Retail Rph, Cutting back, need advice

[Dkpharm]

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*My apologies in advance for the long-winded-ness of this post and any unintentional rambling.

I'm going to pose a few questions first for those who don't read my background or details. The questions are primarily directed at retail pharmacists with 5+ years experience, but of course I'll appreciate all varieties of input.

1. What is your experience (personal or 2nd, 3rd person) with a pharmacist who requests a decrease in hours? i.e. from 43 hrs ft to ~ 30 ft

2. What about with a full time pharmacist who requests to go part-time or float ?

3. what about a full time pharmacist requesting personal unpaid leave?

Some background,
I've been practicing 6 years, with 4 at Cvs and 2 at wags. In this time I've worked and lived like a slave. I've paid off all debts and only carry a mortgage payment with me. At this point, I can afford to work significantly less and still save for retirement and be financially secure.

I've been a staff , a PIC, and recruited to train for a sup position. I've worked the 12 out of 14 days schedule, the 4 - 10s schedule and currently I work overnights , 7 on 7 off

I've felt burnout before. it seems to happen in cycles. We've all been there. Over the past months, partly due to changes of my employer (cuts in hours etc) I've been thinking "do I really NEED to work this much?"

I like the work, I find satisfaction in my job, and honestly I don't see myself in the traditional "turn 65 and hang it up" framework, even though I'd have the savings to do so. I want to remain relevant in the profession indefinitely. I wouldn't ever want to "quit altogether"

I have no kids, no S.O. and no expenses past the mortgage. Is it selfish of me to place less importance on my income and more attention to endeavors I've always wanted to begin?

My impression is that it's in bad taste to relay these above sentiments to my employer/ my bosses. They have no reason to care that I'm secure financially, and have "other endeavors" and can afford to work less. There's ostensibly nothing in it for them to grant me a change in schedule and have to hire/ transfer / juggle schedules again.

I'm 28, I don't mean to come across as brash, cocky, or overconfident. I hold a great reverence toward any job I have and I am always conscious of my attitude toward the employment I am fortunate to have.

Maybe I'm just having a tough time with the black and white of it all. To come to terms with the "work work work , vacation twice a year , work work work , turn 65, retire!, do whatever I want!"

I've been disciplined and the common (I hate to call them "entrapments") that are constant financial expenses of adulthood [kids, spouse, other debts] haven't been a part of me life yet. My interests and my pursuit had been for the sake of slowly but surely building up stability, security , and eventually more and more free time to pursue other passions of mine to a fuller exent.

Thanks for your time and interest, any feedback is appreciated - don't hesitate to ask any questions either.

 

[DesiRX]

I just want to chime in my two cents here even though I do not have experience or answer to your three proposed questions. I started in retail and later switched to hospital pharmacy with a paycut, however, I feel like that was the best decision I ever made. I would say that if you are able to afford a living by cutting down your hours and still save for retirement and be happy, DO IT. Don't be a slave to your job, I really wish I could just work three days a week and still pay my bills but I can't, sigh. Best of luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Dr Wario]

Op, for most of my career I felt exactly the same way as you do and still do to some extent, but I do have a few recommendations and caveats from a person who is just a little (5 years) older than you.

Firstly, never assume that you will stay unmarried and have zero offspring your entire life, at 28 I "knew" that I was never getting married, but by 29 I was engaged and tied the knot before my 30th birthday.

Secondly, at some point in your life you will start to want to increase your lifestyle and you will also use money in ways you have not yet thought of now. An example would be that one of your family members desperately needs help and you want to be there for him/her.

Third, make sure that you have something to fill your time with before you reduce your hours. The truth is, even working 43 hours a week you already have a massive amount of leisure time available to you, what exactly are you going to do with those 13 hours per week to justify a reduction in income of approx $40,000 gross per year?

