Unfair or am I being difficult?

[PharmDstudent]

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When I was hired at my current store I was promised 25/hrs per week for the summer. Unfortunately, this hasn't panned out. Even though two people left, I am scheduled between 14-18/hrs per week, because the DM cut 25 hours from the pharmacy within the last 6 weeks.
I am very disappointed, because I have to provide for myself and things have been getting harder since my paycheck have been cut. Also, the pharmacy interns who are on rotations get priority for scheduling. I don't think this is a fair practice, because the company does not have a policy stating that priority goes to those with seniority and there is going to be a conflict between myself and another intern over scheduling- we both want Saturdays (only one pharmacist and one tech/intern on Saturdays)!
Soooo.... I have my eyes on another company (I completed an application today), but I'm not sure if I'm rushing. When I spoke to my pharmacist today, the PIC is out on an extended leave, she said she isn't the person I should go to about this problem. The PIC and DM have made their decisions about scheduling and the staff pharmacist says she doesn't have power. I told her that I am going to her first, because the DM will ask why I didn't talk to my pharmacist first.

 

[Old Timer]

Depending on the size of the company and he area in question, you might be able to get hours at another store in the chain. Are you being unreasonable? Maybe. If they promised you the hours and their hours were cut, they should have come to you directly. On the other hand if you are there for the summer only and then going back to school, I would give preference to the students who would also work during school.

By all means speak to the DM and see what your options are. DO NOT mention applying to a competitor. It's a card you only play if you have to.

 

[sdn1977]

When I was hired at my current store I was promised 25/hrs per week for the summer. Unfortunately, this hasn't panned out. Even though two people left, I am scheduled between 14-18/hrs per week, because the DM cut 25 hours from the pharmacy within the last 6 weeks.
I am very disappointed, because I have to provide for myself and things have been getting harder since my paycheck have been cut. Also, the pharmacy interns who are on rotations get priority for scheduling. I don't think this is a fair practice, because the company does not have a policy stating that priority goes to those with seniority and there is going to be a conflict between myself and another intern over scheduling- we both want Saturdays (only one pharmacist and one tech/intern on Saturdays)!
Soooo.... I have my eyes on another company (I completed an application today), but I'm not sure if I'm rushing. When I spoke to my pharmacist today, the PIC is out on an extended leave, she said she isn't the person I should go to about this problem. The PIC and DM have made their decisions about scheduling and the staff pharmacist says she doesn't have power. I told her that I am going to her first, because the DM will ask why I didn't talk to my pharmacist first.

I think if you go back to your verbal agreement - it was 25 hours if those were possible. For the most part, pharmacy employees are "at will" employees, which means they are hired, fired & employeed at the will of the company.

Corporations staff pharmacies based on a number of factors - rx #'s being one of them. They go down dramatically in the summer.

One thing you need to recognize - interns are normally paid "behind stage" which means their pay is not incorporated into the store's nor pharmacy budget. There is a separate budget for interns which is handled at the corporate level & there is separate money budgeted for interns. That is what makes interns attractive - they don't "cost" the pharmacy anything & they can do more than a tech (altho they sometimes don't want to do "tech" stuff). They are not considered in the seniority ladder (nor is a float pharmacist for that matter when being compared to a full time pharmacist).

Is it fair - no. But, life is not fair. Personally, I'd rather have an intern than a tech on a Saturday always because they can do much more than a tech can.

Your screen name is PharmacyStudent - get your intern license & become an intern & you won't run into this issue.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I would be working beyond the summer, part-time during school, and I have both licenses, tech and intern. There's one problem: all of the part-time workers are pharmacy interns, and the company is saturated with us!

 

[WVUPharm2007]

The same thing happened at my store...and just about every store in Morgantown. I stayed because there was a person I wager is like you that actually thought the word of the corporate pharmacy is actually worth something. That person got fed up and left - leaving me and another person with 40 hrs/week rather than 25 hrs/week. Your current coworkers will thank you for leaving. Now if you are smart, you will be a nefarious little bastard and get the others to leave before you do.

 

[sdn1977]

I would be working beyond the summer, part-time during school, and I have both licenses, tech and intern. There's one problem: all of the part-time workers are pharmacy interns, and the company is saturated with us!

So I don't get why you're steamed?

You're an intern - you all are getting hours & there are only so many hours to get. The interns on rotations only have a certain number of hours available to work, probably not Saturdays since they're not on rotations then. So...I'm assuming they are above you in school - more education? Am I right? Then, they are closer to being finished & closer to being hired.

Think about the company's perspective - they are "trying" you out as an employee. The closer someone is to graduate, the closer the company is to hiring a new pharmacist. You have more flexibility as a "younger" student (perhaps not age - educational age). So - they need to work the "older" student when the student is available.

