Why did Luckin Coffee tie gift boxes to working hours?
Luckin Coffee's Mid-Autumn employee gift boxes now come with a working-hour threshold. Full-time staff receive theirs through unified delivery from headquarters, while part-time and student employees must meet cumulative hour requirements from June to August. The boxes hold Bluetooth earphones, straw cups, and mooncakes, and some employees resold them for 120 yuan.
Employees at franchised stores and part-timers below the 360-hour mark were excluded, drawing complaints. Discussion online passed 120,000 posts, much of it employees showing off boxes or asking how to qualify. The episode highlights how companies use holiday welfare to build brand image while managing eligibility rules, and the friction that follows when those rules are seen as uneven.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, companies are showing off their employee gift boxes, and Luckin Coffee's Mid-Autumn benefits have sparked heated discussions on social media. Unlike previous years, this year Luckin has set clear working-hour thresholds for gift box distribution. Full-time employees receive theirs via unified delivery from headquarters, while part-time and student employees must meet cumulative working-hour requirements from June to August. The gift boxes contain items such as Bluetooth earphones, straw cups, and mooncakes, and their practicality has earned praise from many employees, with some even offering 120 yuan to buy one on second-hand platforms. However, employees at franchised stores and part-time staff who did not meet the working-hour threshold were excluded, sparking dissatisfaction among some employees. This article will outline the gift box distribution rules, employee feedback, and the corporate welfare management issues reflected therein, and include a related recommendation from Front Street Coffee.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here, and social media feeds are about to be flooded with another round of company welfare gift box showdowns. Everyone knows that a Mid-Autumn gift box is not just a festive gesture; it carries the company's care for its employees and serves as an excellent vehicle for showcasing brand image—from packaging design to product selection, the company's ingenuity is on full display.
A good-looking, presentable Mid-Autumn gift box can boost employees' sense of belonging and make them work harder. If employees are happy enough to take a few photos and post them on social media with genuine praise, giving the brand a wave of organic social media exposure, the colleagues in charge of brand promotion would probably be grinning in their sleep.
Recently on social media, discussions about Luckin Coffee's Mid-Autumn employee gift boxes have been running hot, with related posts exceeding 120,000. Most of the posters are Luckin store employees showing off the festive gift boxes they received, while some less-informed employees have posted asking how to apply for this benefit.
Under the topic "What welfare did your company give out for Mid-Autumn Festival," a Luckin employee shared the gift box they received: a blessing card printed with a message from the CEO, a large carry bag, inside which were a straw cup and a strap, alongside six mooncakes and a pair of Bluetooth earphones. The employee's overall assessment was "really great." Onlookers who are Cotti employees tagged the official Cotti Coffee account in the unboxing post, calling on it to see how Luckin treats its employees and reminding the brand to arrange festive care for its own staff.
Among the various gifts, the Bluetooth earphones became the most talked-about item. Many employees reported that the earphones feel solid and have decent sound quality. An enthusiast who frequently collects gift boxes introduced them: "This is a Monster gaming headset. When you open it, it's a very metallic blue, scrap-metal steel frame style, pretty cool. I charged it and tried it out myself—the sound quality is good, and the noise cancellation is actually better than Huawei FreeBuds 3." He also mentioned, "A few days ago, the platform kept pushing me posts about Mid-Autumn gift boxes from major companies. I compared five or six of them and still felt Luckin's set was the most practical and best-looking, so I decided to keep it." Currently, under posts related to Luckin's Mid-Autumn gift boxes, comments like "I genuinely want to buy a set for 120 yuan" and "Buying a set for 120, no mooncakes needed" can be seen from time to time.
Some part-time employees posted under topics like "Luckin workers" and "corporate drones" asking: Do student part-timers have a chance to get this year's Luckin Mid-Autumn gift box? What conditions need to be met? They also said they had been working desperately for the past few months. Helpful netizens replied that a cumulative working hours of over 360 hours from June to August meets the distribution criteria.
It is understood that the distribution rules for this Mid-Autumn employee gift box are as follows: Full-time employees receive a unified notification via WeCom triggered by headquarters, fill in their address online, and have it delivered directly to their home. The distribution rules for part-time employees are: 1. Based on active employment as of August 28, cumulative working hours from June to August are calculated, and only those who meet the conditions are eligible—part-time plus student employees with cumulative working hours from June to August ≥360 hours, and non-full-time employees with cumulative working hours from June to August ≥210 hours; 2. The working hour data is based on the system attendance statistics for June to August as of August 27.
Human joys and sorrows are not always shared, and some Luckin store staff said they did not receive this Mid-Autumn gift box. It is understood that this mainly involves employees at franchised stores and part-time staff who did not meet the working-hour threshold.
"I used to work 200 hours every month, but I got sick and was hospitalized for a month in July, and then it was gone." "Watching others receive theirs with envy—Luckin is really stingy, you can tell just from the employee drinks." "Franchised stores don't get them; it all depends on the boss." Some part-time store staff angrily said they no longer plan to continue working there and have already found another full-time job, much better than Luckin.
Mid-Autumn is meant to be a time for reunion and celebration, and distributing employee gift boxes is also a way for companies to convey warmth. For Luckin, how to care for employees while formulating more reasonable welfare rules, so that every effort receives the respect and reward it deserves, is perhaps a question that needs serious consideration in the future. After all, employee satisfaction and sense of belonging are the foundation for a company's long-term development.
Image source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
