Can a Coffee Store Make Employees Pay for Their Own Uniform?

A job seeker chatting with a Cotti Coffee store manager on a recruitment platform asked whether the work uniform had to be bought at their own expense, and the recruiter replied, "Did your family fall on hard times?" Cotti customer service said all operating stores are partner stores, so uniform rules are set by each store manager, with some stores covering the cost and others not.

Under Article 9 of China's Labor Contract Law, employers generally cannot charge workers for uniforms or equipment needed to do the job, though the details depend on the situation. The exchange drew wide discussion online, with some people calling the requirement illegal and others saying punished or careless staff deserve consequences. The incident has added to scrutiny of how partner-run coffee stores handle hiring terms.

Recently, a job seeker was communicating with the person in charge of a Cotti Coffee store on a recruitment platform. When they raised questions about having to buy their own work uniform, the other party retorted, "Did your family fall on hard times?" This sparked widespread discussion online. Cotti's customer service responded that all operating stores are partner stores, and uniform requirements are decided by the store manager. So, is it actually legal for employees to pay out of their own pockets for work uniforms? Article 9 of the Labor Contract Law has clear provisions on this, but the specific circumstances still need to be distinguished. This article sorts out the course of events, the legal boundaries, and netizens' views, and also includes Front Street Coffee's professional communication channels.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Recently, a netizen exposed on social media that when communicating with the recruitment person in charge of a certain Cotti Coffee store on a job recruitment app, they asked whether they needed to buy their work uniform at their own expense, and the other party's response was very surprising.

From the chat screenshots posted by the netizen, although the recruiter's complete requirements were not all shown, it can be inferred from the job seeker's reply that the recruiter roughly required them to go to Taobao and buy a work uniform themselves. The job seeker considered this requirement unreasonable, so they asked whether they could refuse, and pointed out that this practice might be illegal.

Faced with the job seeker's questioning, the recruiter directly replied: Did your family fall on hard times?

Afterward, a media outlet called the Cotti Coffee customer service center to inquire about whether employees need to buy their own work uniforms. Customer service personnel said that currently all operating stores are partner stores, and related matters are handled by partners (that is, store managers). As for the uniform issue, it depends on each partner. Some stores require employees to buy them themselves, while others have the partner bear the cost.

Regarding the company requiring store staff to pay out of their own pockets for work uniforms, netizens' views are not unanimous. Some said that in fact many employers require employees to prepare their own work clothes; others, like the poster, believed that this practice is both unreasonable and illegal.

The basis for considering it illegal mainly comes from Article 9 of the Labor Contract Law: When an employer recruits workers, it may not detain the workers' resident identity cards and other documents, may not require workers to provide guarantees, or collect property from workers in other names. In other words, the law clearly prohibits collecting property from workers under any name.

Specifically in this matter, it needs to be viewed in two situations. According to the above labor law provisions, if Cotti Coffee requires employees to buy designated or custom-made clothing at a designated store, or if employees pay money to the store for unified purchasing, or if employees buy work uniforms themselves and the employer wants to take them back upon resignation without paying the purchase cost, these situations are all illegal acts.

But if the employer does not force employees to buy clothing from a designated store, brand, or custom-made clothing, and only asks employees to purchase similar-style clothing themselves, then that does not constitute collecting property from workers under any name, and in this case it is not necessarily illegal.

From the screenshots, when faced with the job seeker's question that "buying work uniforms yourself is a disguised charge," the recruiter's reply was "buy it yourself on Taobao," without designating a specific store, only providing a suggested way to buy similar clothes.

As for the job seeker, they actually did not understand the relevant laws and the recruiter's specific statement in detail, yet repeatedly emphasized that this was illegal. Even so, the recruiter's response was indeed not dignified enough.

From netizens' feedback, it can be seen that in fact many employers require employees to prepare their own work clothes, mainly because of the high staff turnover rate.

In this case, employers generally only set requirements for the color or common conventional style of clothing, which can easily be found on e-commerce platforms, and the price can be chosen according to one's own situation. If it were truly illegal,恐怕 there would not be so many employers doing this.

Work itself is a two-way choice. If job seekers find it unreasonable during the process of learning about it, they can simply stop considering it and look for other opportunities; if recruiters find it unsuitable, they should also promptly give a clear response.

Image source: Internet Jiupai News

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.