So - you'll get there too. If you need more hours, apply somewhere else for a few hours a week. An additonal employment site on your resume won't hurt you.

 

[PharmDstudent]

"So I don't get why you're steamed?"
I really enjoy working Saturdays, because I can get 8-10 hours in at once. During the week, it takes 45 minutes just to get to work.

"Think about the company's perspective - they are "trying" you out as an employee. The closer someone is to graduate, the closer the company is to hiring a new pharmacist. You have more flexibility as a "younger" student (perhaps not age - educational age). So - they need to work the "older" student when the student is available."
They've been "trying" me out for a few years now. I just recently had to move to a new district- my old store is 1.5hrs away.

"So - you'll get there too. If you need more hours, apply somewhere else for a few hours a week. An additonal employment site on your resume won't hurt you."
Is it a good idea to work for more than one retail chain?? I know of an out-of-town hospital which is ironically only 30-40 minutes away, and I already know the assistant director and staff pharmacist.

 

[sdn1977]

"So I don't get why you're steamed?"
I really enjoy working Saturdays, because I can get 8-10 hours in at once. During the week, it takes 45 minutes just to get to work.

"Think about the company's perspective - they are "trying" you out as an employee. The closer someone is to graduate, the closer the company is to hiring a new pharmacist. You have more flexibility as a "younger" student (perhaps not age - educational age). So - they need to work the "older" student when the student is available."
They've been "trying" me out for a few years now. I just recently had to move to a new district- my old store is 1.5hrs away.

"So - you'll get there too. If you need more hours, apply somewhere else for a few hours a week. An additonal employment site on your resume won't hurt you."
Is it a good idea to work for more than one retail chain?? I know of an out-of-town hospital which is ironically only 30-40 minutes away, and I already know the assistant director and staff pharmacist.

But - its not about you - its about the company's needs. If they don't need so many people, they'll want the person who is more beneficial to them. That might translate to an intern who is closer to graduating - hence can do more & might become a pharmacist for them. When it comes to interns, the only seniority which counts is how much independence can I let you have & what does the company want from me in the way of training a potential pharmacist employee. You may be too far down that totem pole.

The time it takes you to get to a job is irrelevant to the employer. That is your worry & you knew it when you took the job.

I can't say its a good idea for you to take on another retail chain, but a variety of job experiences are all good for you while you are learning. There is nothing harmful from an employer's perspective except for two things. First - you MAY NOT EVER discuss one employer's patients, needs, circumstances, policies, procedures, etc with employees of another employer. When you were hired you would have signed this disclosure of proprietary information. That means you can't share promotional materials, programs in planning stages, obviously patient information, etc..

Second, each employer will want to be your "primary" - the one that you will always answer to first. That is only honest & open. As long as the other knows you have another situation, they'll respect that & fit you in as they can.

 

[LECOMorBUST]

For the most part, pharmacy employees are "at will" employees, which means they are hired, fired & employeed at the will of the company.

One thing you need to recognize - interns are normally paid "behind stage" which means their pay is not incorporated into the store's nor pharmacy budget. There is a separate budget for interns which is handled at the corporate level & there is separate money budgeted for interns. That is what makes interns attractive - they don't "cost" the pharmacy anything & they can do more than a tech (altho they sometimes don't want to do "tech" stuff). They are not considered in the seniority ladder (nor is a float pharmacist for that matter when being compared to a full time pharmacist).

Very interesting information and company perspective concerning interns and techs. I have only started working at a retail pharmacy (6 weeks now) and currently begin to see what you mean by "at will" employees. Day 1 of hire, I was informed that the pharmacy is non-union. Though more recently the pharmacy manager is being squeezed to cut hours here and there from 2 sides (his direct boss and the HR manager). Also, another tech. with more experience than myself (about a year or so) was very recently "removed from the schedule" for hush reasons.

I have noticed the interns and graduate intern who can not be bothered to do the "tech" stuff/work. So, understandably being on the very bottom, I am relegated to register duty. Which is fine by me (I know my place in the hierarchy), but how am I to become proficient and competent with the other necessary skills needed (computer systems, insurance issues, etc.). Well I am certainly not in this for the peanuts they pay. The experience and intern hours I can gain before school starts is the real "gold" and better than the minuscule experience I started with before I was hired. I recall the pharmacy manager was quite excited when I was 1st spoke to him about the available position. Recently, I spoke to his boss and she too was excited about my transition to start pharmacy school and becoming an intern. All of this coincides with your statement above. Well, the intern license should show up any day now and open up some opportunities for some quality training, though I am pretty dynamite at the register. 😀

 

[Old Timer]

I work for a major chain and unless you go to school out of state and return home for the summer, all of your hours count against the store.

