Walgreens Break

[farmerboy112]

Walgreens put out this acknowledgement they want us to agree to:

I agree to waive my unpaid meal break as provided for under New York law and Walgreens policies. I understand that by New York law I am entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break if I work more than six (6) hours during a shift and in some circumstances, a 45 minute unpaid meal. For some afternoon shifts longer than eight hours, I am entitled to an additional 20 minute unpaid meal period between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I hereby voluntarily agree to give up my right to an uninterrupted meal period and continue my responsibilities and work duties for this 30 or 45-minute period, or the additional 20 minute period, for which I will be paid in full, when working a shift for which I am unable to be relieved of duty for a full meal period. I understand that I will be permitted to eat a meal on the premises during my shift even if I agree to not take a full meal period as provided under the law and policies. This waiver is made on a voluntary basis. I understand that I am not required to waive my meal period(s) and that I may revoke this agreement at any time by giving written notice to my Store Manager.

Has anyone else seen this?? Are we allowed breaks in NY??

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[CetiAlphaFive]

Walgreens put out this acknowledgement they want us to agree to:

I agree to waive my unpaid meal break as provided for under New York law and Walgreens policies. I understand that by New York law I am entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break if I work more than six (6) hours during a shift and in some circumstances, a 45 minute unpaid meal. For some afternoon shifts longer than eight hours, I am entitled to an additional 20 minute unpaid meal period between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I hereby voluntarily agree to give up my right to an uninterrupted meal period and continue my responsibilities and work duties for this 30 or 45-minute period, or the additional 20 minute period, for which I will be paid in full, when working a shift for which I am unable to be relieved of duty for a full meal period. I understand that I will be permitted to eat a meal on the premises during my shift even if I agree to not take a full meal period as provided under the law and policies. This waiver is made on a voluntary basis. I understand that I am not required to waive my meal period(s) and that I may revoke this agreement at any time by giving written notice to my Store Manager.

Has anyone else seen this?? Are we allowed breaks in NY??

You'd better send that to the attorney general asap

 

[farmerboy112]

LOL go complain to the attorney general because you didn't get a break! And then they wonder why they don't get prescribing rights, different work ethic I guess.

Is this a joke? Pharmacist is not a respected profession as it is. When was the last time you saw an MD ringing up toilet paper and candy and god forbid you try to eat something you get stared at why aren't you filling my RX. Prescribing rights is the least of my concern. How about we start with getting treated like a person?

 

[aqb]

Give them a written notice that you're not going to sign that voluntary waiver and give evidence-based material on how a person maximizes performance with food for energy and breaks for mental sanity.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

LOL go complain to the attorney general because you didn't get a break! And then they wonder why they don't get prescribing rights, different work ethic I guess.

Not taking a break because your "work ethic" is sooo strong is akin to not using PTO when you have the flu just to coworkers how tough you are and how much you care about your job. No one cares, in fact they despise you for it.

Plus you're more prone to errors the longer you work with no break. Not fair for the patients or yourself.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

It says you can eat on premises. Keep that for when LP comes and busts you for having food and drink in pharmacy.


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[CetiAlphaFive]

LOL go complain to the attorney general because you didn't get a break! And then they wonder why they don't get prescribing rights, different work ethic I guess.

A corporation breaking state law to further its abuse of a profession has nothing to do with work ethic.
A mandatory waiver is so incredibly stupid.

You're not only ignorant, but you may be unintelligent or lack the ability to think if you fail to see that this was the point i was making.

You may think you're immune since you have no real world experience, but corporate culture is infecting your profession as well.

Try to use this inferiority complex on nurses in a hospital and see how far your title gets you with a lowly RN with "DoN" written on their office door.

 

[SELDANE]

The way I see it, if you enjoy your 30 minute unpaid lunch break then don't sign the paper. Take your lunch break business as usual and drive on. If you're ambivalent about it and you're able to scarf down something while you work without a compromise to quality assurance then sign the paper and know that you've probably picked up an extra $20 for working during your lunch break. Do what works for you and don't get hung up on the politics of the "profession".

