With all the talk lately about the new lending regulations that will apply on April 1st, a similar set of new laws and regulations has been completely overlooked. I felt it prudent to bring this unsettling situation to light.
As you may or may not be aware, over the past few years there have been quite a few problems “percolating” in the retail coffee business. It seems that some customers have been over-charged, while others have ordered coffee that was too hot or just plain did not satisfy. This is a serious situation, not only because of the expense involved, but also the very real danger of severe burning.
The House sub-Committee on Agriculture and Imports has been holding hearings into this matter. They brought a number of new regulations to the full Congress, which were subsequently voted into law and take effect April 1st of this year. These new regulations govern the coffee purchase transaction within a retail coffee vendor.
I’ve highlighted some of the key components below:
- The server must be paid (or tipped) the same for all beverages and may not earn more based on the time or effort involved. (E.g. there is no difference between an Iced Cocoa Cappuccino 1 pump mocha, 1 pump white mocha, non-fat milk with a drizzle on top and a plain black coffee.
- Customers must pay by credit card or cash, but never both. If paying by credit card, they may not leave any cash tip for the server.
- The Coffee House must distinguish between beans grown / brewed in-house and beans that are imported. With beans grown / brewed in-house, the server must decide what to charge the customer before the customer ever enters the establishment and must then charge ALL customers that exact same amount. (The server may only change what they charge once per “qualified period”.)
- If a customer orders a beverage from the grown / brewed in-house selection and pays with a credit card, the server may receive no tip. (For purposes of this section, even the owner of the Coffee House is considered a “server”.) Instead, they must be paid according to a compensation plan the Read more