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CVS is probably so sick of getting hit with lawsuits and losing that they decided to base it on seniority so there could be no question of disparate impact.

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CVS is probably so sick of getting hit with lawsuits and losing that they decided to base it on seniority so there could be no question of disparate impact.

Nah, these old graveyard pharmacists are not going to last long especially when the only option is to work as PIC. They will call it a day and retire. No severance pay.
 
@WVUPharm2007
There is a reason the 24 hour store where I was will remain a 24 hour store. It is always busy. There was no time for nonsense and the late night calls with questions that a nurse line should address.
I had plenty to do there. So telling patients their early by 2 days narcs would be ready in the morning and saying no to junkies asking for syringes was necessary. Nope, won't miss that.

Apotheker2015,

Cheers to getting out of retail.

Best,

RxStudentatUBaltimore
 
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CVS is probably so sick of getting hit with lawsuits and losing that they decided to base it on seniority so there could be no question of disparate impact.

No their cheap. Giving a week of severance per year of service, they want to keep the people that have been there 15-20 years so they only have to pay 1-4 weeks of severance.....
 
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That's because you have union job. Why I don't like union bs. Seniority trumps all even said employee sucks hardcore. Plus, same pay for staff rph NORMALLY without regard who is the best performer. You can be as lazy as hell, work in sh1tty location vs. Metro, or do 500 rx a day, clock in clock out and you will get same pay.
I'm not in a union. That's what's so ridiculous about it.
 
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Nah, these old graveyard pharmacists are not going to last long especially when the only option is to work as PIC. They will call it a day and retire. No severance pay.

The DMs don't want them to be PICs because most of them can't handle it. From what I'm hearing, most are being put in other overnight stores or floating.

Again, giving too much credit to CVS. They arent supervillains. Don't flatter them. This was just put together without much thought and consideration. The stores the decided to shut down or keep open make no sense no matter what explanation is given. Either they threw darts at a map or are too stupid to know how to read a map of 24 hour competitors.
 
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Let me illustrate how stupid this is. At one of the stores, there was this guy who tried to do overnights, but he just couldn't hack it. He couldn't keep up. A 3700 a week store with 12 pages of readyfill. So they had to replace him with someone better. He now floats.

Fast forward to today.

Guy who replaced him is getting laid off. Guy who couldn't hack it stays. Supervisors were given zero notice this was happening. They would have shuffled people around like crazy to protect their more effective employees. They are all pissed because they are losing some good people and ate forced to keep less effective people.

This company is seriously effing stupid. That's why I almost laugh out loud at the assertion that this was well thought out out, diabolical, and brilliant.

No, it's just badly executed, incredibly lazy, and done in typical half assed corporate CVS fashion.
 
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Anyone know if this has hit California yet? I'm currently on vacation out of the country so I have no idea... It'd be funny if they tell me I'm out of a job once I go back lol
 
The DMs don't want them to be PICs because most of them can't handle it. From what I'm hearing, most are being put in other overnight stores or floating.

Again, giving too much credit to CVS. They arent supervillains. Don't flatter them. This was just put together without much thought and consideration. The stores the decided to shut down or keep open make no sense no matter what explanation is given. Either they threw darts at a map or are too stupid to know how to read a map of 24 hour competitors.

You know this is not the first time CVS has laid off people right? I am sure it is in the HR handbook. Maximize profit. Minimize cost
 
I agree with wvu. These layoffs were executed horribly. In my district, they got rid of the overnight in 3 stores and let only one store remain open. The store that will remain open is doing 2200 a week. The other three did over 3500. The one that remains 24 has no hospital near it. The other three all were near hospitals. The ******* in charge of these layoffs didn't put much thought into it. I guess corporate is too busy focusing on the stock price to give a **** about anything else.
 
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CVS in Nothern NJ just started giving the news to their overnights. Today, I had 2 people call me, telling me they were laid off, without having heard any news before hand. One other friend was offered to switch to day time to save his position in the company. Others still don't know what will happen. The stores that are laying off overnights vs not laying off are irrespective of volume. Busy stores are getting rid of overnight, whereas slow stores are still remaining open. It is only a matter of time before all these stores eventually get rid of the overnight pharmacy as per a pharmacy supervisor here. There is a store doing 4400 scripts a week, which is eventually going to axe the overnight pharmacy, but as of right now it will remain open, but no one knows forhow long. The date of the layoffs is December 6. That's also when overnights who were offered daytime positions will begin working daytime shifts.
 
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If I'm not mistaken, don't some PBMs mandate a certain number of 24 hr pharmacies for them to contract with you? I heard that has been an issue with places not offering 24 hour service within a district.
 
