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CVS RPh burn out.. considering moving on, opinions?
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Most companies will match your vacation. You just need ask. Quit now.
Significant pay cut normally account to $3-4/hr. Can you take a hit for $10k less right now? Unless you live paycheck to paycheck, I bet you won't even notice missing $250/2 weeks net after tax.
Significant pay cut normally account to $3-4/hr. Can you take a hit for $10k less right now? Unless you live paycheck to paycheck, I bet you won't even notice missing $250/2 weeks net after tax.
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Doesn't seem like you'll be happy where you are at long term. Perhaps you can do it for 5 more years, but then what. Unless you have aspirations to be a supervisor, it's not important. I think unless you need the extra money, I'd take advantage of your connections and move on. Also, if you do need extra money you can always look for a side job/side income.
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You need to get out of there. You guys are asking for a huge error to occur. The extra money isn't worth the stress.
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First, CVS does not expect every store to be at 100 on WeCARE, just not be horrendous like 25 or less, and I've noticed some Rx supervisors concede that few points will be "earned" from Ready When Promised, but if you can get 30 points that will make your life much easier.
Second, scanning out items in QV that aren't even produced is a recipe for disaster as you yourself admitted. Instead of doing that, just set "reds" aside. They are "lost causes" from a WeCare standpoint but you can do them when you get ahead on the stuff that isn't a lost cause.
Third, if true for 2016 performance reviews, it was just a matter of time before WeCare became a part of SOS/MyStoreHealth, but it doesn't change the reality that speed is the name of the game in chain retail. Getting stuff out on time means not dealing with people repeatedly coming to the out window, not dealing with pissed off people, more time to deal with problems without putting you behind, and freeing up time to do other ****, especially if you are a pharmacy manager. (Accuracy is a given because you will be thrown under the bus if a serious mistake occurs.) To be honest I've never met an older pharmacist who actually understood this. Then again I've had new grads take 2 minutes to verify Rx because they check every interaction on their phone.
Fourth, when it comes to Walmart the grass is definitely not greener unless it's a slow or new Walmart. Too many obstacles to efficient workflow, which scales poorly to increasing script volume, especially "real-time" claims adjudication that takes 30 seconds or more (don't know why and I don't really care because it doesn't change the fact that it ****s up workflow especially at the in window), the existence of a time-wasting bagging queue, and mandatory counseling (no, I assure you that you don't really like counseling on 30 combinations of antibiotic + Norco a day). OMG, did I say counseling was an obstacle! All e-scripts and faxes are 45 minutes so your techs can waste time re-timing **** that people don't need right away. All high-volume Walmarts (like 500 or more a weekday) have ****ty on-time rates. (I check how other stores are doing using the new area report tool.) Flu shot target this year for all supercenters is 400 independent of script volume. Doesn't matter if your store does 40% Medcaid and you can't even bill Medicaid for immunizations, or if you are a new store. My least favorite part is having to be "accountable" for OTC sales as well. The bonus structure for RXM is based on collective performance of your store and collective performance of all pharmacies in your market, so you can have a blowout year but have ****ty stores drag you down, or your own store is ****ty. Throw in a CVS-level sociopathic field manager and your life will suck. I would never take a high-volume Walmart pharmacy. It is way easier to fix a high-volume CVS pharmacy
Second, scanning out items in QV that aren't even produced is a recipe for disaster as you yourself admitted. Instead of doing that, just set "reds" aside. They are "lost causes" from a WeCare standpoint but you can do them when you get ahead on the stuff that isn't a lost cause.
Third, if true for 2016 performance reviews, it was just a matter of time before WeCare became a part of SOS/MyStoreHealth, but it doesn't change the reality that speed is the name of the game in chain retail. Getting stuff out on time means not dealing with people repeatedly coming to the out window, not dealing with pissed off people, more time to deal with problems without putting you behind, and freeing up time to do other ****, especially if you are a pharmacy manager. (Accuracy is a given because you will be thrown under the bus if a serious mistake occurs.) To be honest I've never met an older pharmacist who actually understood this. Then again I've had new grads take 2 minutes to verify Rx because they check every interaction on their phone.