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

On the contrary, there have been many studies showing there is no benefit to patient clinical outcomes by imposing work hour restrictions. I will quote a few articles but there are many you can find with a simple google search. In fact the second article posted found "negative impacts on patient outcomes and performance on certification examinations" by reducing work hours. So extrapolating that to pharmacy, I'm certain if surgical residents can work efficiently at 80+ hours/week without compromising patient care pharmacists can fill and check medications. Really should not be complaining about their meal breaks, but then again it's a different school of thought for different people. This is why pharmacists are not surgeons and vice versa, but to say the pharmacists would make more errors with more work hours is either plain wrong or the quality of employee of a pharmacist cannot compare to that of a surgeon.

The Effect of Restricting Residents' Duty Hours on Patient Safety, Resident Well-Being, and Resident Education: An Updated Systematic Review
A systematic review of the effects of resident duty hour restrictions in surgery: impact on resident wellness, training, and patient outcomes. - PubMed - NCBI


Actually, nice try. I'm a retired pharmacist (admittedly I only practiced less than 5 years, when the over saturation bubble was bursting). I just like to buzz around the pharmacy forums from time to time to remind myself of days past and be thankful for what I currently have.

Again, I'm not sure what post you think you're replying to, but the words you just wrote have nothing to do with my post.

If anything, I feel like you're jokingly portraying someone who worries about being perceived negatively as a joke.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Walgreens put out this acknowledgement they want us to agree to:

I agree to waive my unpaid meal break as provided for under New York law and Walgreens policies. I understand that by New York law I am entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal break if I work more than six (6) hours during a shift and in some circumstances, a 45 minute unpaid meal. For some afternoon shifts longer than eight hours, I am entitled to an additional 20 minute unpaid meal period between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. I hereby voluntarily agree to give up my right to an uninterrupted meal period and continue my responsibilities and work duties for this 30 or 45-minute period, or the additional 20 minute period, for which I will be paid in full, when working a shift for which I am unable to be relieved of duty for a full meal period. I understand that I will be permitted to eat a meal on the premises during my shift even if I agree to not take a full meal period as provided under the law and policies. This waiver is made on a voluntary basis. I understand that I am not required to waive my meal period(s) and that I may revoke this agreement at any time by giving written notice to my Store Manager.

Has anyone else seen this?? Are we allowed breaks in NY??

Obviously you ARE allowed breaks, which is why they want you to "voluntarily" wave your breaks. I'm not sure that signing this would mean anything legally (although obviously Walgreens hopes it will legally protect them), generally speaking, people can't just waive their legal rights, but I don't know NY law.

 

[zelman]

When did pharmacists stop being exempt management in NY?

I’d probably respond with a waiver asking them to sign away their right to count the cash in my register.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

On the contrary, there have been many studies showing there is no benefit to patient clinical outcomes by imposing work hour restrictions. I will quote a few articles but there are many you can find with a simple google search. In fact the second article posted found "negative impacts on patient outcomes and performance on certification examinations" by reducing work hours. So extrapolating that to pharmacy, I'm certain if surgical residents can work efficiently at 80+ hours/week without compromising patient care pharmacists can fill and check medications. Really should not be complaining about their meal breaks, but then again it's a different school of thought for different people. This is why pharmacists are not surgeons and vice versa, but to say the pharmacists would make more errors with more work hours is either plain wrong or the quality of employee of a pharmacist cannot compare to that of a surgeon.

The Effect of Restricting Residents' Duty Hours on Patient Safety, Resident Well-Being, and Resident Education: An Updated Systematic Review
A systematic review of the effects of resident duty hour restrictions in surgery: impact on resident wellness, training, and patient outcomes. - PubMed - NCBI

That’s great. I can post literature that concludes the opposite of what you’ve found if you’d like.

My point is, as you clearly are aware of, you are extrapolating two completely different lines of work. Staring at a computer and verifying orders all day vs. direct patient care, surgery, etc. I’m not going to compare apples and oranges or compare and extrapolate pharmacist vs. physician/surgeon job demands... because it’s useless and rather idiotic.