FYI the newest news is that some of the low volume non-24hr stores will move to a 9am open in the future, DM wouldn't say when for sure, but I would expect in the next 3-6 months
 
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FYI the newest news is that some of the low volume non-24hr stores will move to a 9am open in the future, DM wouldn't say when for sure, but I would expect in the next 3-6 months

This is what I love about SDN. The lastest news!
 
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To summarize. In less than a year.

- some stores had their closing time changed from 10pm to 9pm
- split shifts were implemented
- good number of 24 hour stores will no longer be be open 24 hours
- some stores will open at 9am instead of 8am

Any predictions on what is next?
 
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Who's gonna tell all the old people that line up a half hour before the pharmacy opens...
 
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They are replacing 84 hours of rph hours with 40 hours of tech time at my store. I laughed.

CVS overnight was the only decent gig in the company. If my boss manages to bring me back like he says he will, it will be a day job. I guess I'll find out if it's as bad as people claim. Can't be worse than those days at the hospital gig where they left me alone on the weekend as the only RPh in a 200 census hospital. Like, during the afternoon. That **** was bonkers.
 
I'm not familiar w/Target or CVS pharmacy but couldn't taking out the regular pharmacist at Target be disruptive to the business there? At lower volume grocery pharmacies, the pharmacists have a real good rapport and relationship w/their customers. I don't know if Target is the same but seeing CVS change the pharmacist then maybe isn't the wisest. The Target pharmacist may be unknown to the new CVS boss, but is pretty known in that area and those customers probably. The patients will probably grumble and there likely won't be changes to the bottom line but they won't be happy w/CVS messing around w/people they like and having to start over w/someone new (possibly worse/bitter). I've seen mergers/acquisitions of those types of stores where they keep the pharmacist, just change the company name.

I know nothing about opening a new pharmacy in an existing Target store, I'd guess a CVS overnighter could take it.

Of course, there will be Target pharmacists that jump ship and then CVS overnighters could probably take those shifts/positions. W/more locations they probably need more floaters and will just use current working CVS pharmacists. W/the higher turnover CVS has and turnover they bring to businesses they buy, I'm sure there will be some positions (PT & FT) for some of the ones laid off.

Yeah I agree that CVS will try to keep as many Target employees as possible, at least initially. CVS has acquired a lot of pharmacies in recent years and I'm sure they've learned a thing or two about what worked and what ran off all the customers. I know many people feel like CVS upper management doesn't put much thought into their strategies, but this acquisition is far too important for CVS to screw up. They're gonna have to play nice with Target for the first year or so if they want those "Target" pharmacies to be profitable in the long run. The easiest way to screw it all up is to replace all the pharmacy staff with die-hard CVSers pushing scriptsync down everyone's throat.
 
There is nowhere left for the customers to run...we are marching towards a duopoly.
Yes, but Target pharmacies were loss leaders. My point was that they can't run off all the customers because Target wants the pharmacy to continue to drive front store sales. If/when they start to get negative feedback from their "guests", there's going to be push-back against CVS at a corporate level.

Then again, what is Target going to do about it, take their money-pit pharmacies back? lol
 
40 tech hours vs. 84 RPh hours is a joke...going against both quantity & quality of work. Hell, half of the techs at my store are recent hires & can not even handle QT. I imagine most other CVSs are like this with the high turnover rates and small incentive to keep staff long term.
 
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They can always lay off graveyard rphs, make daytime rphs check 150 more scripts, and add 1 tech to daytime 40h/week to deal with the missing graveyard. Cost saving 100k/yr. Boom.
Predicted this lol... Oh wait 200k saving/store
 
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With 1000 pharmacists being laid off, that will be a payroll savings of at least $200 million a year.
 
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The PBM drives CVSCaremark and it's stores are merely fodder. Net revenue fell from their PBM business and the ripple effect is felt in it's least profitable operation, it's pharmacies. The Irony is that they've created the very market conditions via their PBM that makes the actual dispensing of drugs it's "least profitable" wing.

And yes, more cuts are coming as has been suggested by employees here.

"Margins in CVS's PBM business, which accounted for 66 percent of net revenue in the quarter ended Sept. 30, fell 45 basis points."--LARGELY DERIVED FROM ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES ("maintenance choice" which madates CVS or CVScaremark mailorder) and DIR Fees that are supposed to come from drug manufacturers and go back to CMS but instead have been syphoned off from Pharmacy providers instead so as to not hurt CVSCaremark's PBM biz....