Fourth, when it comes to Walmart the grass is definitely not greener unless it's a slow or new Walmart. Too many obstacles to efficient workflow, which scales poorly to increasing script volume, especially "real-time" claims adjudication that takes 30 seconds or more (don't know why and I don't really care because it doesn't change the fact that it ****s up workflow especially at the in window), the existence of a time-wasting bagging queue, and mandatory counseling (no, I assure you that you don't really like counseling on 30 combinations of antibiotic + Norco a day). OMG, did I say counseling was an obstacle! All e-scripts and faxes are 45 minutes so your techs can waste time re-timing **** that people don't need right away. All high-volume Walmarts (like 500 or more a weekday) have ****ty on-time rates. (I check how other stores are doing using the new area report tool.) Flu shot target this year for all supercenters is 400 independent of script volume. Doesn't matter if your store does 40% Medcaid and you can't even bill Medicaid for immunizations, or if you are a new store. My least favorite part is having to be "accountable" for OTC sales as well. The bonus structure for RXM is based on collective performance of your store and collective performance of all pharmacies in your market, so you can have a blowout year but have ****ty stores drag you down, or your own store is ****ty. Throw in a CVS-level sociopathic field manager and your life will suck. I would never take a high-volume Walmart pharmacy. It is way easier to fix a high-volume CVS pharmacy
I haven't personally worked at CVS, but from what I hear, Walmart and Publix are both much better than CVS.
Pros:
No drive-through
Generally, the people are more patient because they can go shop around.
I believe the systems are better (I prefer RXEnterprise from Publix, the user interface is more friendly), but once again I'm not familiar with CVS' system.
Generally lower script:staff ratio.
Between Walmart and Publix, Walmart generally pays more and allows for extra staff (such as someone specifically to man the cash register). Some Wal-Marts allow scheduled lunch breaks.
But Publix doesn't have Wal-mart customers...so there's that. I also prefer the overall environment and aesthetic in Publix.
In my area, you generally start with 10 days vacation at Publix. I forget what it is for Wal-Mart.
Pros:
No drive-through
Generally, the people are more patient because they can go shop around.
I believe the systems are better (I prefer RXEnterprise from Publix, the user interface is more friendly), but once again I'm not familiar with CVS' system.
Generally lower script:staff ratio.
Between Walmart and Publix, Walmart generally pays more and allows for extra staff (such as someone specifically to man the cash register). Some Wal-Marts allow scheduled lunch breaks.
But Publix doesn't have Wal-mart customers...so there's that. I also prefer the overall environment and aesthetic in Publix.
In my area, you generally start with 10 days vacation at Publix. I forget what it is for Wal-Mart.
There are better places to work than the chains. You will like yourself and your life much better after you leave. I was a pic at a 24 hours store and found better opportunities elsewhere. Never regretted the move.
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For us non CVS folks, what is WeCare? I was in a similar situation at a high volume Walgreens. Wife was having health problems and stressed to the max. I decided to become an RXM at a slower store. Base pay is the the same but bonus potential is significantly less. I'm OK with that. In the end it's your decision, you have to do what's right for you and you family. Retail pharmacy is retail pharmacy. Change the sign on the door and you still have to deal with bull**** corporate politics and awful patients.
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WeCARE ("work efficiently so you can care more") is a set of performance metrics that measures the efficiency of pharmacy workflow in the following areas:
(30 points) Action by triage time: % of triage "items" processed on time. There is a triage queue (QT) populated by new e-scripts to be entered, new faxes to be entered or processed, insurance rejects, rescheduled phone calls for "action notes," "auto-process errors" where you have to verify onhands before you can send a script to filling, drive-thru pre-entry, and verification rejects. All faxes need to be dealt with in 15 minutes, "acute" non-written scripts (ex: antibiotics, muscle relaxers, pain relievers even if they are from pain management) need to be entered in 15 minutes. All other non-written scripts in 45 minutes. Minute Clinic scripts in 5 minutes.
(30 points) Ready when promised: % of scripts verified on time. "Acute" scripts sent electronically or by fax get 30 minutes total (15 minutes in QT max, 15 minutes to end of verification), other non-written scripts get 2 hours (45 minutes max in QT, 75 minutes to end of verification). Minute Clinic scripts in 15 minutes (5 in QT, 10 to end of verification).
