Jaron Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I'm hoping to get some opinions on a new "policy" that my employer just enacted. First some back story.... I'm an overnight pharmacist that works for a chain-pharmacy.(I won't name which one) My schedule has me working 7 straight nights, followed by 7 days off. So, every other week I work: Mon-Thurs: 10pm-8am Friday: 10pm-9am Saturday: 8pm-8am Sunday: 6pm-8am That's a total of 77 hours per week that I am "on". When I was hired, about 1 1/2 years ago, one of the benefits offered to me was 80 hours of vacation time to be used however I wanted. If I wanted to use all 80 at once and have 3 straight weeks off, so be it. Now, us overnighters have been told that they can no longer cover our vacation time and they are adopting a "policy" from another chain-pharmacy that you have to submit your vacaction during your off-week. In other words, they will pay us for the 80 hours, but we don't get any days off. I feel that this is borderline discrimination. For example, say that an overnight pharmacist and a daylight pharmacist both request Aug 3rd off. The daylight pharmacist will get paid for his vacation time AND get the day off, while the overnight pharmacist will get paid the vacation time but will NOT get his shift off. Can my employer do this???? Any/all opinions are welcome, not just lawyers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 That gave me a headache. Is it just overnights that are affected by this rule? And you essentially get paid twice for the week you are off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaron Posted July 21, 2007 Author Share Posted July 21, 2007 Sorry if it is confusing.... Yes, there are currently 8 overnight pharmacists in a total of 4 stores(2 per store), and we are the only ones that aren't "allowed" to take our vacation. We get paid 40 hrs per week reguardless if it is our "on" or "off" week. Week 1: work 77 hours get paid for 40 Week 2: work 0 hours get paid for 40 Week 3: work 77 hours get paid for 40 Week 4: work 0 hours get paid for 40 etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aszumilo Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I am not sure on the vacation, but according to Federal Labor laws, anything over 40 hours in a week should be overtime. I would contact the U.S. Department of Labor. They would probably be best equipped to answer your questions. When i had a problem with a former employer, they were very helpful and not like a lot of other Gov't agencies I have dealt with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 is there some sort of pharmacist union? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 work for another pharmacy chain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaron Posted July 21, 2007 Author Share Posted July 21, 2007 is there some sort of pharmacist union? Not that I know of. work for another pharmacy chain That's what it might come to. The thing is, I like the store that I work at, I like most of my co-workers, I don't mind (for the most part) the customers that shop there, but management keeps adding responsibilities and taking away benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCSaints_fan Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 In other words, they are cutting your vacation completely. I'm pretty sure you're out of luck in terms of the law. Its not "discrimination" unless it has to due with race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. and not job function. I don't believe there are any laws regarding paid time off. The only laws regarding pay are minimum wage and requiring overtime to be paid if you work more than 80 hours in a two week period (and there are exceptions to this rule - salaried employees). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doozinbrah Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Sorry if it is confusing....Yes, there are currently 8 overnight pharmacists in a total of 4 stores(2 per store), and we are the only ones that aren't "allowed" to take our vacation. We get paid 40 hrs per week reguardless if it is our "on" or "off" week. Week 1: work 77 hours get paid for 40 Week 2: work 0 hours get paid for 40 Week 3: work 77 hours get paid for 40 Week 4: work 0 hours get paid for 40 etc.... In the retail world we call this "salary". It doesn't matter how much or little you work you get a set pay. Not sure about the vacation thing but this should help people understand your pay scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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