want to hop in your car and drive to another job.  I promise you, this is important.

How long is a shift?
Shifts are generally a minimum of four hours and up to eight hours.  Your store's hours will vary depending on it's location but shifts will start 30 minutes before opening and end 30 minutes after close.

How far in advance will I know my schedule?
My manager puts schedules out 3 weeks in advance, however he looks at the "time off" book 4 weeks in advance.  I'm sure most managers do something similar.  When you get hired you will fill out a form that tells your availability as well as your preferred hours to work.

What happens if I need time off?
My store has a book where we request time off.  Be conscious of how much time you take off so that you can meet the 240 hour requirement in three months.  You wouldn't want to be a few hours short at the end because you decided to go to the beach one weekend!  I would recommend working more hours towards the beginning so that you have a reserve built up and if you need time off, it will be okay. 

What if my store manager isn't scheduling me for 20 hours per week?
First, you should definitely talk with the manager to see why you are not being scheduled for 20 hours (assuming you told them in your interview that you wanted 20 per week).  Sometimes it's hard to get 20 the first couple of weeks when you are training.  Stores also have less hours to give in the summer and there are more people fighting for summer hours.  If you have a decently flexible schedule, you can always try to pick up other people's shifts.  Sometimes if I have extra time and want to pick up hours, I just text people and ask if I can work a certain shift for them.  Nine times out of ten, they happily let me have the hours!  You can also pick up shifts at other Starbucks stores.  I've never done this so I'm not sure the best way to go about it. 

What does your schedule look like, working two jobs?
Thankfully, my job at the dental office is only 4 days a week!  So I work there Monday- Thursday.  On Tuesdays, we work 11-6 pm so I work at Starbucks from 4:30-8:30 am, run home to shower and then head to the clinic.  Then I work 8 hour shifts at Starbucks on Friday and Saturday.  I prefer opening (4:30 am-1:00 pm) but don't always get that.  I'm never scheduled past 5:00 because I still like having a life ;)

Getting Hired at Starbucks FAQ

Here are some frequently asked questions I see on the Starbucks IVF Mommas Facebook page.

1) Can I get a job at a Harris Teeter/ Target/ Airport Starbucks?
No.  You must work at a corporately owned Starbucks and usually these are standalone stores.  If the Starbucks is inside another business, it is not corporately owned.

2) What is the difference between a barista and a shift supervisor?  Should I apply for both?
Most people will start out as a barista.  A shift supervisor has more responsibility and is many times the one making sure the store runs smoothly (since the store manager can't be there at all times).  If you've never worked at Starbucks before, I highly doubt they would hire you into a SS role.  There's so much to learn as a barista you will want to master that first!  However, it doesn't hurt to apply for both online.  Honestly, I wouldn't want to be a SS even if I was asked because of the added responsibility.  They also have to commit to more hours.

3) How do I get hired at Starbucks?
The best was is to turn in an application online.  The stores usually all say they are hiring, even if they aren't.  That way the managers have a pool of applicants to choose from when they need to hire someone quick.  If you do not hear back from a manager in a few days, go on in and introduce yourself!  If you know someone that works at a Starbucks near you, have them put in a good word for you, even if you aren't applying to the same store.

4) How should I prepare for the interview?
Wear nice clothes but nothing fancy.  Most of the questions they ask revolve around customer service, and how you work with other people.  Come prepared with examples for when you disagreed with a coworker, when you had to teach someone how to do something, when you had a customer upset with you etc.

5) Should I tell them I want the job for IVF benefits?
There's no need to mention IVF in your interview.  Chances are, the manager won't even know what you're talking about as they are not experts on benefits.  However, I would definitely mention you are interested in the job because of the great benefits (in general) offered by Starbucks!  Because you'll need to average 20 hours per week, you want the manager to know you expect to get this many hours so you will qualify for benefits.  Most managers would like to hire someone who is interested in benefits because they will reliably work their shifts and potentially be around for a long time.

6) How long after I'm hired will I qualify for benefits?
The simple answer is approximately five months.  They start counting your hours the month after you are hired and you have three months to get 240 hours.  The next month you will pick your insurance and then the following month it kicks in.   For example, I started in January, they counted my Feb-April hours, I picked my benefit package in May, and my insurance became active June 1st.  Again, this is very simplified.  After you are hired you can talk with a Starbucks Advocate and find out exactly what days they start and finish counting your 240 hours!  You don't want to miss qualifying because you were short only a few hours!

7) How do I maintain insurance eligibility?
Once your insurance is active you will have it for at least 6 months!  Starbucks does a bi-annual audit (in January and July) to make sure you are maintaining at least 20 hours per week.  If, at this audit, you have not maintained the needed hours, your benefits will expire soon after.  My benefits started June 1st and if I do not maintain 20 hours for the January audit, they will expire March 31st.  It's a pretty sweet deal!

8) How much infertility coverage is offered?
Most insurance carriers offer $15,000 towards infertility.  Some offer an additional $5,000 for medications.  This is as of the 2018-2019 benefit year.  The $15,000 isn't just for IVF.  It can be used for anything with an infertility diagnosis (as covered by the insurance).  There are definitely limitations on what is covered.  From what I've gathered reading other's experiences they do not all cover donor eggs/ sperm, embryo adoption, and genetic testing (unless it's for a specific disease, and you'll probably need a pre-auth done).  Since we didn't need any of these services I am less familiar with them.

9) Can my husband work at Starbucks instead of me?
Sure thing!  He will just need to make sure to add you to the insurance.  The prices are going to be higher per paycheck if you add on a spouse or children/ family.

