So I have around 13 years of experience as a certified pharmacy tech. I left for a while due to health issues with my child and during that time let my certification lapse, as I didn’t think I’d actually be able to work again. Fast forward 7 years and I decided to test the waters with going back to work. I created a resume and profile on indeed and low and behold a couple days after I uploaded I got an interview with the local pharmacy. The manager seemed really cool and was super understanding of my situation. They offered me the job, starting at 18 dollars an hour, with the manger telling the pay rate would increase to 23-25 hour for certification. Additionally they wanted me to work in a remote dispensing pharmacy and the rate of pay for that job was 27-28 an hour. I was super excited. That was a good wage and the company seemed like they really valued their employees. I had to drive 100 miles round trip to train that their main hospital until I got certified and could be at the remote site full time. I worked my ass off for three months basically being a pharmacy clerk and studying to take the certification test.
There were red flags of course, the pharmacy was ridiculously short staffed, techs complained no body wanted to work there because of the low wages, a third of the staff were tech trainees, and my pharmacy manager wasn’t very enthusiastic about me pursuing my certification so soon. Like an idiot I brushed it off. So in September I took my certification test, and passed. My manager didn’t seem very happy at all about it. He did my 90 day review and told me I’d be getting a 3 dollar an hour raise. He mentioned that he was putting in for a job change to remote tech staying remote tech was 28 an hour. I was mad that I was getting 2 dollars an hour less than what he had said when I started but was like it’s only for little while until the remote tech change. So I waited for like 3 weeks to get my raise for getting certified and it was only 1 dollar an hour. I thought it was a mistake so I contacted my manager. He apologized and told me that he didn’t communicate the raise details, it was a dollar for getting certified and “about” 2 more dollars for the remote tech. I immediately called him on it. I didn’t misunderstand shit. He told me on numerous occasions what the rate of pay was for remote tech. His response was that I would need to talk to HR for further questions about my wage. I’m livid. They’ve had me working full time at the remote pharmacy since the end of July. I spent almost three months being Pharmacy clerk, getting berated my irate customers, and just kept saying it’d be worth it the end. I shouldve known it was too good to be true. Of course these companies only care about fucking over their employees, why was I delusional enough to think this one was going to be different? The icing on the cake is that because I had the audacity to stand up for myself, I’ve now been unofficially demoted back to pharmacy clerk. I’m looking for something else and you can bet your ass that I’ll get whatever wages they promise in writing before I start. Feels like I worked my ass off for nothing.