Why Is the Coffee Industry Watching the Manner Bonus Case?

A long-serving Manner Coffee employee posted that they were left off the year-end bonus list even though they had not resigned and had full attendance all year. Management reportedly decided the employee would resign after the New Year and replied only that not everyone receives one. The case drew wide discussion among coffee industry workers.

Employees at Luckin, Mstand and Tims then shared details of their own year-end benefits, turning a single complaint into a comparison across brands. For the coffee enthusiast following labor conditions in cafes, the episode highlights how bonus rules are applied and how uneven benefits are between chains, with no resolution reported for the Manner employee.

At the end of each year, the year-end bonus is always one of the topics that workers care about most. However, a senior employee of Manner Coffee recently posted that despite being employed and working diligently all year, they were excluded from the year-end bonus distribution list because management subjectively judged that they might resign after the New Year. This incident sparked widespread discussion among coffee industry practitioners. Many peers both envied Manner for having a year-end bonus and spoke out against the employee's treatment. At the same time, employees from brands such as Luckin, Mstand, and Tims also shared information about their own year-end bonuses. This article sorts out the course of the incident and the views of all parties, and retains relevant recommendations from Front Street Coffee so coffee enthusiasts can learn about industry developments.

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For most office workers, after working hard for a whole year, one of the things they look forward to most before Spring Festival is receiving their year-end bonus. This reward is not only recognition of the past year's efforts, but also allows people to buy some new clothes and New Year goods and return home happily for the holiday.

The same is true for Manner Coffee employees. They stay at their posts all year without rest, repeatedly practicing latte art techniques behind the bar, so that they can calmly respond to customers' various needs and provide quality service. However, a dutiful Manner employee recently posted on social media that they were unable to receive the year-end bonus that should have belonged to them before Spring Festival.

According to the employee, they had worked at Manner for many years and had perfect attendance and a serious, responsible attitude over the past year. However, without the employee submitting any resignation request, management decided not to pay the year-end bonus based only on a subjective judgment that the employee would resign after the New Year. When the employee asked relevant managers why they had not received the year-end bonus, the reply was, "Not everyone has one."

The employee admitted that they had already realized the year-end bonus might not be recoverable. Although many years of service gave them some affection for Manner, after this experience they felt somewhat disappointed with the company. One netizen comforted them: "Work is just work. It's true many people bring emotions into it, but companies are basically ruthless toward people. You can only adjust your mindset and face reality."

The post attracted many practitioners also struggling in the coffee industry. Seeing the Manner employee's experience, they instead showed a bit of envy: "Luckin has no year-end bonus at all," "mstand has no year-end bonus at all, don't ask me how I know!!!!!!!!", "Tims has no year-end bonus either. The leader said the 23-year year-end bonus would be paid together with the 24-year one," "You still have a year-end bonus, so envious, ms only has 100 yuan."

From this, it seems Manner employees may be among the few coffee workers who can receive a year-end bonus, so it is no wonder coffee practitioners from other brands feel envious.

However, this year-end reward was not given to everyone, and not every dutiful Manner employee received it. Judging from information on social media, there was more than one current Manner employee who, like the posting employee, did not receive a year-end bonus.

This made many netizens who empathized express their heartache and help complain about the company: "This coffee shop is too stingy! Is it exploiting employees' labor?", "A modern-day landlord Han Papi, feel sorry for the OP," "Can they really do this??? Too outrageous," "Subjectively judging that you might resign... impressive," "Oh my god, feel sorry for you."

Some netizens also offered suggestions, saying bluntly that the year-end bonus is a reward for employees' hard work in the previous year and should not become a reference basis for the future. Whether or not the employee really planned to resign after the New Year, management should not use that as a reason to withhold this reward for conscientious work in the previous year.

Therefore, in the view of netizens, this Manner employee, as well as the other workers in the comments section who did not receive their year-end bonuses, should take appropriate measures and actively protect their lawful rights and interests.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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