(10 points) Properly met waiter expectations: % of waiter scripts that are done on time, with the caveat that anything 20 minutes or longer counts against you (must be 15 minutes or fewer)
(10 points) Prescriber calls: % of prescriber calls to request refill approval (edit: or PA... etc.) done on time. Usually ~2 business days to get them done (by 12 PM).
(15 points) Action note follow through: % of "action note" calls done (calls where you are supposed to tell the patient if there is a delay with a prescription due to OOS, not getting refill approval, insurance reject, need new insurance, etc.)
(5) Voicemail retrieval rate: % of voicemails processed in 15 minutes or fewer.
(30 points) Action by triage time: % of triage "items" processed on time. There is a triage queue (QT) populated by new e-scripts to be entered, new faxes to be entered or processed, insurance rejects, rescheduled phone calls for "action notes," "auto-process errors" where you have to verify onhands before you can send a script to filling, drive-thru pre-entry, and verification rejects. All faxes need to be dealt with in 15 minutes, "acute" non-written scripts (ex: antibiotics, muscle relaxers, pain relievers even if they are from pain management) need to be entered in 15 minutes. All other non-written scripts in 45 minutes. Minute Clinic scripts in 5 minutes.
(30 points) Ready when promised: % of scripts verified on time. "Acute" scripts sent electronically or by fax get 30 minutes total (15 minutes in QT max, 15 minutes to end of verification), other non-written scripts get 2 hours (45 minutes max in QT, 75 minutes to end of verification). Minute Clinic scripts in 15 minutes (5 in QT, 10 to end of verification).
(10 points) Properly met waiter expectations: % of waiter scripts that are done on time, with the caveat that anything 20 minutes or longer counts against you (must be 15 minutes or fewer)
(10 points) Prescriber calls: % of prescriber calls to request refill approval (edit: or PA... etc.) done on time. Usually ~2 business days to get them done (by 12 PM).
(15 points) Action note follow through: % of "action note" calls done (calls where you are supposed to tell the patient if there is a delay with a prescription due to OOS, not getting refill approval, insurance reject, need new insurance, etc.)
(5) Voicemail retrieval rate: % of voicemails processed in 15 minutes or fewer.
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OldTimer has support from DM/Sup and I have never seen him complain about staffing. I remember he mentioned that he usually has 3-4 interns (1 for each year). I have no doubt that he has a well trained staff and takes time to train them. I bet his salary is better than yours and he is maxed on with vacation time. His time horizon is much different than yours too.
I have been out of CVS for a bit now. I can tell you that while the workflow, day to day grind, and staffing issues are present elsewhere, the micromanagement from top down is not. It sounds like you are just burned out from corporate agendas. You are concerned with patient safety and to me that means you simply want to do your job properly. It is better to go now than realizing in the future you should have left 5 years ago.
I have been out of CVS for a bit now. I can tell you that while the workflow, day to day grind, and staffing issues are present elsewhere, the micromanagement from top down is not. It sounds like you are just burned out from corporate agendas. You are concerned with patient safety and to me that means you simply want to do your job properly. It is better to go now than realizing in the future you should have left 5 years ago.
wtf dude...at walgreens...that's equivalent to overriding scanners and making everything in READY STATUS to beat the timer and that's some serious safety issue right there. I would not ever condone such actions to just meet a metric. that's some crazy patient safety at risk right there.
Maybe ask about working at a lower volume cvs store. Not all cvs stores are bad.
I have accidentally deleted a voice message because I was rushing to beat the 15 minute timer. Does walgreens or walmart track voice mail retrieval times?
I have accidentally deleted a voice message because I was rushing to beat the 15 minute timer. Does walgreens or walmart track voice mail retrieval times?
Walgreens doesn't track any of that non sense...thank god.
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CVS/pharmacy is the joke of pharmacy
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Granted I'm just an intern for Publix but you should seriously make the move to Publix. Just be aware that you will be taking a large pay-cut though. However, my current pharmacy manager came from CVS as well and he/she told me that the trade-off of less pay for significantly less stress was 100% worth it.
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Come to Walmart if you can find a good store/MHWD. It's a hell of a lot less pressure and you have a greater budget for support personnel at any script volume. I went from CVS to Walmart in November and my quality of life has improved significantly. I was a staff at CVS, so Im not sure what the manager bonus is like there. At Walmart the goals a pretty reasonable and you can easily get 14-16k if you run your store decently and have a good market.