I don’t work retail, so I won’t speak for those pharmacists. I’d love to hear (in this thread) which ones would prefer a 30min lunch break, and if they felt it would improve their accuracy or lessen errors. Please chime in guys/gals.

I’ll take their anecdotes rather than looking at physician studies.



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[lord999]

On the contrary, there have been many studies showing there is no benefit to patient clinical outcomes by imposing work hour restrictions. I will quote a few articles but there are many you can find with a simple google search. In fact the second article posted found "negative impacts on patient outcomes and performance on certification examinations" by reducing work hours. So extrapolating that to pharmacy, I'm certain if surgical residents can work efficiently at 80+ hours/week without compromising patient care pharmacists can fill and check medications. Really should not be complaining about their meal breaks, but then again it's a different school of thought for different people. This is why pharmacists are not surgeons and vice versa, but to say the pharmacists would make more errors with more work hours is either plain wrong or the quality of employee of a pharmacist cannot compare to that of a surgeon.

The Effect of Restricting Residents' Duty Hours on Patient Safety, Resident Well-Being, and Resident Education: An Updated Systematic Review
A systematic review of the effects of resident duty hour restrictions in surgery: impact on resident wellness, training, and patient outcomes. - PubMed - NCBI


Actually, nice try. I'm a retired pharmacist (admittedly I only practiced less than 5 years, when the over saturation bubble was bursting). I just like to buzz around the pharmacy forums from time to time to remind myself of days past and be thankful for what I currently have.

I agree with @CetiAlphaFive, but also, you did not read the enraged commentary on that article for shoddy methodological quality. That particular article made the rounds for what NOT to do in a meta-analysis in terms of admitting garbage studies into sensitivity analysis. Even ABMS had to comment that it beggars belief that a resident could do 100 hours and still maintain the quality of care (unless it was so abysmal that a program could replace them). Whatever you work in now, it probably is for the best that you are not in patient care. Leave us to our own problems, they are no longer your concern as you have amply stated.

 

[lord999]

More on topic, FLSA is surprisingly silent on meal or rest breaks in general (federal workers under Title 5 and 42, railroad employees, and coal miners excepted). Neither are mandatory, even to nonexempt staff! Same with on-call while off-duty. States can mandate those perks and whether they are paid or not is due to whether FLSA counts the matter as on-duty or off. If New York is crazy enough to have meal breaks be waived, then that is a state matter.

AZ does not have mandatory lunch or rest breaks, period at any point in its state history!

Pharmacist Workload / Protecting the Public Health | Arizona State Board of Pharmacy

This actually has caused some consternation among the ranks every so often, but most sneak food during the time. Also, none of the Boards can pass a regulation on the matter, because state employment law overrides whatever the Board regulation would be there as it explicitly says no requirement for breaks as a matter of employment.

 

[BidingMyTime]

There is a reason why many critical jobs (pilots, truck drivers, etc.) have hour limits and mandated sleep periods. Humans need food and rest, this is a biological fact.

 

[OXYFORALL]

Took a 30 minute paid lunch break everyday while I worked for rite aid as allowed by pa and nj law. Not something that will make you a popular rph with your dm's but my sanity was worth it.

 

[dxb8307]

That’s great. I can post literature that concludes the opposite of what you’ve found if you’d like.

My point is, as you clearly are aware of, you are extrapolating two completely different lines of work. Staring at a computer and verifying orders all day vs. direct patient care, surgery, etc. I’m not going to compare apples and oranges or compare and extrapolate pharmacist vs. physician/surgeon job demands... because it’s useless and rather idiotic.

I don’t work retail, so I won’t speak for those pharmacists. I’d love to hear (in this thread) which ones would prefer a 30min lunch break, and if they felt it would improve their accuracy or lessen errors. Please chime in guys/gals.

I’ll take their anecdotes rather than looking at physician studies.



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Retail pharmacist here. I personally don't care about having a 30 min break when I am covering an 8 hour shift. It is a whole different story when I am covering a 12 hr shift.