Starbucks threatens to fire staff who do not go back to office

CHICAGO-Starbucks is telling its corporate staff they could be fired if they do not go to work at the office three days a week.

Starting in January, Starbucks will implement a "standardised process" to hold workers accountable if they do not abide by the coffee chain's return-to-office (RTO) policy, according to a memo sent to one of the company's divisions that was seen by Bloomberg News. Consequences are "up to, and including, separation", the e-mail said.

The message marks an escalation in enforcement of the company's hybrid work rules less than two months after Mr Brian Niccol took over as chief executive. He told employees in September that they should work wherever they need to in order to get their jobs done, but that he thought that place was usually the office.

Starbucks said its expectations for hybrid workers had not changed and that holiday, sick time and business travel are excluded from the calculation.