Completed ballot papers must be received by the Qualified Independent Person (QIP) by no later than noon on Monday 11 March, so we are encouraging pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists to complete and return their vote as soon as possible.
Questions over the release of ballot papers
In November 2018, PDA Union and Boots agreed that the name and address data be provided by Boots “by no later than the 10th working day after the appointment of the QIP” this matches what it says in the law covering the ballot. This meant the data could legally be provided by Boots any day from the 1st working day to the 10th working day.
Later in November 2018, we asked the Central Arbitration Committee to appoint a Suitable Independent Person (SIP) and so the company have already been providing the data since December 2018, updating it each week.
We listened to pharmacists who were worried they might miss their opportunity to vote if ballot papers don’t go out until after the 10th working day and noting that the data is already being provided by Boots, we asked them to agree with us that ballot papers should go out as soon as possible from day 1, Boots refused.
We applied to the CAC to order that the Ballot papers go out ASAP after day 1, Boots opposed our application and the CAC refused our application.
Pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists at grade 5, 6 & 7 in stores will be entitled to vote and will be sent voting papers through the mail. The ballot period is scheduled to start on Monday 4th February 2019 and will run for five weeks, so all voting papers must be returned by post on or before Friday 8 March 2019. Waiting for 10 working days before issuing the ballot papers would mean they would be sent to eligible voters after 15 February.
Read more here: https://www.the-pda.org/pharmacists-call-for-max-voting-period/