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cvs-health-quarterly-revenue-increases-105757227.html

""Reimbursement pressure has not changed but ... Medicare and Medicaid are big areas of growth in this (PBM) business. And they carry a lower margin rate," Chief Executive Larry Merlo said on a conference call."
 
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Here's another article on CVS less than stellar performance:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cvs-healths-outlook-mixed-as-revenue-beats-2015-10-30

"That offset slower growth in its drugstore business, which has been hit by a fall in customer traffic and a drop in sales after last year's decision to stop all tobacco sales.

Retail sales grew 6.9% to $17.9 billion, with half of that increase driven by its acquisition of Omnicare Inc. in August. Sales excluding newly opened or closed stores were up 1.7%, amid a 5.8% decline in front-of-store stores.

The company is remodeling stores to add more healthy snacks and revamping its beauty-products section, hoping that those changes can help offset the loss of tobacco."
 
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Great article on the conflict of interest between PBMs and PBM owned Pharmacies:

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...ric-drugs-can-cost-small-pharmacies-big-bucks

"The problem for RiverRx and other independent pharmacies is that reimbursements haven't been keeping up with the pace of price hikes. As a result, the pharmacies are losing money simply by filling prescriptions.

Hoey flips through a 3-inch stack of spreadsheets from his members detailing losses on generic drugs. "Here's a generic Prozac, loss of $26," Hoey says. "A generic used for rheumatoid arthritis, $83 loss. This one store lost $4,800 in one month."

"Hoey, Dhallan and other pharmacists say the problem lies with pharmacy benefit managers. The PBMs are middlemen in the medical world who influence what drugs you get, where you can get them and at what price. The biggest are Express Scripts and CVS Caremark.

PBMs negotiate deals with employers to run the part of their insurance plans that covers prescription drugs. The managers extract discounts from drugmakers on medications and also contract with pharmacies like RiverRx to fill prescriptions for the people served by PBMs. If Dhallan wants to be included in a PBM's network, he has to sign on to its terms.

In the past, PBMs reimbursed drugstores pretty much in line with market prices. However, in the past two years, generic drug prices have risen on average 40 percent. When they spike like that, Hoey says, PBM reimbursements often don't keep up."

"The PBMs aren't just setting reimbursement for River RX, they're also competing for its customers.

"We feel that's a conflict of interest," says Hoey.


A CVS Caremark spokeswoman said in an email that the pharmacy benefit manager deals "at arm's length" with the retail side of the company.---Does anyone REALLY believe that? It's like owning a commercial building and utilizing one of the units for your own business and charging yourself whatever "Rent" you want to fulfill your financial motives.
 
CVS is a horrible company to work for and a terrible pharmacy to go to if you're a patient.

I'm sorry you guys are getting laid off. If I were you I'd look at this as a golden opportunity to capitalize on CVSs being the worst pharmacy in America. Consumers are getting tired of being treated like crap by big companies and their apathetic employees. I'd go right across the street and open up an independent.
 
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There is no firewall between CVS and Caremark. It's absolutely BS that they claim they operate at arms length. I used to work for Caremark. I know this for a fact.

Best example. Pharmacy Advisors. New program started in 2013. Their job was SUPPOSED to be MTM type stuff. Call Mrs. Jones up and ask her why she is two weeks late filling her metformin. What they ACTUALLY did was call up Mrs. Jones and ask her why she was late filling her Metformin and ask her why she was going to Target when she could get a 90 day supply filled at CVS for $0 co-pay. They even initiated the transfers to the local CVS. These were Caremark employed pharmacists doing this. Operate at arms length? My ass...
 
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Since the Feds won't step in, each state's Department of Insurance should make CVS Caremark divest themselves of the pharmacies or PBM operations ( they would dump the pharmacies for sure)
 
So it looks like I am going back to being a PIC. They have an opening in the district next to mine, the commute is about 45 minutes. The volume is less than 1,500/week so maybe it won't be too bad. They are 8a-10p m-f, so that kinda sucks. Maybe they will reduce the hours given the volume.

I still have applications out but so far all rejections. :(

At least this way I keep my benefits and have money coming in while I job hunt. And who knows, I may even like it this time around.
 
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So it looks like I am going back to being a PIC. They have an opening in the district next to mine, the commute is about 45 minutes. The volume is less than 1,500/week so maybe it won't be too bad. They are 8a-10p m-f, so that kinda sucks. Maybe they will reduce the hours given the volume.

I still have applications out but so far all rejections. :(

At least this way I keep my benefits and have money coming in while I job hunt. And who knows, I may even like it this time around.

Being the PIC might help your job search. There is a stigma attached to graveyard shift and some advantage to a manager title. Just list your total years at CVS and current title as PIC on your resume.
 
