Got a question?

Need a Barista connects you with highly trained, experienced baristas to cover gaps in your roster without needing to hire permanently.

When you place a booking, the shift is published to our pool of vetted baristas in your area. Baristas will apply for the shift, and you can review their profiles, ratings, and experience to select the best fit. Once confirmed, you’ll be notified via email and your account dashboard.

Baristas typically apply within a few hours, and the selected barista will send you a quick SMS to introduce themselves.

At the end of the shift, you’ll finalise payment from your dashboard, and leave a review.

With over 90,000 shifts covered, you can trust us to provide reliable coverage for anything from a few hours to several weeks.

When you book, you'll be able to select the hourly rate you're offering the barista for the shift. We enforce minimum hourly rates, depending on the shift being a weekday or weekend/Public Holiday, to ensure baristas are paid a fair working wage.

The below rates are the minimum, however you can raise the hourly rate after booking, to make your shift more attractive.

• Weekday shifts: $32 p/hour

• Saturdays: $38 p/hour

• Sundays: $38 p/hour

• Public holidays: $60 p/hour

Platform fee. We charge a flat 20% (of the total shift value) platform fee to cover our running costs and insurance. This fee is refunded in full if your shift isn't picked up by a barista.

Our on-demand platform isn't for hiring permanent staff, it's to book one of our pre-vetted baristas to cover a shift (or 5).

If you need to hire an awesome new worker permanently, you can place an ad on our Job Board. Our Job Board is public, and is the perfect place to advertise your new permanent/on-going positions.

So, you're had a barista pick up your shift, and they're going to save the day. Have a quick read of the below tips to make sure you know the score, how it works, and how to have a smooth booking.

• Contact the barista once they've accepted the shift

Give the barista a quick text or call before the shift - you can find their details in the shift tile in your account. It's a great opportunity to give them info on uniform, equipment, or parking.

• If you need to cancel the shift:

We understand that sometimes things happen and you need to cancel the shift after a barista has already accepted it. To action a cancellation, go to your account dashboard, find the shift in the 'bookings' tab, and hit the 'cancel' button. It's imperative that you do this, otherwise the barista may arrive, and you may be charged for the full hours booked.

• Paying the barista:

So you've had a busy day with the barista, they've smashed out amazing coffee, and it's time to wrap things up. Clarify with the barista before they leave the hours you'll be paying them for, and ask them any other question you might have.

• DO NOT pay the barista on the spot.

All shifts must be paid through our platform, otherwise you'll risk paying them twice! This also means we can action refunds and make any adjustments on your behalf.

After the shift, you'll have 24 hours to go into your account, adjust the hours (if needed), add a tip, and finalise the shift. Then, simply hit 'pay' and we'll do the rest. Your payment method on file will be debited for the hours worked, and the barista will be paid out. You'll receive an invoice in your email too. Easy.

IMPORTANT: If no action is taken within 24 hours of the shift end time, your payment method will be charged automatically for the original hours booked. So make sure you make any adjustments before then.

• Barista didn't show up?

   In the very rare instance that the barista you booked did not show up, and did not cancel the shift, it's imperative that you let us know by following these steps:

Go to the 'payments' tab in your account > find the shift > and hit the 'report no-show' button. We'll then be in touch with you to discuss and make it right. This ensures you aren't automatically charged for the shift and it alerts us so we can investigate. 

​If you follow the above steps, we're sure you'll have a great, stress-free experience with your barista! 

We check and vet every single barista we allow onto our platform. So, you know they've got years of real experience behind the machine.

More importantly, cafes leave feedback on the barista after every single shift. When a barista picks up your shift, you'll see their profile, including how many shifts they've completed, and what their average score is. Easy.

As soon as you submit your booking, it’s published to our pool of approved baristas. Baristas will apply for the shift, and you’ll receive an email once you’ve confirmed the barista you'd like to hire for the shift. You can also track the status of your booking in your account dashboard.

Your booking will remain live until the day of the shift, or until you cancel it. If you no longer need a barista, please cancel the shift—baristas can apply right up until the last minute.

You can also edit the shift details* through your account dashboard.

*(Hourly rates cannot be edited once you’ve confirmed a barista for the shift.)

While we have an excellent fill rate for shifts booked on our platform, sometimes a shift doesn't receive any applicants. Some of the reasons are:

1. The shift is too far away from any baristas on our platform (make sure you add a travel bonus if neccesary)

2. The rate is too low; try increasing the hourly rate by editing the shift details

3. You've booked the shift far in advance; shifts are usually picked up the week of the shift

4. Shift length is short. Keep in mind your shift needs to be attractive to a barista.

If you've done all of the above but still have a question about your shift being filled, then get in touch with us. But remember: our support team cannot fill shifts for you.

Cool, we've got answers. Head to our support page here and get in touch. Our team responds to most enquiries within 24 hours.

At the end of a shift, you'll be prompted to finalise the shift details, such as hours worked, and any bonuses added to the shift. Then, you simply submit the payment, and the barista payment is debited from your saved payment method on file. Simple!

If you do not finalise the shift details within 24 hours of the completion of the shift, the payment will automatically be debited and forwarded to the barista.

All payments are managed by Stripe's industry leading payment gateway, which means your information is encrypted, secure, and private.