Boots: ‘Compensation package’ for pharmacists hit by opening hour changes
Boots UK pharmacists and store managers who have been affected by a reduction in opening hours in some of the multiple’s branches will be eligible for a “compensation package”, C+D has learned.
Following discussions with the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) about Boots’ implementation of "slightly" reduced opening hours across a selected number of pharmacies, the multiple has agreed to offer a compensation package to eligible employees, it confirmed to C+D today (March 16).
Boots believes the package “mitigates the impact of the changes”, it added.
Read more: Boots: 1,300 branches affected by ‘small changes’ to opening hours
Boots and the PDA issued a joint statement to PDA members working for Boots last week (March 7), in which they wrote they had both agreed that the compensation would protect the income of pharmacists and store managers “who would see their income drop for a period of 18 months”.
Reduction in opening hours as part of Boots’ “vision”
Boots has now introduced new opening hours across some of its pharmacies “as part of its vision for transforming the delivery of pharmacy and healthcare”.
C+D reported last month that the multiple’s plan to “slightly” reduce some of its pharmacies’ opening hours would affect “approximately” 1,300 branches, although it stressed at the time that the changes would only amount to an average reduction of 6% of pharmacy hours across the UK.
Detail of payments shared with affected employees
The payments will be made in three stages and will only go to “pharmacist and store manager[s]” whose roles are “currently in scope for consultation following changes to the operating hours of their pharmacy”, Boots and the PDA wrote.
Affected pharmacists – including those who voluntarily agreed to the changes resulting from the reduced hours – will be contacted by their line manager with “full details of the offer”, they continued.
“This agreement between Boots and the PDA union applies only to this exercise,” they clarified.
However, relief pharmacist roles will also “be brought into scope once the changes for all affected in-store team members have been finalised”, the PDA and Boots said.
Read more: 'I’ll be 6% worse off with Boots’ reduced pharmacy hours'
C+D asked Boots for more details about the “compensation package” and to clarify how many employees will benefit from this. However, the multiple was unable to share this information at this stage.
While Boots thanked pharmacists for their ongoing cooperation, the PDA said it “fully” supported “the steps taken to mitigate the impact of the changes” to opening hours in some branches and Boots’ “commitment […] in addressing the concerns raised by pharmacists during the earlier stages of the process.”
In January, the PDA claimed that the some Boots pharmacists could have faced a 10% cut to their working hours following the changes to some pharmacies’ opening hours.
Last month, the PDA confirmed that Boots had decided to pause its consultation on working patterns – which it had started to match with the revised opening hours.