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They probably will reduce the hours but I am not sure you should be hoping for that unless you are very efficient. Below average volume CVS stores are not a terrible deal, as long as staff is decent.
 
Congrats, owle. I'm still on the chopping block, severance, then get rehired boat.

I kinda want to "game" it and go on severance until it runs out then get rehired. But I also want to maintain my benefits/seniority and also take no risk. :laugh:
 
At Walgreen's, if you leave and then return within a year; you will keep seniority. Just review CVS policies. More than likely, you'll be able to return within 3-6 months due to turn over.
 
So it looks like I am going back to being a PIC. They have an opening in the district next to mine, the commute is about 45 minutes. The volume is less than 1,500/week so maybe it won't be too bad. They are 8a-10p m-f, so that kinda sucks. Maybe they will reduce the hours given the volume.

I still have applications out but so far all rejections. :(

At least this way I keep my benefits and have money coming in while I job hunt. And who knows, I may even like it this time around.

@owlegrad
Congrats! It's always easier to find job when you have a job. I agree with ChalupaBatman86. Just list your current title and years with the company. Keep looking for jobs. They're out there. The "too good to be true" non-retail jobs do exist.

Best,

Apotheker2015
 
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So it looks like I am going back to being a PIC. They have an opening in the district next to mine, the commute is about 45 minutes. The volume is less than 1,500/week so maybe it won't be too bad. They are 8a-10p m-f, so that kinda sucks. Maybe they will reduce the hours given the volume.

I still have applications out but so far all rejections. :(

At least this way I keep my benefits and have money coming in while I job hunt. And who knows, I may even like it this time around.

Just out of random curiosity, can I ask what the typical starting salary for a PIC tends to hover around at the major retail chains (CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, etc.)?
 
@Shohōsen,

I hope your doing well. I have never been asked to work any daytime shifts during my 7 days off. Only once was I asked *if I would like* to work an additional overnight shift in the middle of my 7 days off. I was only asked is because I expressed interest in picking up extra shifts early on. I can't imagine anyone cornering you and *strongly encouraging* you to take a daytime shift. All you have to say is that you are not available over those days. I suppose you could say that you will be out of town those days. However, the second you start providing explanations, you should know that explanations will be expected. Just say that unfortunately, you are not available. And remember that just because your phone rings, it does not mean you have to pick it up.

Tell us how your nights are going. Do you walk into a mess of 20+ pages in red every night? Or is it just a few? Are you able to do all that and your readyfills?

Best,

Apotheker2015

Sorry, I have taken awhile to reply. Well, I can't answer these questions yet. (That's why I was taking so long to reply.) The overnight RPh who I am replacing decided to wait several extra weeks to retire, so the DM/scheduler stuck me on dayshifts. I have basically been a staff floater pharmacist up to this point. Tonight is my first official time picking up the overnight shift, so I'll let you know how it goes when I have spent enough time to get a feel.

How is your shift going at this point?
 
At Walgreen's, if you leave and then return within a year; you will keep seniority. Just review CVS policies. More than likely, you'll be able to return within 3-6 months due to turn over.

Why is that the case? Here at my pharmacy you lose seniority the day you quit. You can come back the next day but you're on the same level as the new hires.
 
Why is that the case? Here at my pharmacy you lose seniority the day you quit. You can come back the next day but you're on the same level as the new hires.

same with CVS, i was a rehire and they kept seniority
 
Why is that the case? Here at my pharmacy you lose seniority the day you quit. You can come back the next day but you're on the same level as the new hires.

If you quit, I agree, you should go back to square one.

I think - well, I HOPE - it will be different for the folks getting laid off from the 24 hour stores because their departure from the corporation is involuntary. If they get hired back after a brief hiatus, ideally they should be allowed to retain their seniority. @owlegrad @WVUPharm2007 was this discussed with you?
 
If you quit, I agree, you should go back to square one.

I think - well, I HOPE - it will be different for the folks getting laid off from the 24 hour stores because their departure from the corporation is involuntary. If they get hired back after a brief hiatus, ideally they should be allowed to retain their seniority. @owlegrad @WVUPharm2007 was this discussed with you?

When I asked my pharm sup and DM were unsure. The pharm sup thought that seniority could be retained if rehired within a period of time but wasn't sure.
 
So I think I am at the "acceptance" phase of grief. Or possibly "denial". I got a small raise for going back to PIC, the store's hours have changed to 8-9 m-f (woot woot!), and meeting my new partner/some of the staff I am actually looking forward to the change. I will miss 7 on-7 off, but otherwise I think I will be happy going back to days.
 
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