Once your are proficient at the register, ask to have your duties expanded.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I work for a major chain and unless you go to school out of state and return home for the summer, all of your hours count against the store.

Yeah, same here. They only allocate 10 hrs/week for an intern which doesn't really mean anything. No one in particular gets exactly 10 hrs.

 

[sdn1977]

I work for a major chain and unless you go to school out of state and return home for the summer, all of your hours count against the store.

Once your are proficient at the register, ask to have your duties expanded.

When I do retail, I too work for a chain - which, granted is not full time.

When I taught in a tech school, one of my jobs was placement for tech students. I think you work for CVS - right? At the time I was doing that, CVS had no place in CA at all, particularly not in N CA. But at ALL the other major chains, ALL students - tech students & interns were "backstage" employees - their hours did not count against the store's budget. They might have been on the store's budgetary paperwork, but when the period (or quarter - depending on what chain you talk about) ended - the hours were "written off" when a student held them.

I can't speak about CVS - I never placed a student there nor have I ever even been inside a CVS store, although I do know they bought out some S CA Savons and that is too far from me to have any knowledge about.

But - in my place of retail business & all the others around me, all the student hours are "backstage" - it would be far too expensive to have a student around otherwise. If a student is being placed for school credit, they don't receive any pay at all.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I've recently worked for two major chains. At both, when I started, intern hours were "covered" by the district office, and did not count against the store. By the time I left each position, the respective district offices were either limiting the number of intern hours that they would cover or not covering them at all. Don't know why that changed but it affected my hours and schedule at both places.

 

[Old Timer]

At CVS, students who are placed as part of a school rotation are not paid and therefore their hours do not count against the store. If they get paid, their hours count except for certain situations such as:

• Training hours
• Grad intern hours (not unlimited)
• Students returning from school out of state.

Otherwise, if you are on the payroll, your hours count against your store....

 

[PharmDstudent]

Sorry about all of the repeat posts... my wireless connection was fading in and out.

 

[lord999]

I remember when I was a student, Fry's totally screwed a bunch of my classmates out of hours. There wasn't a day in my first year that I did not hear about benefit cuts and hours issues. Until, Wal-Mart one-upped them by making all their interns reapply for the "corporate intern" positions and demoting the rest to technicians. The interns that Wal-Mart already had were pissed that they could have lost their jobs, the rest of us were cautious about when Wal-mart approached again. No one forgot either incident.

Come hiring time after 3rd year, Fry's and Wal-Mart (I think just 2 actually joined) decisively did the worst out of everyone (even the newcomer CVS did better).

Walgreens and Safeway had their own problems with the classes above us, but our year, they made good on their guarantees of intern employment in terms of guaranteed hours and no politics. Most of the Walgreens and Safeway's folks actually just signed the contract when the time came.

About your specfic situation, start sending out your resume. Six months to a year is adequate time to feel out someone. It may be that you're not a match schedulewise for the company and that you need to move to a place that needs more interns at the hours you work.

 

[PharmDstudent]

I remember when I was a student, Fry's totally screwed a bunch of my classmates out of hours. There wasn't a day in my first year that I did not hear about benefit cuts and hours issues. Until, Wal-Mart one-upped them by making all their interns reapply for the "corporate intern" positions and demoting the rest to technicians. The interns that Wal-Mart already had were pissed that they could have lost their jobs, the rest of us were cautious about when Wal-mart approached again. No one forgot either incident.

Come hiring time after 3rd year, Fry's and Wal-Mart (I think just 2 actually joined) decisively did the worst out of everyone (even the newcomer CVS did better).

Walgreens and Safeway had their own problems with the classes above us, but our year, they made good on their guarantees of intern employment in terms of guaranteed hours and no politics. Most of the Walgreens and Safeway's folks actually just signed the contract when the time came.

About your specfic situation, start sending out your resume. Six months to a year is adequate time to feel out someone. It may be that you're not a match schedulewise for the company and that you need to move to a place that needs more interns at the hours you work.

Thank you for this post! This makes me feel like I'm no longer alone in the fight. It's so strange that companies would over-hire interns and then cut budgets. I've begun to think that the companies just want more potential sign-ons, so they hire as many students as possible which screws everyone over in the end. The company that I currently work for has upset me twice. I've already posted one problem. The second problem happened when I was a tech. All state licensed techs in my district are supposed to start at $9.25/hr. The DM put my raise through for $8.80/hr. I ask my pharmacy manager what happened and he said to call the DM. Well, the DM refused to return my phone calls. Eventually I quit and started working at a hospital for $9.65/hr which gave me a raise after 6 months to $9.94/hr.

The company I work for has disappointed me again. I'm already looking around for another position!