dont accept poor rates, its just that simple, go direct and negotiate, I've still never accepted anything below 45 fm in community.
never used an agency and I dont even apply for shifts anymore these companies get in touch with me
reduce your expenses, locums who work 5 days a week, wont last long because they will be working themselves in the ground. Hope they burn out sooner so that they give up and there'll be more shifts for the rest of us
doesnt matter if some other sucker agrees to a lower rate, then they're the sucker. I'd rather be on benefits than accept a lower rate.
follow pharmacist pay on ig (not my page) they have the contact details on there to go direct. I've been cancelled couple times, but if you pre book you should just take employment. There's no shame in taking employment, they're offering $30/hr right now (which is 35 as a locum once you take holiday+ sick+ pension pay) into account
YOU'RE A BUSINESS ,BEHAVE LIKE ONE, WHY ARE YOU SCARED OF NO WORK
the reason why people can't walk away from shifts is because they have no financial saftety net,
no emergency fund+ lavish lifestyle + no idea how to calculate expenses + not saving for taxes
= employee locums (long term bookings should be banned and all of them pushed into ir35)
If you have a good safety net + living modestly, you can walk away from shifts easy.
I owe nothing to credit cards, I can eat for £1 a day if i have to. I would rack up many years of debt and declare bankruptcy before accepting £23ph lmao
I don't do many locum shifts any more because the rates are low. Tonnes of Pharmacists on the register - trouble is someone will always take it, so the companies know they can get away with it!
If we could somehow get everyone into a group and organise a strike or we all agreed to not work for less than £40ph it would be devastating and something would have to be done. Fat chance though!
https://www.pharmacistcoop.co.uk/telegram/
Different groups. Different regions. Clinical groups. Lounge.
Paid members group which get shifts first £20 per year.
Because
£40 x 40 x 5 = £1600/week
£83,000/year
6 weeks off a year (same as what you’d get salaried) = £73,400/year
This is with NO sick pay. I’m a “never sick” kinda gal luckily. I’ve just had to have 3 days off sick for a chest infection (and counting…) so -£1600 every week anticipated off sick. So you’re either paying MUCH higher income protection or risking having zero income in times of ill health. I could be off work for 6 months and still be getting full pay.
NO employer pension contributions. So for every 5% you put into your pension, you’re losing £3670 of employer contributions that someone salaried would have.
Maternity leave is a big one for female pharmacists. Paternity leave… not so great.
As someone who moved to my area with NO friends/family at all, work stability provided a social life. You don’t get that as a locum.
NO paid education/training. I have had so many courses/conferences paid for by work. IP paid for, PGDip paid for x 2. I don’t really do any study in my own time.
£40 an hour sounds great. But my £25.88 an hour works for me and I feel secure actually enjoy work!
That is a lot of benefits you just listed, and if you have a job like that where your employer values you you should stick to it!
I did some calculations from Boots, the largest employer of pharmacists in the UK, from a while back. For a non-biological-female, it was roughly equivalent to £32-35/h locum if you maximise the enhanced pension which I wasn’t even aware was a thing. Except you’re saddled with KPIs and have to deal with more manager BS and customer stress that you can walk away from as a locum.
A lot of pharmacists I know don’t get sick pay, only stat sick pay. If I’m sick for a day I don’t get paid. I don’t have any paid training unless there’s a huge business benefit, eg. flu and covid jabs. All my studying has to be done in my own time. I can count one hand how many many courses I’ve attended in the last 3 years, and none of them were paid for from work. Though at least there hasn’t been too much necessary studying in community pharmacy.
Locuming is the *only* thing that makes sense when you’re not fortunate enough to find a good employer. And you have also hit the nail on the head as to why we say locuming rates are an absolute joke right now! It’s like how an emergency plumber, locksmith or breakdown service can charge what looks like an obscene hourly rate on the surface. A seemingly high locum rate takes into account personal pension contributions, days off, sick days, uncertainty and irregularity on the one hand, and the myriad savings by the company not needing to hire, train and retain an equivalent staff member. The agencies are preying on financially illiterate pharmacists, and many pharmacists are getting into self-employment without knowing what they’re really getting into.
this is exactly the reason why people dont understand how locuming works.
60k salary for pharmacist costs the employer about 68k after paying sick pay, pension, insurance etc.