10) Does my husband need to be on my insurance if we plan on doing IVF?
This really depends on why you're doing IVF.  A basic IVF cycle will cover the husband's part without him being on the plan (like the sperm retrieval and washing, ICSI, and all that jazz).  If your husband is having any other infertility procedures done then you may want him to be on the insurance.  We had to pay for my husbands semen samples (pre-IVF) as well as diagnostic bloodwork (also pre-IVF and very expensive since he had a high-deductible insurance plan).

11) I'm not sure I can learn all of those drinks!  How stressful and difficult is the job?
Hey, any new job is going to be stressful and there's going to be a learning curve.  If you've ever known everything about a new job after even a week, you had a pretty lame job.  First thing I tell people....if high school kids can learn it, so can you!  It's only coffee.  You aren't cooking people $100 steaks.  You aren't working for Gordon Ramsey.  You're literally mixing some espresso, milk, and sugar together.  That's it!  Plan on giving yourself at least 3 months to feel comfortable with how the store runs and how to make drinks.  You won't be an expert or super fast by then, but at least pretty comfortable!

12) What if I don't like coffee?
No worries!  I actually don't drink coffee for religious reasons (never had a cup in my life) and I was still hired!  They obviously like the partners to be able to try the drinks so you can recommend things to customers and describe the differences, however I just repeat what I hear others say or I ask one of the other partners what their opinion is.  No one, including the store manager, ever made me feel bad about not drinking coffee or tried to pressure me into it.  I just worked hard to learn the job and made myself a valuable employee in other ways.


Life at Starbucks

I've been extremely blessed with amazing co-workers and an even more amazing store manager!  I have honestly felt so welcome...even though I don't drink coffee!

It's a different atmosphere and type of person than I'm used to working with though.  Lots of high school and college aged kids.  There are only two other married people and one just quit.  The other is in her 60s.  Other than that I think I'm the oldest one, besides my store manager who's in his 30s.  With that said, the others have been so helpful and nice and I really couldn't have asked for better coworkers!

Just like with any job, there's definitely a learning curve.  I had heard to expect it to take 3 months before feeling comfortable with most stuff around the store.  This was pretty true for me!  I see many people online worried about not being able to learn everything at a Starbucks.  I always comment "If a high schooler can do it, so can you!"  It's true.  All jobs take some time to learn and this is just making coffee.  It's overwhelming at first but anyone can learn to do it.  Even those of us who have never tried coffee in our life!

I'm going to break this down into the specific jobs within the store for those who are thinking of getting a job here.

Register- The first day they put me on the register.  Seems like it should be the easiest job but when people come and order a tall-triple-blonde-skinny-upside down-caramel macchiato....I don't even know where to begin!  I could barely hear the people they talk so fast and on top of that they were speaking a foreign language to me.  AND THEN you have to find the buttons on the computer and there are like 6 screens with at least 20-30 buttons on each of them.  I should count one day how many buttons there are just for drinks...then there are food buttons on top of that!  It's exhausting.

But really I'm being dramatic.  You catch on pretty quick to the basics.  Even after I've been there 5 months I still don't know where all the buttons are and have to click around to find what I want.  As long as you're friendly with the customers, it's not a big deal!

Customer Support- This is my favorite position!  They are in charge of making sure everything is stocked, the back and front of house are clean, that coffee is always freshly brewed, and that everyone else can do their jobs smoothly.  I feel least stressed in this position and I think I'm one of the best in the store at it.  But don't let me get too cocky.

At first I was super terrible at making sure the coffee was always fresh brewed.  I ran out ALL the time.  You have to brew 1-3 types of coffee, depending on the time of day, and there's a timer you use to make sure you brew a new batch every 10 minutes.  And you have to keep track of which kind you brewed so that nothing sits longer than 30 minutes.  But when one runs out quicker than 10 minutes it throws everything off and was so confusing.  I'm at the point now where I don't know why I was ever confused by it, but I totally felt like a failure the first few weeks because I always had to ask what I was doing.

They have really good lists of everything you have to do and a specific order in which to do it so you don't forget things.  Now, I'm not much for sticking to the list because I try to just do things that need to be done, but the list was super helpful at the beginning when I didn't know enough of how the store ran to know what needed to be done.

Food- Pretty self explanatory.  You unpackage food and throw it in the oven.  All of Starbucks food comes to the store frozen so we just thaw and reheat.  It's probably the easiest job!  The only stressful thing it when food starts to back up because it can only cook so fast.  You definitely have to think ahead with what to put in which oven to be most efficient, but overall super easy.  Only downside is it can get sooooo hot standing by two ovens for an extended period of time.

Bar- This is where you make all the magic for people.  I didn't start training on bar for a few weeks, and I've heard of people in other stores that don't get trained on it for months.  It's so overwhelming at the beginning because there's so much to memorize.  And you watch these kids whip up drinks faster than you can ring them up at the register!

For me, it was a definite disadvantage to not be able to taste the drinks.  I felt like tasting them would help me remember what they were and how they were made since 80% of the drinks use the same few ingredients.  But I learned nonetheless!  I still don't love being on bar because I'm not mcspeedy like a lot of the others, but I can hold my own...most of the time....when it's not crazy busy.  I'm also 100% sure I make mistakes on people's drinks every day.  Sometimes they tell me, other times I have no idea.  There's just a lot to remember!

Signing Off...for now

It's been a crazy year and a half but it's time to say goodbye to this blog for now.  I may post updates occasionally, but you know ...