How pharmacists are treated at Wal-mart

[Pharmacisto]

need your advice guys, I work for Walmart in Washington state. I have a district manager or what is called Mareket Health and Wellness Director who does not care about health or wellness. She is practicing her leadership skills by cutting hours from techs and cashiers and decrease overlap time between pharmacists. I worked today without any cashiers in a pharmacy that makes 400-450 scripts daily in Summer season. There was only four techs working, two of them were cashiering all day long and one on the drop off window and I was filling, bagging, counseling, fourpointing and visual integrity scripts. One of the cashiers quit and the second one in two weeks vacation and she was burned up. Overtime is not allowed even while people in vacations. Walmart does not allow unions but also it does not tackle care of people working for it. Our store has made 30 percent more sales than last year, but the harder you work the more u get punished and the more they decrease help in the pharmacy. Pharmacy manager is very negative and does not care about us too, he burns us up and get benefit from decreasing labor because he gets better commission. Everyone is scared to call ethics line because the MHWD could check the cameras all day and search for any mistake to get u fired or put u under stress. What can I do guys, any advice ??? Iam so desperate and burned up.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[6GodPharm]

Buddy, try a CVS where we do anywhere from 500-600 a day, no overlap and we don't have the tech check program. You're constantly answering questions and helping the phones because calls are coming all day. We also don't get the luxury of only verifying. 2 pharmacist and 4 techs is a ridiculous amount of help for 400/day. Wags and CVS pharmacists would kill for that. Can't wait for the look on COSTCO pharmacists when CVS buys them

 

[Lnsean]

need your advice guys, I work for Walmart in Washington state. I have a district manager or what is called Mareket Health and Wellness Director who does not care about health or wellness. She is practicing her leadership skills by cutting hours from techs and cashiers and decrease overlap time between pharmacists. I worked today without any cashiers in a pharmacy that makes 400-450 scripts daily in Summer season. There was only four techs working, two of them were cashiering all day long and one on the drop off window and I was filling, bagging, counseling, fourpointing and visual integrity scripts. One of the cashiers quit and the second one in two weeks vacation and she was burned up. Overtime is not allowed even while people in vacations. Walmart does not allow unions but also it does not tackle care of people working for it. Our store has made 30 percent more sales than last year, but the harder you work the more u get punished and the more they decrease help in the pharmacy. Pharmacy manager is very negative and does not care about us too, he burns us up and get benefit from decreasing labor because he gets better commission. Everyone is scared to call ethics line because the MHWD could check the cameras all day and search for any mistake to get u fired or put u under stress. What can I do guys, any advice ??? Iam so desperate and burned up.

Bro...I do that (450-500) with like 2 techs most of the day and a 3rd tech that overlaps for 4 hours. You still have it good. I don't even get to sit down and eat my lunch.

 

[MrBonita]

There are so many threads of pharmacist leaving retail for a less paying pharmacist positions. Hit those up or try to reason with your district manager. Remember that her goal is to look good and move up the ladder, maybe you can look good and try to move up yourself. We have all been there where pharmacy is just killing us, I hope you find an answer and good lucky.

 

[Sine Cura]

Oh joy, another pissing contest.

However if at WM you are really filling 14 Rx per tech hour, it makes you wonder what is the point of working for WM then vs. CVS/Wags/RA aside from a built-in meal period because then it is just CVS with worse workflow and increasingly CVS-ized expectations

Also RXM and staff bonus is not based on top-line or bottom-line growth in div 10. It is based in part on Rx script growth and QPF. Your evaluation is based on top-line and bottom-line growth in div 10.

 

[farmadiazepine]

I work at an easy independent and we do 200 scripts with me and a grandma. That's it. I'm 30. She's 65. You are talking about 400 scripts with 5 people, 4 of them technicians.

Advice? Leave if it's too much. Also, leave it goes against what you believe in. Find another job.

I left retail and make $35,000 less (before taxes). Do I feel the pay difference? Yes, I still do. I don't splurge at the bar anymore, I don't treat out all my friends all the time and cover the entire night anymore, I don't also buy stupid shi* anymore. Has my quality of life changed? Absolutely, and it only improved. I can function like a caring human being again instead of a person who hated all human beings while working at CVS.