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If you are unhappy, either ask your RX Supervisor for a slower or less stressful location or look for another job. If you are stuck, you have to make the best out of it. You conquered organic chemistry and you conquered med chem and you conquered P&T. You are smart enough to conquer we care. It's not that hard. Just work the system. Sometime you have to tell people they can't wait. Sometimes you have to speak to Mrs. Jones who brings her 12 bottles to drop off and says she is waiting. You nicely badger her every month until she calls in advance. You tell all your regular narc patients that they cannot wait. Extra regulatory requirement means they take longer. Tell them they can wait this time, but after this they have to come back in an hour or so. I'm not talking about the guy from the dentist with 10 Norco and 21 Amoxicillin. I'm talking about the workers comp who gets 100 Percocet and 10 Fentanyl patches every month.
Don't do what you are doing. You are going to make a mistake and worse you will get fired for violating the patient safety protocol (Print-Scan-Count-Basket). If something goes red, put it aside. If the patient comes, just have them say it's all done, the pharmacist just has to check it. You pull that basket and verify. Work on what's next. You need to know where you need to be. We start out every morning with 12-15 pages. They need to keep going down. We need to be at 4 pages by 4PM. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are good days and bad. Sometimes your the bug and sometimes your the windshield.
Look at your staff. Are they good enough? If not change them. Are you scheduled right. The right people at the right time. My drop off tech rocks. I don't worry about QT and we are always over 97%. How is your drop off tech? What about your register person? Can they handle the register without having to send the production tech out to help? Are you near a pharmacy school? They open one every 5 minutes. Get some interns. That makes nights and weekends a different story.
Being a pharmacist is a lot like surfing. You need to see the wave coming so you can ride it in. If you jump the wave too late you are going to get washed up on the beach coughing up sea water.
Look at your we care scorecard and look where you need to improve to get more points. Maybe upping your doctor calls will get you the extra points you need to get over the hump.
Don't do what you are doing. You are going to make a mistake and worse you will get fired for violating the patient safety protocol (Print-Scan-Count-Basket). If something goes red, put it aside. If the patient comes, just have them say it's all done, the pharmacist just has to check it. You pull that basket and verify. Work on what's next. You need to know where you need to be. We start out every morning with 12-15 pages. They need to keep going down. We need to be at 4 pages by 4PM. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are good days and bad. Sometimes your the bug and sometimes your the windshield.
Look at your staff. Are they good enough? If not change them. Are you scheduled right. The right people at the right time. My drop off tech rocks. I don't worry about QT and we are always over 97%. How is your drop off tech? What about your register person? Can they handle the register without having to send the production tech out to help? Are you near a pharmacy school? They open one every 5 minutes. Get some interns. That makes nights and weekends a different story.
Being a pharmacist is a lot like surfing. You need to see the wave coming so you can ride it in. If you jump the wave too late you are going to get washed up on the beach coughing up sea water.
Look at your we care scorecard and look where you need to improve to get more points. Maybe upping your doctor calls will get you the extra points you need to get over the hump.
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This is the easiest 10 points to get. Nothing gets typed in that's waiting other than W15. Period. They want you to to out W in and let the system figure it. Want to test it. Go in tomorrow. Bring your self up on the screen start typing a new Rx when you get to the number of scripts put 15 and for the promised time put W and you will get 20 or 25 minutes.....
Just put W15 for every waiter and you will be golden.
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I would never risk my license just to get better scores on the metrics. If a new script goes red, f*ck it. I consistently walk into 1-2 pages of red scripts when my shift starts. Risk vs benefit man. Do you really want to risk an error for the chance of getting a small raise at the end of the year?
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Even for my horrible store (loss of script volume, bad customer service scores, high shrink), I could have gotten > 10k if I worked there the whole year, but yeah it depends on having a good store and good market. And if you work at a busy store you get the script volume multiplier (starting at 100k sold per year excluding controls). Meanwhile you really have to bust your hump at CVS and get lucky (script volume increase > 10%) to hit 10k.
Omg.... what happens if you don't meet all of these time frames or metrics? Do they write you up or fire you eventually? Because if I were a cvs pharmacist, I wouldn't care if everything is red when it jeopardizes pt safety.
