Seattle woman reveals Starbucks rules that aren’t in the job description, then lists no fake nails, no Apple Watch, no wedding rings: ‘I was fired’

A Seattle-based woman who says she worked at Starbucks has gone viral on TikTok after sharing a list of workplace rules she claims employees are not told about before they are hired. The creator, who goes by the username @jos_k.lift, said these rules only came to light on her first day on the floor, after she had already been hired and gone through training.

In the video, Jos said that Starbucks does not allow employees to have nails, fake nails, nail polish, or clear nail polish while clocked in. She also said employees cannot wear an Apple Watch on the job. “I was not married when I worked there,” she said, “but there were coworkers who were married and they were not even allowed to wear their wedding rings on the floor. They had to fight for it.”

Jos added in the video that she personally did not comply with the Apple Watch rule while she was employed there. “I remember when I worked there, I just would not listen to my manager and I would just wear my f—–g Apple Watch,” she said. She also said she was later let go, adding, “And then after I was fired, my friend told me they were allowed to wear their Apple Watches like this on their apron.” She did not specify in the video whether the Apple Watch violation was the direct cause of her termination. 

Starbucks dress code and FDA food safety rules back up several of the claims

Starbucks’s published dress code guidelines confirm that nail polish, artificial nail coverings, and adornments of any type on fingernails are prohibited.

The document also states that employees who arrive at work in violation of the dress code “will not be permitted to start their shifts,” and that repeated violations may result in “corrective action, including separation from employment.” The guidelines do not, however, explicitly mention Apple Watches or smartwatches by name.

The nail and jewelry restrictions appear to be grounded in federal food safety guidance. The FDA Food Code 2022, under section 2-302, states that food employees may not wear fingernail polish or artificial fingernails when working with exposed food, unless they are wearing intact gloves in good repair. Starbucks’s dress code goes further than this baseline by prohibiting nail coverings even when gloves are worn, and by explicitly banning gloves used to cover nail polish.

On the question of wristwear, section 2-303 of the FDA Food Code states that food employees may not wear jewelry on their arms and hands while preparing food, with one exception: “a plain ring such as a wedding band.” This provision covers watches and smartwatches, suggesting the Apple Watch restriction is rooted in federal food safety regulation rather than being a policy unique to Starbucks.

The wedding ring situation described by Jos appears to be more complicated in practice. While the FDA Food Code does explicitly permit plain bands, Starbucks’s written dress code does not address rings directly, leaving enforcement to store manager discretion, according to the company’s own guidelines, which state that “the store manager will decide what meets the dress code.” This may explain why some employees reportedly had to advocate to wear their wedding bands on the floor.

After Jos posted the video, her friend told her that employees were allowed to wear their Apple Watches clipped to their aprons, a workaround Jos said she found confusing. “What the fuck is this doing? Like, what the fuck is this helping?” she said in the video, referring to the apron clip method. 

However, a commenter on the subreddit r/starbucksbaristas claimed that the apron clip accommodation had since been discontinued. Several users in that thread said they wear their smartwatches on their ankles during shifts as a workaround, while others suggested upper-arm bands worn under long sleeves. In another viral story, a woman embarrassed herself at Starbucks while getting her drink.

One of Jos’s central complaints was not the rules themselves, but the timing of when employees find out about them. According to her account, new hires are not informed of these requirements before their first shift. 

“You don’t find out until after you get hired and you go through training and you walk in on your first day and you’re wearing an Apple Watch and your nails are painted and you’re told to immediately go home,” she said. 

Starbucks’s published dress code does note that exceptions may be made to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs, a disability, or pregnancy, and directs employees to contact Partner Relations to request an accommodation. A similar dispute arose when a Houston man exposed the horrors of being a Planet Fitness worker.

The video drew pushback in the comments from viewers who argued the rules are, in fact, disclosed. “This is quite literally laid out in the dress code and interview tho?” wrote a user. 

Another commenter added: “They may not say it but they give you papers… if you can read them that’s on you.” A separate commenter named Mars wrote: “It literally is in the dress code.”

Jos responded to some of these comments. She wrote: “Girly pop did they detail every page of the dress code during your interview or ??” Another commenter appeared to side with Jos, writing: “not in every interview…”