Why Do Coffee Industry Workers Clock In Sick?

A customer at a Luckin store photographed a handwritten counter note saying a staff member had a fever and orders would be slower. The photo drew wide discussion, with some praising the employee and others raising food safety concerns about a sick worker preparing drinks. Luckin employees said understaffing leaves no one to cover shifts.

Tea and coffee industry workers echoed the same experience: sick leave often means losing a monthly attendance bonus, so minor ailments are worked through. The incident raises a practical contradiction for the coffee industry, since food safety rules discourage working with a fever while store staffing levels and pay structures push employees to show up anyway.

Recently, a customer at a Luckin store saw a sign taped to the counter that read, "Staff has a fever, orders are slower, please don't rush." They snapped a photo, which quickly sparked heated discussion online. Some praised the employee's dedication, while others worried that preparing drinks while sick poses food safety risks. However, Luckin employees revealed their helplessness: it's not that they don't want to rest, but that stores are understaffed with no one to cover shifts, making sick leave almost a luxury. This phenomenon isn't unique to Luckin—workers in the tea and coffee industries have all echoed the sentiment. This article recounts the incident and explores the institutional and practical contradictions behind working while sick.

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Recently, a customer buying drinks at a nearby Luckin store noticed a handwritten note on the counter that read: "Staff has a fever, orders are slower, please don't rush. Thank you."

Upon learning that the employee was working despite being sick, the customer's first reaction was to exclaim, "So dedicated!" They immediately took a photo and posted it on social media, which unexpectedly drew a flood of discussion from netizens.

For many workers, working while sick is already routine. Once you take sick leave, you lose your perfect attendance bonus for the month, so most people choose to tough it out and keep clocking in when they have minor ailments like a cold or fever that don't affect their ability to work.

However, when netizens saw food service employees working while sick, many expressed sympathy but also raised concerns: is it really appropriate to let a feverish employee make drinks? They argued that even if the employee wears a mask the entire time, there's no guarantee the virus won't get into the drinks during preparation, potentially causing food safety issues.

From this perspective, although the Luckin employee who worked while sick was dedicated, there was really no need to push through. Going home to recover before returning to work would be the responsible thing to do for both themselves and consumers.

Yet when Luckin employees see such notices posted in stores, their hearts are filled with helplessness. They know all too well that, for food safety reasons, they shouldn't be working with a cold or fever. Moreover, according to Luckin's hygiene management regulations for offline stores, if an audit finds a sick employee on duty, the store will definitely be penalized and reported.

But many employees admit that the reason they stand behind the counter making drinks with a high fever isn't because they love their jobs so much and don't want to rest—it's because the store is short-staffed, other colleagues can't cover their shifts, and nearby stores can't spare anyone to help. This forces sick employees to keep working.

"No one is willing to cover shifts," "Usually you can't borrow anyone and no one will cover for you—you can't close the store," "There's no way around it. Grabbing someone last-minute to cover a shift doesn't always work, and they may not be willing to come help anyway."

Luckin employees say that although Luckin keeps posting job listings, in reality, whether company-owned or franchised stores, there's more or less a shortage of staff, and it's not uncommon for one person to run the whole store alone.

Therefore, even though Luckin explicitly prohibits employees from working while sick, without colleagues to cover for them, most people simply can't get sick leave. They can only put on a mask, stand behind the counter, and pray that auditors won't notice anything unusual on the surveillance footage.

Moreover, this isn't just a Luckin problem. Some workers in the tea beverage industry share the same frustration. In the comments, one employee shared their experience: after accidentally burning their right hand, the store manager only gave them two days off, and they had to return to work on the third day, using their uninjured left hand to make milk tea cup after cup.

In response, many coffee industry workers sigh helplessly that ever since entering this line of work, they no longer dare to get sick easily. After all, no one wants to be stuck behind the counter when they're feeling unwell, constantly shaking coffee with the risk of collapsing at any moment.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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