I work for walmart, and I think it was the best retail position I took. I think the metrics are reasonable and even if you're at a busy store, the company has enough resources to properly staff people. From what I hear walmart is the highest paying retail chain these days
I work for walmart, and I think it was the best retail position I took. I think the metrics are reasonable and even if you're at a busy store, the company has enough resources to properly staff people. From what I hear walmart is the highest paying retail chain these days
I left CVS after a long period of deliberation and reflection as well. While it's true you have a niche in the company, have a good reputation, etc , ask yourself "can I sustain this working environment for 30 more years?"
there's a reason cvs has high turnover and Costco never has any openings. Sustainability long term. Make a choice with this in mind. ... before you lose your mind . ha
there's a reason cvs has high turnover and Costco never has any openings. Sustainability long term. Make a choice with this in mind. ... before you lose your mind . ha
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Only company I know of that won't match vacation is Kroger. They will make you start all over.
They are what pharmacy is
CVS/Pharmacy is the leader of pharmacy
I don't know if this is a fact but I'm willing to say it was CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid who started offering six figure salaries to pharmacists or were at least the driving movement
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I have heard horror stories about CVS. I work in another chain and the pressure is always on to be more like CVS. CVS has a great business model and if you were doing well then I say continue on. At the end of the day, it's all about the money. You either step up or step down. It sounds like you are the type of person who is doing a great job, but just doesn't feel appreciated. I think if you stick with it and build relationships, eventually you can move up and leave day to day retail stress behind. Make sure you make known your wins and continue to improve on your opportunities. Make sure you tell your supervisor you want to do more. Retail pharmacy is brutal, you are going to get worn out if you are in a busy store regardless of what company. However, if you are doing a great job, you will get noticed. Don't switch companies, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. You already work for the most powerful company in the business right now. If I were you, I would stick it out, and I would work harder. That's just my take.
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It seems like you are a really successful manager and that is rare.
Emotionally, I get drained like you but for the wrong reasons (tech hour cuts, a zillion enhancements that messes up my system, and computers being too slow). I think you just need a vacation. You survived 5 years... and can probably last another 10. The bull**** is the same everywhere but I see you being compensated way more with CVS.
If I was to leave the company now, I would effectively get at least 30k paycut and loss of benefitss. I would be going into a system that I am not familiar with. I am betting your situation is something similar.
Just a few tips... if you are having trouble with your ready when promised time, focus more on the root causes. Verifying faster should not be the solution.
Here are some common ones... look at your acute or waiter times. Thats half the battle!!! Make sure you are verifying all Zpacks and Flonase on time and on point. Make sure your technicians understand that! Verify all waiters on time or dont have your techs put them in as waiters (because that means you cant handle more waiters... duh). For rebills... do not put them in as waiters because it will only hurt you. The computer assigns a time in triage and any time you verify after that will be passed the time expected.
Are the scripts coming into QT being processed fast enough? If not, then your production tech wont have time to produce it. Are your techs multi tasking? Everyone from drive-thru to pick up should be on QT if not helping a customer, or if on hold. Is your production tech on top of their game using the quarter back box? They should have next 30-60 minutes clear before doing anything not related to customer service tasks like packing out the cardinal.
I dont want to brag but I never had to worry about WeCare. I do understand that it is a priority now because I see it in SOS score cards. I dont want to out myself but my store does over 4000 scripts, in NYS where all scripts including controls HAVE to be e-prescribed, and consistently score in the 90s. If I have a bad week, my store is in the 80s. Go figure...
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OP, do you schedule to demand? If you're indeed getting scripts like that (30 due in 30 minutes) then your demand will catch up and it will give you more hours during the busier times of the day. One of the things that drives me crazy is when a store doesn't cover the blues on myschedule (blue means you're short staffed for those that don't work for CVS). PIC's will say "oh, it's only 2 hours and I can't find a tech to cover that shift). Well, 2 hours is a LONG TIME in the pharmacy world. 2 hours of a production tech printing pulling and counting is exactly what you need to get those scripts out.
