locum vs employee

[narav]

got a leaflet/ card from multiple orange in colour - (any one else get it). it was enticing me to be an employee. had comparison of locum and employee earnings / benefits on each side. totally knocked locuming, but comparison incorrect and reflected badly on locum pay. it was quite erroneous.it added employee bonuses, mostly unattainable as part of pay ?????????? what a cheek.!!!

[johnep]

Everyone who has locumed for that multiple has had one. arrived Valentines day.
johnep

[paul2008]

Originally Posted by johnep

Everyone who has locumed for that multiple has had one. arrived Valentines day.
johnep

Do you think that was on purpose. Do they love you? Lost without you?

[admin]

I got one too. I also got a phone call from the company last week asking if I would rather be an employee! I said no thanks, but got the leaflet anyway.

They also under estimated what I charge them and my annual income by quite a long way!

[ymdawd]

I have no doubt there are some very good, highly professional, locums out in the community. There are also some who are less than professional..

Had a locum all fixed up for my annual holidays last year. We had exchanged e-mails, six months previously confirming our arrangement so was looking forward to that sunny beach in Turkey. Was therefore stunned when he phoned me one evening, just before departure, and said he was not doing the locum for me. No reason was given. Guess who will not be using him again. Neither will the multiple I work for as I put the word about as to his poor conduct.

Another locum insisted on using a taxi between the local railway station and the pharmacy I work at, a distance of about 400 yards. What I would call the height of laziness as it is an easy walk well sign-posted. According to the girls in the pharmacy he spent most of his time reading newspapers, which was easily confirmed by a FULL waste paper bin. Mind you they were QUALITY newspapers. None of this page 3 rubbish.

There may well be difficult days ahead for independant locums, at least those who do not pull their weight. The multiple I work is pushing us to use company employed locums/relief pharmacists as opposed to independant locums. Mind you the number of their branches with NO MANAGER is frightening, presumably run by locums. No wonder they are pushing so hard for one pharmacist being responsible for more than one pharmacy.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by ymdawd

There may well be difficult days ahead for independant locums,

Agreed

The multiple I work is pushing us to use company employed locums/relief pharmacists as opposed to independant locums.

And so they should - it gives them an element of control (and consistency) that they can't guarantee with an independent locum.

Mind you the number of their branches with NO MANAGER is frightening, presumably run by locums.

So they are naturally trying to squeeze the independent locum sector to make management seem more attractive.

Jeff

[Web Ferret]

Any good locum coordinator will have their lists of independent locums - a simple feedback form allows the coordinator to build up a profile and know who to book and who not to book.

[Pharmanaut]

Originally Posted by ymdawd

No wonder they are pushing so hard for one pharmacist being responsible for more than one pharmacy.

That's frightening.
Your description of your locum undermines the ones who "get in there and get the job done".

[Web Ferret]

Makes us good locums look even better though!

[pluk]

In an ideal world all pharmacists would have an employed pharmacy manager, enough well trained staff and ample relief staff to cover for holidays/sickness etc

However in the real world area managers are driven by the need to meet 12 months budgets and will do everything they can to reduce costs. One of the greatest costs is pharmacist costs and the easiest way to reduce pharmacists costs is to employ the pharmacist instead of engaging the services of a locum. A second way is reducing support staff hours, then locum costs...

If you get better pay, enjoy more flexibility and suffer less hassle from management as a locum - why would you take a permanent position?

As for the scare stories about independent locums - I think there is something in it. By going direct to an owner/coordinator you are admitting that you are in a weak position - you are telling them you need a job. If you hand your dates over to a professional, reliable agency who the owners/coordinators go to when they can't find enough "direct" locums you will obtain better rates.

As the multiples get bigger and the significance of an individual locum gets smaller, agencies bring the economies of scale back in favour of the self employed locum pharmacist