When you are a in a situation where you can't imagine how you are going to continue to do your job, you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How do you plan to work there for another 40 years until retirement? If you can't answer that question, then consider seriously thinking about where you are right now and what steps you have to take to make a better life and work environment for yourself.

 

[lord999]

need your advice guys, I work for Walmart ...
(repetitive information deleted)
... What can I do guys, any advice ??? Iam so desperate and burned up.

Like everyone said above, this is something that you will have to get used to or get out of. You didn't need to say anything more beyond "Walmart" for us to get the question.

 

[M0df]

I like how techs and cashiers are in separate categories. Info I'm getting from Walmart people is that they have been cutting hours. It seems your pharmacy manager is taking it a lot better too. Unless your daily staff schedule is tilted for your manager to work with more help, you are working under the same conditions?

OP, the scary thing is that there are tons of Wags and CVS pharmacists and new grads who are willing to take your job the second you leave.

 

[radio frequency]

OP, the scary thing is that there are tons of Wags and CVS pharmacists and new grads who are willing to take your job the second you leave.

I think pharmacists might have a skewed idea of how "good" it is at Walmart. I have a pretty sweet job (better than Walmart, for sure) and we are always hurting for applicants.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I work at an easy independent and we do 200 scripts with me and a grandma. That's it. I'm 30. She's 65. You are talking about 400 scripts with 5 people, 4 of them technicians.

Advice? Leave if it's too much. Also, leave it goes against what you believe in. Find another job.

I left retail and make $35,000 less (before taxes). Do I feel the pay difference? Yes, I still do. I don't splurge at the bar anymore, I don't treat out all my friends all the time and cover the entire night anymore, I don't also buy stupid shi* anymore. Has my quality of life changed? Absolutely, and it only improved. I can function like a caring human being again instead of a person who hated all human beings while working at CVS.

When you are a in a situation where you can't imagine how you are going to continue to do your job, you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How do you plan to work there for another 40 years until retirement? If you can't answer that question, then consider seriously thinking about where you are right now and what steps you have to take to make a better life and work environment for yourself.

This +100.
Target was very generous, but I don't think I'll ever go back to corporate.

My job is too good

 

[quickpic007]

Oh joy, another pissing contest.

However if at WM you are really filling 14 Rx per tech hour, it makes you wonder what is the point of working for WM then vs. CVS/Wags/RA aside from a built-in meal period because then it is just CVS with worse workflow and increasingly CVS-ized expectations

Also RXM and staff bonus is not based on top-line or bottom-line growth in div 10. It is based in part on Rx script growth and QPF. Your evaluation is based on top-line and bottom-line growth in div 10.

What would you say is a good # rx per tech hour after these summer hour cuts at walmart? are these cuts permanent?

 

[Sine Cura]

I went from 270 support to 219 in the last 14-week S3G forecast (those are max and min, average is ~230). 240 is more than enough. I could do 184 with techs who aren't turtles and who actually retain information.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Do any other walmart pharmacies have to deal with wacky s3g hour ratios? Mine allow about 2 support staff hours (tech + cashier) for every pharmacist hour. We get double pharmacist coverage and the second pharmacist spends most of the day being an overpaid tech or cashier. I would gladly trade away 4 pharmacist hours for 24 tech hours, which would be an even trade financially.

For the OP, s3g hours have been cut company wide and it's not really up to the rx manager or the mhwd, who are supposed to follow directions from above and act as though they are personally fully in support of them no matter what.

 

[Sine Cura]

Mine is ~2.1 support hours for 1 RPH hour currently. I was "told" (not in writing of course) that if you use less RPH overlap you can utilize more tech hours as long as wages are < 100% to plan.

But let's say your Rx volume increases 10% MOM versus last year or net profit is > 110% to goal, then you should be "allowed" to use more tech hours. What about 20% or > 120%? S3G is a forecast, not reality

 

[ExpressMaiL]

This is a form of having too many pharmacists available. If you can't handle it, there will always be someone else willing to step up to the abuse, stress, reduced help and increased workload. An ambitious new hire with >$200k in debt will gladly take the work as he/she has no other means of making those monthly payments. As deplorable as the conditions may be, it is the surplus of desperate pharmacists enabling and contributing to this toxic culture (of course there are other factors).