I would just take another look at myschedule if I were you. You know what, you don't even need to do it. I have my Lead Tech do it. I schedule her 9-5 every day monday thru friday, but on thursdays I "schedule" her from 9-4:30 on the myschedule tool. At 4:30, she promptly leaves the pharmacy, goes into the office, and makes the schedule. This way if I'm not working, nobody will ask her where shes going when she's supposed to be on the clock until 5 pm. No DM in their right mind will call you and ask why you're 30 minutes over on a given day. Don't even go there.
And NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER verify a prescription without bagging it right after. Just don't do that, PLEASE. It doesn't matter how efficient you think you are. Something will happen, you'll get a phone call, a patient will ask a question, and you'll forget about the script you verified. You're opening yourself up to all sorts of liability.
I would just take another look at myschedule if I were you. You know what, you don't even need to do it. I have my Lead Tech do it. I schedule her 9-5 every day monday thru friday, but on thursdays I "schedule" her from 9-4:30 on the myschedule tool. At 4:30, she promptly leaves the pharmacy, goes into the office, and makes the schedule. This way if I'm not working, nobody will ask her where shes going when she's supposed to be on the clock until 5 pm. No DM in their right mind will call you and ask why you're 30 minutes over on a given day. Don't even go there.
And NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER verify a prescription without bagging it right after. Just don't do that, PLEASE. It doesn't matter how efficient you think you are. Something will happen, you'll get a phone call, a patient will ask a question, and you'll forget about the script you verified. You're opening yourself up to all sorts of liability.
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Old timer, I CANT get this metric. All of my techs put in W15. Nobody puts W20. I did an experiment with my lead tech last month. She put in either "W" or W15 for every god damn waiter. And yet she is at 83% every single month.
You say its the easiest, but to me its the most complex metric ever. I don't GET IT.
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$30k is $15/hr. I am sure pharmacy manager gets paid about the same in different company but not $15/hr difference. In CA for example, manager normally gets market rate 68 (city) - 75/hr (boonies) starting pay depending on years of experience and location. Adjust +/- $3 dollar with different retails. Your vacation will get matched. 401k match, everyone has them 4-5% standard. The only thing you are losing is your seniority, which is not worth anything nowadays. It takes a month to get familiar with computer system. If you were a gamer, it would take half the time.
People exaggerate how much a manager makes. I've been RXM and know many people who are RXMs at walgreens. Typically, it's 4-6$ more per hour and the bonus (which usually ranges from a couple thousand to 20k I think depending on what Tier your store falls into). So yes...his numbers aren't wrong or inaccurate...I mean you could get a 20k bonus + 6$/hr on top and thats you're 30k right there. It's just that many people aren't hitting that. I'd say with confidence most managers get 3-8k in bonuses.
But really...the crazy thing here is that OP over rides his scanners to get these scripts into READY before even actually filling them just to beat the timer. I cannot stress how messed up that is. I am actually very disturbed by this.
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For W15, again some stores get 100 all the time but even they don't get 100% on PSWE, which makes it seem that there is at least another factor (like putting W15 when the estimated wait time is really > 15 minutes) that prevents these stores from getting 100%. Again another thing that is not explained in the WeCARE manual
30k may also include ESPP, and 401k match (most big companies match; Walmart does 6% for example) on top of any performance bonuses.
30k may also include ESPP, and 401k match (most big companies match; Walmart does 6% for example) on top of any performance bonuses.
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30k cut could be true if you go from the highest tier as manager to a staff pharmacist. Don't know cvs bonus but for walgreens you'd lose 20k in bonus and about 10k to 15k in salary.
Money is beyond the point though. The stress level is not worth it and the liability is especially not worth it. Go to a medium script store and when you are ready become an rxm at that range again.
Money is beyond the point though. The stress level is not worth it and the liability is especially not worth it. Go to a medium script store and when you are ready become an rxm at that range again.
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After being with CVS for 15 years, there is almost a $20.00 per hour difference from new grads to top PIC's. So, if you are good and have been rewarded for same it can cost to jump....
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Yes, if you are talking staff vs. Pic. Not pic vs. Pic.
You are talking hourly.. Then 65/hr for staff in CA (normal), pic gets 85/hr? I don't believe that lol. I got way too many rx managers as my friends.
Most get 3-6 dollar difference from staff. Another 3 dollars between companies.
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I'm not in CA......
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Doesn't matter pic vs pic is not $15-20/hr different in HOURly pay. Benefits about the same across different company. Prove me wrong.
