Pros
Pros for working in the pharmacy: Floating Pharmacist: I began as a floater, which is how 90% of new hires begin their careers with Publix. This time was very beneficial in providing exposure to countless pharmacy environments, each with unique workflow nuances, technician personalities, and customer bases. There aren't many perks to working as a floater due to the nature of the position, but Publix does provide reimbursement for various expenses associated with travel. Gas is reimbursed for all trips with a roundtrip commute distance that is further than the commute from your home address to your home store. Staff Pharmacist: I've thoroughly enjoyed my time as a staff pharmacist with Publix. The schedule consistency and familiarity of having my own store and customer base has improved every aspect of working as a pharmacist. Pharmacists are given bonuses throughout the year based on their stores performance (entire store sales, not just pharmacy sales), and we've gotten a couple "retention bonuses" during COVID. My supervisor is easy to reach and has been quick to attend to most of my issues or suggestions. Pay is great as well. My starting salary (offered roughly $57/hour for a 30 hours/week floating position starting in 2020) was higher than most of my classmates hired at big box chains, and many hospital salaries as well. Since then I have moved into a 40 hour position with a pay rate increase of almost $10/hour. The yearly stock allotment (described below) is an awesome perk and can accumulate quickly with the pharmacist's salary at approx 8%. Overall pros for Publix: A career with Publix offers a valuable opportunity to earn stock in a private company that has historically outperformed the Stockmarket and also had several stock "splits" over the years (most recent in April 2022). This benefit is by far the biggest perk of working for Publix, in my opinion. Stock program briefly explained: There are two ways to obtain Publix stock for employees: 1. PROFIT Plan: Publix awards each employee with roughly 8% of their salary in the form of Publix stock each year if they meet certain eligibility criteria. Stock is disbursed to employees that have worked at least 1000 hours in their first full year of employment, and are still employed on day of disbursement. For most circumstances, once the employee has completed 3 years of credited service (1000 hours each year), they become vested in the company. Vesting can also occur in special circumstances like turning age 60, becoming disabled, or passing away (stock is passed to designated beneficiaries). At this point, associates have full autonomy over their stock to cash out, leave alone for growth, etc.. Before vesting occurs, if the associate quits they cannot keep any of their stock. Basically, when Publix gives employees their earned allotments before vesting occurs, it gives a glimpse of the advantage of staying with the company to secure the stock allotments. Employee Stock Purchase Plan: After completing one year of service, associates can purchase company stock during special windows (usually a month or two in length) throughout the year. Contrary to above, once the associate buys stock, it is theirs regardless of vesting status. If associates sell any stock back to publix, they are ineligible to purchase stock again for a 12 month period following the transaction.
Cons
Cons for working the pharmacy: Floating Pharmacist: - Work life balance: This was tough in this position. Each region has a scheduler that coordinates floater pharmacists schedules and time off requests. Every month, each floater has a deadline to submit any schedule requests for pre-planned events during the month, and the scheduler does their best to ensure those days were blocked off for the floater. With that said, it wasn't abnormal for schedules to be published with only a week before the month in question began, and this made it very hard to plan anything from dinner with friends to an out of town weekend. Some of the shifts are "on call" which are not technically shifts until a staff pharmacist (or other floater) calls out and needs last-minute coverage. I'd say each month I'd have about 5 on call days, and got called in for about 50% of those days. Overall cons for Publix: -Vacation days: Publix likes to reward employees that stay with the company long-term, and this couldn't be more evident in their vacation policy. For the first 7 years of employment, pharmacists are only given 10 days of vacation, one of which must be taken as a full week (5 days). Beginning in year 3, Publix does provide one loophole to create more vacation days. This option allows you to convert your yearly holiday bonus into vacation days, which can be taken as a consecutive 5 day vacation or in individual days.