 

[SoylentGreen]

Mine is ~2.1 support hours for 1 RPH hour currently. I was "told" (not in writing of course) that if you use less RPH overlap you can utilize more tech hours as long as wages are < 100% to plan.

But let's say your Rx volume increases 10% MOM versus last year or net profit is > 110% to goal, then you should be "allowed" to use more tech hours. What about 20% or > 120%? S3G is a forecast, not reality

I used to have that deal, where we could go over s3g hours for support staff if we were under for pharmacists, but now they are cracking down on that. A 2.1:1 ratio is absurd - I can keep up with at least 5 support staff. The result is that the overlapping pharmacist is doing the support staff's job for many times the pay.

There's a reason why states that have legally mandated ratios mostly mandate 3 or 4 techs to each pharmacist (not sure if that includes cashiers since I don't practice in one of those states). I thought that my S3G hours were somehow messed up, but since you're having the same issue, I don't see any explanation other than that we must be working for stupid people.

My MHWD says we can go over S3G in proportion to how much we exceed our sales goals.

 

[Sine Cura]

They are trying to sell cuts because workflow is going to be more efficient, but we all know that is a joke. Well, what do you expect with Walmart. They take the bottom-of-the barrel plans Wags or CVS or even Rite-Aid don't touch.

My S3G hours are actually what they were around 2015, just with at least 10% more sold Rx this year compared to two years ago.

 

[SoylentGreen]

They are trying to sell cuts because workflow is going to be more efficient, but we all know that is a joke. Well, what do you expect with Walmart. They take the bottom-of-the barrel plans Wags or CVS or even Rite-Aid don't touch.

My S3G hours are actually what they were around 2015, just with at least 10% more sold Rx this year compared to two years ago.

That's a joke - they have done almost nothing to make workflow more efficient. With a few exceptions, almost every change that has happened since I started several years ago has made workflow LESS efficient.

 

[Sine Cura]

Also Walmart's so-called commitment to "compliance" is a total joke. MWHDs parrot the same scripted **** CVS RX supes spout when you point out something blazingly obviously wrong.

Same type of sclerotic corporate BS, different particular issues.

 

[Abby Atwood]

I'm gonna go against the grain and say that your situation sounds awful. I don't work at Walmart anymore; however, when I did, my store only did about 250-350 scripts per day with 2-4 techs, a cashier, and dual pharmacist coverage for 6 of 12 hours. We were able to do all kinds of above and beyond customer service stuff, and I really enjoyed it. I would look for other employment opportunities. If you can't move, look for neighborhood market or sams club jobs. Most of those are pretty relaxed.

 

[student089]

Just a question for WM pharmacists, do you document anything you encounter, like everything? (including Will call/compliance call...).

 

[Pharmacisto]

Just a question for WM pharmacists, do you document anything you encounter, like everything? (including Will call/compliance call...).

We do when there is compliance issues

 

[Pharmacisto]

What would you say is a good # rx per tech hour after these summer hour cuts at walmart? are these cuts permanent?

It seems to be permanent yes

 

[BenJammin]

This is a form of having too many pharmacists available. If you can't handle it, there will always be someone else willing to step up to the abuse, stress, reduced help and increased workload. An ambitious new hire with >$200k in debt will gladly take the work as he/she has no other means of making those monthly payments. As deplorable as the conditions may be, it is the surplus of desperate pharmacists enabling and contributing to this toxic culture (of course there are other factors).

This is why, outside of legislation or state board of pharmacy regulations, that pharmacy will never improve its working conditions. If you work 14 hours a day with no lunch breaks and no bathroom breaks, you are getting a great deal. With so many students graduating and their debt load being north of $150k, those conditions can only get worse.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

This is why, outside of legislation or state board of pharmacy regulations, that pharmacy will never improve its working conditions. If you work 14 hours a day with no lunch breaks and no bathroom breaks, you are getting a great deal. With so many students graduating and their debt load being north of $150k, those conditions can only get worse.

