Losing their lunch

Simone Roberts

Results from the 13th annual remuneration survey from the Pharmacist Division of the Association of professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers Australia (APESMA) - the body representing employee pharmacists - revealed high numbers of pharmacists are required to work during lunch without appropriate compensation.

Almost two-thirds of community pharmacists (64.1 per cent) do not have a meal break while the position is reversed in hospital pharmacies (26.9 per cent).

APESMA said previous improvements in award entitlements designed to ensure community pharmacists have meal breaks appear to have had only a minor impact on industry practice to date, as the proportion of community pharmacists working through lunch fell from a reported 70.5 per cent in 2004 to 66 per cent in 2005, to 64.9 per cent in 2006, 63.2 per cent in 2007, and has now risen to 64.1 per cent in 2008.

The survey also revealed pharmacists are lagging behind other science and technical professional groups in annual pay increases. The average base hourly rate for community pharmacists rose from $35.10 to $36.78, representing an annual increase of 4.8 per cent. This is less than the average increases achieved by other science and technical professional groups, which were most commonly in the range of five to six per cent.

However, the increase in the average hourly wage for community pharmacists was marginally greater than the corresponding Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of 4.2 per cent and the change in Average Weekly Earnings, which rose 4.5 per cent in the 12 months to February 2008.

Last year's report was underscored by a tightening of the salary increases paid to pharmacists. Nationally pharmacists' salaries rose by only 3.1 per cent, less than the change in Average Weekly Earnings at 3.4 per cent.