Business Insider verified their employment at Starbucks with pay stubs or other documents.

In late May, Starbucks said that comparable sales at reopened stores were down 35% to 40% compared to the prior year. "How the f--- are we suppose to keep up and keep safe when we are all ran ragged from the increased workload," Starbucks workers previously told Business Insider Kevin Martin, a shift supervisor at a Starbucks store in New Hampshire told Business Insider at the end of April he felt the company's messaging to employees had been unclear.

According to the letter, the policy is intended to allow workers to keep Starbucks benefits, while qualifying for unemployment benefits.

This week, Starbucks workers are being presented with a choice to quit, take a leave of absence, or continue working for the coffee giant — understanding that they may face reduced hours, due to stores' shortened hours and modified operations. A third said that her location is doing everything it can to avoid cutting employees' hours. Starbucks is pivoting hundreds of North American stores away from the cafe model it helped make ubiquitous and will expand its pickup-only and … Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.The company said it plans to close up to 400 stores in the US and Canada over the next 18 months, while at the same time adding carryout and pick-up only locations.

a Starbucks spokesperson said.

"But jumping in so quickly to do so when the threat of the pandemic is still so close, and now with thousands of the population engaged in protests, we and our families are all still very much at risk. A second worker said his Starbucks location is doing a booming drive-thru business and called the decision to cut hours "ridiculous." Disclaimer. This employee and two others who spoke with Business Insider requested anonymity in order to speak frankly about the situation without fear of retribution. ""Starbucks is focused on rebuilding their business, and rightfully so," the manager said. Starbucks is planning to open its first store in Italy in 2018. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Rossann Williams, the president of Starbucks' company-operated business in the US and Canada, "Your feedback has been critical as we consider how to best support partners who are not getting the hours they need, including implementing a new COVID-19 Leave of Absence policy for partners who prefer to take an unpaid leave through Sept. 30 and accrue up to 20 hours per week toward benefits eligibility," Williams wrote. All times are ET. Starbucks declined to comment on frustrations beyond letters from "Out of this crisis, just as those of our past, will come lasting progress," Johnson wrote in May. Starbucks is far from the only chain that is cutting back on labor, even as restaurants reopen.Chains have been slow to reopen dining rooms, even as states once again allow businesses to reopen. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. April's year-over-year sales decline was even worse.Starbucks' sales outlook is improving somewhat. Starbucks will close up to 400 company-owned locations over the next 18 months while also speeding up the expansion of "convenience-led formats" such … A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.As Starbucks attempts reopens stores that were shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, employees are faced with the choice between taking unpaid leave or potentially seeing hours cut. "A person wearing a protective mask rides a scooter past a temporarily closed Starbucks coffeeshop in Brooklyn, NY, on April 27, 2020.The company said it was re-evaluating how it sells coffee prior to the Covid-19 pandemic due to customers in major cities already showing a greater tendency to order coffee on the go.In an email to CNN Business, the company said about 80% of transactions at nearly 15,000 US stores are "on-the-go" purchases. Get a personalized selection of top stories daily based on your preferences. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. ... Watch CBS News anytime, anywhere with the our 24/7 digital news network. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc.2018.

She's not aloneThis AI technology tracks employees to enforce social distancingCovid-19 is driving millennials out of cities and into first homesShe lost her job in 2008. "Covid-19 has actually allowed us to accelerate the plans we already had on the books.