Please note that this article was written some time ago. As such, the changes to terms and conditions referred to here and/or the law or supporting case law may have changed since then and the guidance the PDA would offer may now be different to that which is written here. This article should not now be relied upon as a source of legal or other advice – PDA members should contact the PDA for up-to-date advice on such issues. The article is included here for illustrative purposes.
The PDA has recently been made aware that the Co-operative Pharmacy has introduced a number of changes to pharmacists’ working conditions, some of these following negotiations with the Trade Union NACO which some PDA members may also be a member of. The PDA’s initial view of the changes is that they are not in the employees’ best interests and the PDA is concerned as to the manner in which these have been communicated to members.
The changes appear to centre round the following areas:
- Emergency Call Out Payments
- NHS Rota Payments
- Time Off in Lieu
- Working for Competitors
The change which most of you will be concerned about is the fact that the Co-op will no longer allow employees to work for a competitor as of 1st March 2011. Only bookings up to 31st May 2011 that have already been made can be honoured.
Those pharmacists who are part time employees who also work as employees or locums elsewhere OR are full time employees and topping up their income with other work, will unfortunately no longer be able to do this.
Under the old arrangements, although the employer was always able to restrict the work that a pharmacist could do if it was felt that a genuine conflict of interest existed, employees could argue their case that the business was not in direct competition and it was therefore unreasonable to refuse permission for them to work elsewhere. The new arrangements mean that pharmacists are prohibited from working for any competitor whatsoever.
Employees are required to complete a webform to confirm they have understood the changes. The PDA Union does not recommend to members that they do so, as this could be interpreted as acceptance. The PDA is keen to understand members’ views regarding the changes and would particularly like to know whether members feel that they were consulted about the changes by the employer. With this in mind the PDA Union would very much appreciate if members would comment using the FEEDBACK facility below or by sending their views to enquiries@pda-union.org