Guild enters lunch debate
January 23, 2013
THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia
has stepped into the ring with
APESMA over pharmacist lunch
breaks, saying that there are certian
occasions when a pharmacist may
be required to remain at the
workplace during their lunch time.
The Guild was responding to
comments made yesterday by
pharmacist union APESMA which
called for the Fair Work
Ombudsman, in his audit of
pharmacies, to ensure pharmacists
get their lunch breaks, following an
APESMA survey which revealed 62%
of Australian community
pharmacists are routinely forced to
work through their lunch breaks.
According to the Guild the
Pharmacy Industry Award 2010 has
a provision for an on-premise meal
allowance.
“The allowance recognises the
regulatory reality that a community
pharmacy must have a pharmacist
present at all times to remain
open,” the Guild said in a
statement.
“The Award recognises that there
will inevitably be situations where a
sole pharmacist on their meal break
is restricted to the pharmacy, and
may be required to dispense
scheduled medicines during their
rostered break.
“The alternative is shut the
pharmacy for the duration of the
lunch break, which would
disadvantage the general public,”
the Guild added.
Further supporting its case, the
Guild cited other healthcare
occupations where lunch breaks
had to be taken in the workplace.
“Nurses for example - that must
remain at the workplace during
their lunch break in order to ensure
the safety of patients,” the Guild
said.
Meanwhile, in relation to the on
premise allowance, the Guild said
that there are circumstances where
under the Award the allowance can
be absorbed into individual
flexibility agreements, annualised
salary, or over-award payments.
“In those circumstances, the
allowance is not payable under the
Award,” the Guild said.
“The Pharmacy Guild supports
full compliance with the terms and
conditions of the Award.
“As usual, APESMA has chosen to
distort the facts,” the Guild added.
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