On Monday, the company's CEO announced all employees will get at least a 5 percent raise in base pay.
"Striking the delicate balance between profit and a social conscience is a responsibility I take personally," CEO Howard Schultz said in his letter to employees.
The announcement came after an online petition started by a Starbucks employee in California recently picked up steam. The petition says labor cuts and underemployment have led to remarkably low employee morale, which in turn has negatively affected customer service.
The recent wage pressures are also part of a larger national push for a $15 minimum wage. Earlier this year, McDonald's felt similar pressure when advocacy group Fight for $15 protested near McDonald's Illinois headquarters during a shareholder meeting.
Starbucks employee raises will go into effect in October. Employees who have been with the company for at least two years will also get an increase in stock awards. Schultz also announced that employees can look forward to a looser dress code that is "designed to work well with the green apron."
Starbucks is also "planning a small price increase on select beverages" starting Tuesday, Credit.com reported.
It's unclear which drinks will be subject to the price increase, but a statement issued by the coffee chain on July 1 said some beverages will increase by 30 cents.
Starbucks said the increased prices appeared in some regions before Tuesday, when the nationwide raise was enacted.
"The price adjustment was prematurely entered into the point-of-sale systems in our U.S. company-operated stores," the statement says. "As a result, some customers were charged incorrectly. The maximum any customer could have been overcharged is 30 cents per beverage.”
Starbucks is encouraging customers who believe that they were overcharged to contact customer service at 1-800-782-7282, Credit.com reported.
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