Finally, as for as your employer, it really depends on the particulars of your district at the time you request your hours to be reduced. In general, most schedulers will not like having to put in permanent floater shifts in the rotation of a store, (which would happen in most low volume pharmacies) so you may want to see if you can be the 3rd pharmacist in a store that is too busy to have just 2 pharmacists but too slow to have 3 at 40-44 hours. Also, do not worry about telling your employer that you are financially secure if you are not looking for a promotion, it will not really matter to them and they may be happy to find some lower paid person to take the balance of your hours to save on their payroll budget.

Congratulations are in order due to the fact that you are secure enough to think about these things, it is really empowering to know that you are no longer working to put food on the table and are instead working to feel useful and to buy toys.

 

[TheBlaah]

How are you 28 and have been practicing for 6 years? Means you were licensed at the age of 22.

Anyways, for your first question, I highly doubt they'll allow you to be a 30hr ft employee. All the 30hr pharmacists I know are part-time.

 

[deleted205891]

How are you 28 and have been practicing for 6 years? Means you were licensed at the age of 22.

Anyways, for your first question, I highly doubt they'll allow you to be a 30hr ft employee. All the 30hr pharmacists I know are part-time.

5 year program plus a bit or rounding (6 years this May)? That's possible.

 

[M0df]

I asked for decrease in hours. Since you are overnight, I doubt they will simply let you cut 2 days from your 7 on / 7 off schedule. I bet there is a line of applicants for any overnight opening. In my case, sup was ok with me cutting back the base but you have to float to get your hours. These things are district by district. Whether they like full timers in low 30s, or part timers in high 20s depends on budgets and your sup/dm. I wouldn't worry about what your employer is thinking. When you were pic or staff, and a tech left or cut down hours, what did you think? If your district has oversupply of pharmacists, then it is a non issue to them. If they are short, they will try to give you as many hours as they can until new graduating class is coming and that is only a few months away.

Option 3 with unpaid leave is not an option if you want to remain full time. HR will not approve it unless it is medical. You can drop down to part time and ask them not to schedule you for a few months. You need to work 4 hour every 3 or 4 months to remain active in the system.

 

[Dkpharm]

How are you 28 and have been practicing for 6 years? Means you were licensed at the age of 22.

Anyways, for your first question, I highly doubt they'll allow you to be a 30hr ft employee. All the 30hr pharmacists I know are part-time.

It will be 6 years this summer. I'll be 29 at that point. I was licensed at 23

 

[owlegrad]

Full timers can and do take LOAs, so I wouldn't completely discount that idea, but what would you do with the time?

I doubt you can cut back on the overnight shifts but I bet you could go full time 30 hours per week either as a floater or staff RPh. I have seen it plenty of times.

 

[fcrc]

Do what's right for you but at the end of the day, what matters most to your district manager are the needs of the district, not yours. I wish I could say it wouldn't hurt to ask for reduced hours because there are always other pharmacists looking for hours, but I think that's wishful thinking. Realistically, think about how your manager would respond and whether they'd resent you for asking for less work; some managers are more understanding than others.

 

[M0df]

When I tried to go on LOA, HR wouldn't approve it, but there were some other factors at play.

 

[MatCauthon]

Sounds like a new job or a career change might do you good. Pharmacy is a lot more fun when you get out of the CVS/Wags box. Since you are unmarried I am assuming you are willing to move anywhere in the country? If so you can probably find a variety of offers by moving to more remote parts of the country. Some pharmacies are doing some pretty cool stuff. Some even do international aid mission trips every year.

Why don't make a list of what you'd really like to do with your life? Are any of those things achievable inside of pharmacy? I think you might find your tolerance for work come back a bit with a change of scenery.

Good luck!

 

[BMBiology]

You have to think about your benefits.

If they have a choice between giving you 32 hours + benefits or 29 hours - benefits, you are going to get the latter. Are they going to guarantee you get at least 30 hours a week?

If you don't get any benefits, expect:

- no health insurance: you have to buy health insurance or the government is going to fine you
- no HSA
- no 401 k and its match

^ these are also tax deductible.

No benefit also means no paid time off, no sick days.