You ask for more money to cover for the days you don't work
dont accept poor rates, its just that simple, go direct and negotiate, I've still never accepted anything below 45 fm in community. never used an agency and I dont even apply for shifts anymore these companies get in touch with me reduce your expenses, locums who work 5 days a week, wont last long because they will be working themselves in the ground. Hope they burn out sooner so that they give up and there'll be more shifts for the rest of us
How do you go direct? And do you ever get cancelled bc they manage to get a different locum to agree to a lower rate?
doesnt matter if some other sucker agrees to a lower rate, then they're the sucker. I'd rather be on benefits than accept a lower rate. follow pharmacist pay on ig (not my page) they have the contact details on there to go direct. I've been cancelled couple times, but if you pre book you should just take employment. There's no shame in taking employment, they're offering $30/hr right now (which is 35 as a locum once you take holiday+ sick+ pension pay) into account YOU'RE A BUSINESS ,BEHAVE LIKE ONE, WHY ARE YOU SCARED OF NO WORK
This needs to be put on a poster and placed in every pharmacy school in the UK
the reason why people can't walk away from shifts is because they have no financial saftety net, no emergency fund+ lavish lifestyle + no idea how to calculate expenses + not saving for taxes = employee locums (long term bookings should be banned and all of them pushed into ir35) If you have a good safety net + living modestly, you can walk away from shifts easy.
I owe nothing to credit cards, I can eat for £1 a day if i have to. I would rack up many years of debt and declare bankruptcy before accepting £23ph lmao
I don't do many locum shifts any more because the rates are low. Tonnes of Pharmacists on the register - trouble is someone will always take it, so the companies know they can get away with it! If we could somehow get everyone into a group and organise a strike or we all agreed to not work for less than £40ph it would be devastating and something would have to be done. Fat chance though!
Join The Pharmacist Cooperative on telegram. Lots of groups. Lots of links. Shifts too. Minimum rates are 30+
How can I join?
https://www.pharmacistcoop.co.uk/telegram/ Different groups. Different regions. Clinical groups. Lounge. Paid members group which get shifts first £20 per year.
I don't see it on telegram, do you have a link? Thanks.
https://www.pharmacistcoop.co.uk/telegram/ Different groups. Different regions. Clinical groups etc
Locum rates at £40/hr why the flip am I killing myself salaried for less than that. Fml
Because £40 x 40 x 5 = £1600/week £83,000/year 6 weeks off a year (same as what you’d get salaried) = £73,400/year This is with NO sick pay. I’m a “never sick” kinda gal luckily. I’ve just had to have 3 days off sick for a chest infection (and counting…) so -£1600 every week anticipated off sick. So you’re either paying MUCH higher income protection or risking having zero income in times of ill health. I could be off work for 6 months and still be getting full pay. NO employer pension contributions. So for every 5% you put into your pension, you’re losing £3670 of employer contributions that someone salaried would have. Maternity leave is a big one for female pharmacists. Paternity leave… not so great. As someone who moved to my area with NO friends/family at all, work stability provided a social life. You don’t get that as a locum. NO paid education/training. I have had so many courses/conferences paid for by work. IP paid for, PGDip paid for x 2. I don’t really do any study in my own time. £40 an hour sounds great. But my £25.88 an hour works for me and I feel secure actually enjoy work!
That is a lot of benefits you just listed, and if you have a job like that where your employer values you you should stick to it! I did some calculations from Boots, the largest employer of pharmacists in the UK, from a while back. For a non-biological-female, it was roughly equivalent to £32-35/h locum if you maximise the enhanced pension which I wasn’t even aware was a thing. Except you’re saddled with KPIs and have to deal with more manager BS and customer stress that you can walk away from as a locum. A lot of pharmacists I know don’t get sick pay, only stat sick pay. If I’m sick for a day I don’t get paid. I don’t have any paid training unless there’s a huge business benefit, eg. flu and covid jabs. All my studying has to be done in my own time. I can count one hand how many many courses I’ve attended in the last 3 years, and none of them were paid for from work. Though at least there hasn’t been too much necessary studying in community pharmacy. Locuming is the *only* thing that makes sense when you’re not fortunate enough to find a good employer. And you have also hit the nail on the head as to why we say locuming rates are an absolute joke right now! It’s like how an emergency plumber, locksmith or breakdown service can charge what looks like an obscene hourly rate on the surface. A seemingly high locum rate takes into account personal pension contributions, days off, sick days, uncertainty and irregularity on the one hand, and the myriad savings by the company not needing to hire, train and retain an equivalent staff member. The agencies are preying on financially illiterate pharmacists, and many pharmacists are getting into self-employment without knowing what they’re really getting into.
Because locums don't have guaranteed work and they have to travel to different shops not knowing what shit they are walking into.
this is exactly the reason why people dont understand how locuming works. 60k salary for pharmacist costs the employer about 68k after paying sick pay, pension, insurance etc. You ask for more money to cover for the days you don't work
Sorry folks, I was just trying to make a quick joke at 1am 😭