Yes. Nothing will change unless a pharmacist literally dies (blood law) while working and that still might not be enough. They might say the pharmacist had a pre-existing condition or something... lol but not really.

 

[Omen282]

Yes. Nothing will change unless a pharmacist literally dies (blood law) while working and that still might not be enough. They might say the pharmacist had a pre-existing condition or something... lol but not really.

LOL

it's funny though...
some threads are posting about few pharmacist positions offered, and others are saying there aren't enough pharmacists working...
either the companies aren't hiring to make more profits and/or people aren't finding jobs in less favourable areas...

 

[sosoo]

ppl here are actually complaining having 2:1 tech: pharmacist hours? this is a load of crap. now imagine working 0:1 tech: pharmacist hours!! would u really prefer it that way? stop complaining and come to cvs..

 

[wagrxm2000]

ppl here are actually complaining having 2:1 tech: pharmacist hours? this is a load of crap. now imagine working 0:1 tech: pharmacist hours!! would u really prefer it that way? stop complaining and come to cvs..

What's cvs expired drugs sold ratio?

 

[zelman]

What's cvs expired drugs sold ratio?

probably close to zero. Now misbranded/adulterated...

 

[sosoo]

What's cvs expired drugs sold ratio?

the ratio is currently unknown. but
cvs recently got fined $5mil in cali for other mishaps. i won't be surprise when cvs gets sued for drug expiration, someday.

 

[Apotheker2015]

That's a joke - they have done almost nothing to make workflow more efficient. With a few exceptions, almost every change that has happened since I started several years ago has made workflow LESS efficient.

Less efficient? Are we talking about "bagging" yet? Wrong thread????

 

[SoylentGreen]

ppl here are actually complaining having 2:1 tech: pharmacist hours? this is a load of crap. now imagine working 0:1 tech: pharmacist hours!! would u really prefer it that way? stop complaining and come to cvs..

You must work at a slow store if that's even remotely possible. How many prescriptions do you do? I would love to work 0:1 at a store where that could possibly work.

My complaint is that I can keep up with probably 5 staff, so having 2:1 is stupid because it means the overlapping pharmacist is just an overpaid tech, unless you have slow, lazy, incompetent pharmacists. It's dangerous for us because the even the *****s we work for will probably eventually figure out that we don't need so many pharmacists, and there will be layoffs. Even pharmacy upper managers know that you can't lay off a pharmacist at a 0:1 store.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Less efficient? Are we talking about "bagging" yet? Wrong thread????

The "new" (4 year old) bagging system made it slower in terms of overall hours but faster in the sense that the pharmacist doesn't have to bag everything. I was thinking more of drop off for success, resolution for success, 5 day calls, 7 day calls, additional management paperwork, etc.

 

[Abby Atwood]

The "new" (4 year old) bagging system made it slower in terms of overall hours but faster in the sense that the pharmacist doesn't have to bag everything. I was thinking more of drop off for success, resolution for success, 5 day calls, 7 day calls, additional management paperwork, etc.

What's wrong with drop off for success? It seemed like it was just a fancy name for standard drop off procedure.

 

[Sine Cura]

Drop-off for success is like WeCare. It makes sense to be proactive rather than react to situations that are created by careless people working like turtles

 

[yahksah]

I work at an easy independent and we do 200 scripts with me and a grandma. That's it. I'm 30. She's 65. You are talking about 400 scripts with 5 people, 4 of them technicians.

Advice? Leave if it's too much. Also, leave it goes against what you believe in. Find another job.

I left retail and make $35,000 less (before taxes). Do I feel the pay difference? Yes, I still do. I don't splurge at the bar anymore, I don't treat out all my friends all the time and cover the entire night anymore, I don't also buy stupid shi* anymore. Has my quality of life changed? Absolutely, and it only improved. I can function like a caring human being again instead of a person who hated all human beings while working at CVS.

When you are a in a situation where you can't imagine how you are going to continue to do your job, you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How do you plan to work there for another 40 years until retirement? If you can't answer that question, then consider seriously thinking about where you are right now and what steps you have to take to make a better life and work environment for yourself.