The bottom line...you are not just going to take a hit with your salary but you are also leaving a lot more on the table.

I have also thought about working just 24 hours a week. What is holding me back is the benefits I will be leaving on the table. I figure I would be better off working hard now and retire before I hit 40.




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[pezdispenser]

You can try to ask your boss for 30 hrs FT, but whether they give it to you or not really varies depending on what's going on in your specific location, such as whether they have staff to take your place. So if they don't let you, you might want to consider transferring to a different district, or even changing companies. Because of the market saturation, 30 hrs FT or floating is actually a fairly common starting point for bottom of the totem pole new hires or transfers. So the new employer or district will feel like they are getting a good deal by seemingly 'demoting' you, but personally this is exactly what you want.

 

[wagrxm2000]

I've seen areas that are willing to work pt due to being the most undesirable location. Outside of that you would be a floater.

 

[El Trombopag]

Just my own personal experience. . .I dropped from 40 to 32 hours a week and don't regret it one bit. I've never had problems filling in that extra time.

A decision like this is based on so many personal factors it is impossible to make any blanket recommendations [obviously]. But regardless of personal circumstance, it is *always* worth reminding yourself that all work, every job, is a transaction. We trade life for money. At various points in our lives the balance tips one way or t'other.

 

[Lnsean]

*My apologies in advance for the long-winded-ness of this post and any unintentional rambling.

I'm going to pose a few questions first for those who don't read my background or details. The questions are primarily directed at retail pharmacists with 5+ years experience, but of course I'll appreciate all varieties of input.

1. What is your experience (personal or 2nd, 3rd person) with a pharmacist who requests a decrease in hours? i.e. from 43 hrs ft to ~ 30 ft

2. What about with a full time pharmacist who requests to go part-time or float ?

3. what about a full time pharmacist requesting personal unpaid leave?

Some background,
I've been practicing 6 years, with 4 at Cvs and 2 at wags. In this time I've worked and lived like a slave. I've paid off all debts and only carry a mortgage payment with me. At this point, I can afford to work significantly less and still save for retirement and be financially secure.

I've been a staff , a PIC, and recruited to train for a sup position. I've worked the 12 out of 14 days schedule, the 4 - 10s schedule and currently I work overnights , 7 on 7 off

I've felt burnout before. it seems to happen in cycles. We've all been there. Over the past months, partly due to changes of my employer (cuts in hours etc) I've been thinking "do I really NEED to work this much?"

I like the work, I find satisfaction in my job, and honestly I don't see myself in the traditional "turn 65 and hang it up" framework, even though I'd have the savings to do so. I want to remain relevant in the profession indefinitely. I wouldn't ever want to "quit altogether"

I have no kids, no S.O. and no expenses past the mortgage. Is it selfish of me to place less importance on my income and more attention to endeavors I've always wanted to begin?

My impression is that it's in bad taste to relay these above sentiments to my employer/ my bosses. They have no reason to care that I'm secure financially, and have "other endeavors" and can afford to work less. There's ostensibly nothing in it for them to grant me a change in schedule and have to hire/ transfer / juggle schedules again.

I'm 28, I don't mean to come across as brash, cocky, or overconfident. I hold a great reverence toward any job I have and I am always conscious of my attitude toward the employment I am fortunate to have.

Maybe I'm just having a tough time with the black and white of it all. To come to terms with the "work work work , vacation twice a year , work work work , turn 65, retire!, do whatever I want!"

I've been disciplined and the common (I hate to call them "entrapments") that are constant financial expenses of adulthood [kids, spouse, other debts] haven't been a part of me life yet. My interests and my pursuit had been for the sake of slowly but surely building up stability, security , and eventually more and more free time to pursue other passions of mine to a fuller exent.

Thanks for your time and interest, any feedback is appreciated - don't hesitate to ask any questions either.

I was floater, staff, RXM...and now I have recently stepped down to part time as well to pursue a few other goals. Life is short---go pursue those things you want to do---if it doesn't work out then go back to full time and slave away. Of course, it's always your call.