I'll be the first to join cvs if this is true. LOL
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Well my friend, new grads starting this year in a few months get $55.00 per hour. Top of line PIC's can get close to $20.00 more. Not every PIC, top of the line. High volume.
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Also, when you move to a different company, you have to take into account they don't start you new with 0 experience. I saw a confidential table once they have a pay structure on each stores (min, first quartile, 2nd/mid point, 3rd quartile, max). Someone with 3 yrs experience will be placed at mid point immediately. The difference of getting min and max is 6/hr for each store.
So, if you get hired some where else, they also take into account how many yrs exp you have on the job and place you into the corresponding pay rate structure. Negating all the talk you start from 0 if you switch company.
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Not really. A lot of senior PICs benefited from a boom when good pharmacy managers were needed. So a pharmacy manager who has been with the company for at least 3-4 years, will get paid at least 10 dollars more than staff.
As a pharmacy manager, I get compensated 10-20 dollars over my staff depending on their seniority. The pharmacy manager does the raises now and decides how to split the compensation pool so I have insight on my other three staff pharmacists and 2 over night pharmacists's compensation. A new grad in my region gets compensated at 56$. I make 20 dollars over that. That is a 40k differential. I also have double the bonus, (up to 25k but average of 5-10k), and a stock equity award of 1500 a year (which averages to 3-4k after taxes depending on when I cash it out) versus my staff who gets 1k every OTHER year. I make at LEAST 30k... over my staff but the difference is up to 40k.
Another added benefit that I have noticed is that we can get the hours that we want too. A lot of new grads and floaters are struggling to make 30... I still make my 44 hour base. That can be huge... 175k versus 90k.
Several CVS pharmacy managers like Wario, Oldtimer, and I have stated this over and over again so I dont understand why people have to question what we are saying. We generally work harder and have more responsibilities so should be compensated as such.
Cali is a whole different universe. I have friends in that market and hear stories that most of us envy. If i was to take a stab at it, their PM are probably getting paid 75... versus 64 starting.
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The problem is I dont believe Walgreens, Duane Reade, or Rite Aid pay their PM as well so they can only match so much. I know of matches but the matches only comes if they desperately need people and believe you are worth the compensation. Those matches have to be okay by the pharmacy supervisor, and usually okay by HR.
All these corporate metrics are really harmful to both the profession and the patients... I mean, who even comes up with this stuff? You seem really hard-working and if I were you, I'd take the pay cut and go to a big box or grocery store pharmacy. All the stress is bad for you. Health before wealth. Eventually the bottom is going to fall out with these chain drug stores if they keep treating intelligent people like factory robots.
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Staff at CVS in CA gets 65 to start. Manager 68/hr to start. How do I know? I got the offer for staff and a friend of mine told me she got 68/hr as manager. That's hardly 20/hr extra. This is in a really good area Santa Barbara. Good school district. Majority white people population with house price average $800k-1M.
Other companies, as manager you have the same bonus structures $5-10k attainable bonus (WAG/RAD), 4-5% 401k match (Rite Aid, Walgreen). You can't compare staff vs. PIC position. In general experienced staff vs. experienced PIC pay difference is $15-20k after all said and done. If you want to go with the extreme new grad vs. experience PIC, yes, you will get your stated $30k difference easily. You are talking from the very bottom staff position possibly working in very low volume store to the top manager pay position in high volume store. Apples and oranges comparison.
One of my good friend gets 76/hr in the boonies (not CVS), manager, every other benefits the same - it's a 2000/week volume store. His staff gets 72/hr. A staff rph in Walmart in the same area makes 72/hr also. Again, it's basically same pay across different company.
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That's life where you are. You have two people who actually work for the company telling you otherwise. Feel free to tell me how much I make.
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If I have to take a guess ~70-75/hr is about right, not surprising for CVS manager in a busy store. Not surprising for any chain that handles more than 3k scripts/week (Rite Aid, WAG, WMT). If you didn't make at least that, you were getting shafted.
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I can tell you first hand at Walmart the manager gets peanuts more than the staff.
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My staff pharmacists get a 10% bonus just for showing up and they are hourly 40 hours per week with OT for any hours over 40. You guys are kidding yourselves with this golden handcuffs BS.
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