I'm at this turning/breaking point right now... Can I ask where you work now?

 

[zelman]

Drop-off for success is like WeCare. It makes sense to be proactive rather than react to situations that are created by careless people working like turtles

Actually, it’s more like the Patient Care Initiative. But, whatevs.

- ex-PCI Technician

 

[Prosperity8]

need your advice guys, I work for Walmart in Washington state. I have a district manager or what is called Mareket Health and Wellness Director who does not care about health or wellness. She is practicing her leadership skills by cutting hours from techs and cashiers and decrease overlap time between pharmacists. I worked today without any cashiers in a pharmacy that makes 400-450 scripts daily in Summer season. There was only four techs working, two of them were cashiering all day long and one on the drop off window and I was filling, bagging, counseling, fourpointing and visual integrity scripts. One of the cashiers quit and the second one in two weeks vacation and she was burned up. Overtime is not allowed even while people in vacations. Walmart does not allow unions but also it does not tackle care of people working for it. Our store has made 30 percent more sales than last year, but the harder you work the more u get punished and the more they decrease help in the pharmacy. Pharmacy manager is very negative and does not care about us too, he burns us up and get benefit from decreasing labor because he gets better commission. Everyone is scared to call ethics line because the MHWD could check the cameras all day and search for any mistake to get u fired or put u under stress. What can I do guys, any advice ??? Iam so desperate and burned up.

Lol. Try working at WAGS. I do the same volume with 3 techs and no cashier. You are lucky to have that much help.

 

[gwarm01]

Walmart does not allow unions but also it does not tackle care of people working for it.

A union doesn't have to be allowed. If the voice of labor is united they will have no choice but to listen. Good luck getting any traction with that since we have been conditioned to hate unions and people will bend over backwards to make excuses for poor treatment by management.

I've heard stories of Walmart closing entire stores just because there was talk of unionization. That's sending a message for sure, but also telling of how much the idea scares the company.

 

[Chrish]

Used to be the best place to work in retail up until very recently. Things have changed drastically though. Upper management have out of the blue realized that they have been far behind cvs/ wag in terms of hour cut/ increasing workload and want to play the catch up game within months rather than years.

 

[zelman]

A union doesn't have to be allowed. If the voice of labor is united they will have no choice but to listen. Good luck getting any traction with that since we have been conditioned to hate unions and people will bend over backwards to make excuses for poor treatment by management.

I've heard stories of Walmart closing entire stores just because there was talk of unionization. That's sending a message for sure, but also telling of how much the idea scares the company.

The store where the meat department unionized wasn’t closed because of the union. They had plumbing problems. You know, plumbing problems that suddenly appeared, were observed by nobody but corporate workers, and were so bad that they closed the store instead of fixing it. Hell of a clog.

 

[sozetone]

need your advice guys, I work for Walmart in Washington state. I have a district manager or what is called Mareket Health and Wellness Director who does not care about health or wellness. She is practicing her leadership skills by cutting hours from techs and cashiers and decrease overlap time between pharmacists. I worked today without any cashiers in a pharmacy that makes 400-450 scripts daily in Summer season. There was only four techs working, two of them were cashiering all day long and one on the drop off window and I was filling, bagging, counseling, fourpointing and visual integrity scripts. One of the cashiers quit and the second one in two weeks vacation and she was burned up. Overtime is not allowed even while people in vacations. Walmart does not allow unions but also it does not tackle care of people working for it. Our store has made 30 percent more sales than last year, but the harder you work the more u get punished and the more they decrease help in the pharmacy. Pharmacy manager is very negative and does not care about us too, he burns us up and get benefit from decreasing labor because he gets better commission. Everyone is scared to call ethics line because the MHWD could check the cameras all day and search for any mistake to get u fired or put u under stress. What can I do guys, any advice ??? Iam so desperate and burned up.

Wal mart is re-structuring in case you dont know. I am a Pharmacy manager (for now). My MHWD has cut my staff pharms to the bone and reduced tech help to meet this imaginary S3G hour mark to unreasonable levels. We can barely function. What most pharmacists dont know is that Wal mart has the most labor intensive process of filling Rx's. If you reduce help the way Wal mart has been doing, it feels just as bad or worse than CVS or Walgreens......i promise. and I'm sure YOU get this if you know connexus well. They are gearing up for something big in coming years. Ride the wave until it crashes if you can.