 

[dxb8307]

Just my own personal experience. . .I dropped from 40 to 32 hours a week and don't regret it one bit. I've never had problems filling in that extra time.

A decision like this is based on so many personal factors it is impossible to make any blanket recommendations [obviously]. But regardless of personal circumstance, it is *always* worth reminding yourself that all work, every job, is a transaction. We trade life for money. At various points in our lives the balance tips one way or t'other.

I have been thinking about doing the same thing and I have only been out of school for a year and half. My hat is off to you for having the courage to do so.

 

[thecoolpharmboi]

*My apologies in advance for the long-winded-ness of this post and any unintentional rambling.

I'm going to pose a few questions first for those who don't read my background or details. The questions are primarily directed at retail pharmacists with 5+ years experience, but of course I'll appreciate all varieties of input.

1. What is your experience (personal or 2nd, 3rd person) with a pharmacist who requests a decrease in hours? i.e. from 43 hrs ft to ~ 30 ft

2. What about with a full time pharmacist who requests to go part-time or float ?

3. what about a full time pharmacist requesting personal unpaid leave?

Some background,
I've been practicing 6 years, with 4 at Cvs and 2 at wags. In this time I've worked and lived like a slave. I've paid off all debts and only carry a mortgage payment with me. At this point, I can afford to work significantly less and still save for retirement and be financially secure.

I've been a staff , a PIC, and recruited to train for a sup position. I've worked the 12 out of 14 days schedule, the 4 - 10s schedule and currently I work overnights , 7 on 7 off

I've felt burnout before. it seems to happen in cycles. We've all been there. Over the past months, partly due to changes of my employer (cuts in hours etc) I've been thinking "do I really NEED to work this much?"

I like the work, I find satisfaction in my job, and honestly I don't see myself in the traditional "turn 65 and hang it up" framework, even though I'd have the savings to do so. I want to remain relevant in the profession indefinitely. I wouldn't ever want to "quit altogether"

I have no kids, no S.O. and no expenses past the mortgage. Is it selfish of me to place less importance on my income and more attention to endeavors I've always wanted to begin?

My impression is that it's in bad taste to relay these above sentiments to my employer/ my bosses. They have no reason to care that I'm secure financially, and have "other endeavors" and can afford to work less. There's ostensibly nothing in it for them to grant me a change in schedule and have to hire/ transfer / juggle schedules again.

I'm 28, I don't mean to come across as brash, cocky, or overconfident. I hold a great reverence toward any job I have and I am always conscious of my attitude toward the employment I am fortunate to have.

Maybe I'm just having a tough time with the black and white of it all. To come to terms with the "work work work , vacation twice a year , work work work , turn 65, retire!, do whatever I want!"

I've been disciplined and the common (I hate to call them "entrapments") that are constant financial expenses of adulthood [kids, spouse, other debts] haven't been a part of me life yet. My interests and my pursuit had been for the sake of slowly but surely building up stability, security , and eventually more and more free time to pursue other passions of mine to a fuller exent.

Thanks for your time and interest, any feedback is appreciated - don't hesitate to ask any questions either.

Wow, you're 28 and already worked 6 years?! 23 when you're licensed huh...impressive 🙂 I'd say just do whatever makes you happy. If I was you (no debt, no kids), I'd be part time and travel.

 

[Michael_Scott]

Wow, you're 28 and already worked 6 years?! 23 when you're licensed huh...impressive 🙂 I'd say just do whatever makes you happy. If I was you (no debt, no kids), I'd be part time and travel.

6 year programs... graduate HS at 17 get licensed by 23.

 

[mentos]

I'm 36 hours FT and I would love to drop down to 30. I'll be debt free in a few months. I can think of thousands of things I'd rather do than be at work. Go to the gym, spend time with family and friends, read, watch TV...

 

[rxdawg21]

Try to switch to wal-mart and get one of their 32 hour a week fulltime gigs.