Hello to all. I am an 2014 graduate, considering Walgreens, but have some questions first. I appreciate your time in answering these.
1. Salary compare to other chains? Around 125K starting?
2. Do they give overtime? Is the overtime time and half? Does the overtime kick in after 8 hours or after 80 hours for two weeks?
3. I doubt they give you 30 minutes for lunch but i thought i ask.
4. Type of shifts? 14 hours?
5. Vacation time for newbie? 2 weeks?
6. Metrics or goals? At cvs they have metrics for everything, is it like that with walgreens?
7. Is the software system easy to pickup?
8. I always hear that walgreens doesn't provide enough tech help for their pharmacist, is that true?
9. How is the night shift for the pharmacist who works overnight? Are you the only one (without any techs)?
10. On average how long extra (without pay) do you end up staying after your shift ends?
Thank you for your input.
Can't speak for that area/region, but as for the West Palm, Florida area...
1. New hires have to float (very few exceptions), 32 - 40 hrs/week = $92k - $113k/year.
2. They try to avoid paying OT, but there are always call-outs on a day-to-day basis and the Scheduler will call people until she can cover the shift, even if that means paying OT to someone. You can also go online and check the "open shifts" on a daily basis and put in a request to be called if you want the OT. Pay is base hourly wage + $10/hr extra, and I think that is the norm now for OT. Any hours over 10hrs in day or 80hrs in a pay period is when OT kicks in, but that depends on if you are hired on as Salary or Hourly.
3. LOL
4. Depends on store hours. If it's a 9-9 store then may work 12hr shifts here and there. If it's an 8-10 store then likely just doing 8hr shifts but a 14hr shift wouldn't be abnormal. In general, most shifts are around 8-9hrs.
5. No vacation or holiday pay for first 6 months. WAG uses PTO (Personal Time Off) which you accrual as you work but doesn't kick in into after 6 months of employment. PTO is used for everything now; sick time, vacation, etc.
6. A lot of metrics/goals to explain, but in general, not nearly as crazy as CVS. The higher-ups are getting on us more about metrics, but it hasn't reached Nazi Concentration Camp level yet.
7. Software is the best in the business. It's user-friendly, intuitive and you will pick-up within a few days.
8. This all varies by store, district, region. But in general, you will be understaffed. I've worked at store's which I had a comfortable staff and easy day and other stores that were a living nightmare. My store is a 9-9 store, I have 1 full-time Tech and that's it. So, I am by myself in the morning and night for about 2 hours, and I work the weekends alone (same thing with my partner). But, we are on the POWER program so we have techs/rph's off-site that help type and review scripts for us and intercept phone calls...so some of the workload is taken off of us. But, still sucks at time and I get pretty swamped trying to cover all points of patient contact plus do immunizations, mtm's, etc, etc.
9/10. Not too sure on night-shifts, only did 1 time as a RPh and I was by myself in a 24-hour store. Was pretty busy at first then dead all night and it was easy. I try not to stay after my scheduled time, but I also work efficiently and I hate leaving work/clutter for other's. So, if I have to stay late to catch-up I will, but usually I get things done on my shift and leave on-time.