 

[sozetone]

Used to be the best place to work in retail up until very recently. Things have changed drastically though. Upper management have out of the blue realized that they have been far behind cvs/ wag in terms of hour cut/ increasing workload and want to play the catch up game within months rather than years.

Wrong, I am a pharmacy manager for Wal mart. The Truth? they are not meeting profit goals. Mainly due to loss of contracts from medicare part-D and not meeting adherence goals. They are not cutting just because they want to , they HAVE to....i feel they will eventually sell off heal;th and wellness all together if they cannot make it very profitable real fast. Keep your eyes peeled.

 

[VA77]

I could see WM selling their pharmacies to CVS or Wags as long as they promised to keep them in the store for a period of time. As far as the OP, yeah everyone's DM is non clinical oriented and at least you get a lunch break. Sorry no sympathy here. Also Washington is a very liberal state with unions and worker protection.

 

[radio frequency]

The store where the meat department unionized wasn’t closed because of the union. They had plumbing problems. You know, plumbing problems that suddenly appeared, were observed by nobody but corporate workers, and were so bad that they closed the store instead of fixing it. Hell of a clog.

I’ve heard of anti-union training videos at Walmart and Walgreens; I imagine CVS has them too.

Here’s the Walmart one:

I can’t find the Walgreens one but I know it exists.

 

[Sine Cura]

H&W is profitable but pharmacy is a drag on that profitability. Unsustainable exponential growth FTL

WM might not abolish 38 altogether but I could see a reduction in pharmacy operations, with pharmacies in small-format being the first to go (unlikely all 800 PICs will find jobs within the company) followed by "unprofitable" pharmacies in supercenters (the Rx will just be "sent" to the nearest SC). I doubt WM will do a Target and lease space to Wags or CVS

 

[rxdawg21]

Walmart’s system is definitely the most labor intensive. My Walmart made 1 million net profit off our pharmacy back in 15. Granted we were the second busiest in the district but Amy Walmart doing 2k a week should still be rather profitable. Even with our profit by dm was on me then to reduce tech hours (even tho at the time I was 15-20 hours under on Rph hours). It’s just getting worse now, I think it’s more about increasing profit then losing money

 

[PikminOC]

I was at jewel pharmacy today. Seems like it would be preferable

 

[Sine Cura]

Walmart’s system is definitely the most labor intensive. My Walmart made 1 million net profit off our pharmacy back in 15. Granted we were the second busiest in the district but Amy Walmart doing 2k a week should still be rather profitable. Even with our profit by dm was on me then to reduce tech hours (even tho at the time I was 15-20 hours under on Rph hours). It’s just getting worse now, I think it’s more about increasing profit then losing money

Did that net operating profit include 40? Based on nominal P&L figures the pharmacy alone acts as a loss leader in many locations even if you disregard wages from the OTC personnel

 

[AlPacino]

Buddy, try a CVS where we do anywhere from 500-600 a day, no overlap and we don't have the tech check program. You're constantly answering questions and helping the phones because calls are coming all day. We also don't get the luxury of only verifying. 2 pharmacist and 4 techs is a ridiculous amount of help for 400/day. Wags and CVS pharmacists would kill for that. Can't wait for the look on COSTCO pharmacists when CVS buys them

As a former employee of Costco, they would never do that. Costco takes pride into the culture they have built. They also make a crapload of money and pharmacy isnt even a top 10 moneymaker for them. They make more on OTC sales yearly then pharmacy sales. Unlike CVS/Walgreens the pharmacy isnt the primary moneymaker so pharmacist and techs have nowhere near the pressure to produce. They do half the amount of scripts of your busy CVS and have 3-4 times the help. Wait times? They can tell you an hour for #30 Lisinopril if they want why? Because what do you do when you wait an hour in costco? You shop. The pharmacy department is an extension of their in-store marketing. People just dont notice it. Its a genius model really. Nobody leaves those cush Rph positions. Getting a job there is near impossible.