Merck contract resigned til 2015 Merry Christmas!!!

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Manager hours aren't tracked. It's one of the 'perks' of being a manager. All I can say about the current set-up is that while its pretty clear that Publicis is strict about the 8hr work day/24 hr work week, the days that reps do go to work is micromanaged than ever before. The whole thing is now basically managed in Big Pharma style. An 8 hr work day means 8 hours in the field (excluding time spent for admin unless indicated). PTS knows the state of jobs in the industry so management isn't really worried about people leaving. For every rep that leaves, there are 20 others looking to fill that spot...and that's a conservative estimate. Management understands that not all are happy and will never be, just like it is for any other job.
 


















Anonymous said:
Manager hours aren't tracked. It's one of the 'perks' of being a manager. All I can say about the current set-up is that while its pretty clear that Publicis is strict about the 8hr work day/24 hr work week, the days that reps do go to work is micromanaged than ever before. The whole thing is now basically managed in Big Pharma style. An 8 hr work day means 8 hours in the field (excluding time spent for admin unless indicated). PTS knows the state of jobs in the industry so management isn't really worried about people leaving. For every rep that leaves, there are 20 others looking to fill that spot...and that's a conservative estimate. Management understands that not all are happy and will never be, just like it is for any other job.
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I don't think 8 hours in the field is expected or realistic. We are paid by the hour. We are not salaried employees. We have admin work, etc that is figured into our 8 hours. That counts expense reports, running reports, and anything else that is job related. I work hard and often work well over 24 hours per week. I do not spend 8 hours in the field. If I did, that would mean 10 hour plus days. We are not paid for thirty plus hours per week, we are paid for 24.
 






Exactly..thank you this is exactly what I have said but some say we have to be inthe In the field 8 hrs. If that was the case then I would be working 30 hrs.another thing, I may be at my first call by 845?or 9 but have to wait 45 or minutes so many variables with this job. They are getting a good thing and we are a good thing for business. It all works but they need to remember we are flex time 24 core.
 






Anonymous said:
I don't think 8 hours in the field is expected or realistic. We are paid by the hour. We are not salaried employees. We have admin work, etc that is figured into our 8 hours. That counts expense reports, running reports, and anything else that is job related. I work hard and often work well over 24 hours per week. I do not spend 8 hours in the field. If I did, that would mean 10 hour plus days. We are not paid for thirty plus hours per week, we are paid for 24.
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Yeah, this is really what should be. This is what was told to us in the beginning (remember the Core Meta launch in Florida?), but it has changed. The EPBU leadership has changed and the way the current leadership sees it is radically different from the previous leadership. Jan and Steve ran a tight ship and they stuck to what was said about the workload, the hours, etc. so it was all good. But this current leadership is oriented more towards a Big Pharma type of how things are run...more micromanagement and dms are really quite powerless to do anything about it since its all coming from the highest offices of Publicis and Merck. These are lean times for Merck and they want more than what they are paying Publicis for. Publicis can't really do anything other than to comply with the client's wishes. It's all true about the things being said regarding 8 hours IN THE FIELD/work day, call signature percentage, time of calls, etc. these are increasingly being tied to the incentive comp plan.
 






Anonymous said:
Exactly..thank you this is exactly what I have said but some say we have to be inthe In the field 8 hrs. If that was the case then I would be working 30 hrs.another thing, I may be at my first call by 845?or 9 but have to wait 45 or minutes so many variables with this job. They are getting a good thing and we are a good thing for business. It all works but they need to remember we are flex time 24 core.
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It's a professional sales job with a 3-day/week work commitment. The only reason to complain here is if you need validation from fellow malcontents. You'll get plenty of support here and plenty of wisdom from the tiny minority who just don't contribute. Your example "what if I am in an office at 8:45 but have to wait 45 minutes?" is just stupid. Nobody would ever be called on that. It all works because almost all of us do. The others complain here.
 






Anonymous said:
It's a professional sales job with a 3-day/week work commitment. The only reason to complain here is if you need validation from fellow malcontents. You'll get plenty of support here and plenty of wisdom from the tiny minority who just don't contribute. Your example "what if I am in an office at 8:45 but have to wait 45 minutes?" is just stupid. Nobody would ever be called on that. It all works because almost all of us do. The others complain here.
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Nobody would ever be called on that?!?! You obviously don't have my manager!! She calls us out on everything little thing AND we ARE working!!!! My guess is that everyone on here who is still loving this contract either has a really cool manager OR has no idea what you're talking about! I've been doing Pharm. Sales for a LONG LONG time and I know how it works! Merck is Micromanaging to the point where their expectations are no longer feasible! If we do 8 calls in under 8 hours, we need to stay out in the field until we have been there for 8 hours. Hmmm! How can I do more than 8 calls/samples per day when you have given me 2 boxes of Asmanex to last me 2 months!?! If I do more than 8 calls what's my sample to call ratio gonna look like?!? What's my call per hour ratio gonna look like?!? My gut is screaming that we are being set up to fail!
 






Anonymous said:
Nobody would ever be called on that?!?! You obviously don't have my manager!! She calls us out on everything little thing AND we ARE working!!!! My guess is that everyone on here who is still loving this contract either has a really cool manager OR has no idea what you're talking about! I've been doing Pharm. Sales for a LONG LONG time and I know how it works! Merck is Micromanaging to the point where their expectations are no longer feasible! If we do 8 calls in under 8 hours, we need to stay out in the field until we have been there for 8 hours. Hmmm! How can I do more than 8 calls/samples per day when you have given me 2 boxes of Asmanex to last me 2 months!?! If I do more than 8 calls what's my sample to call ratio gonna look like?!? What's my call per hour ratio gonna look like?!? My gut is screaming that we are being set up to fail!
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This. +1!
 






Anonymous said:
Nobody would ever be called on that?!?! You obviously don't have my manager!! She calls us out on everything little thing AND we ARE working!!!! My guess is that everyone on here who is still loving this contract either has a really cool manager OR has no idea what you're talking about! I've been doing Pharm. Sales for a LONG LONG time and I know how it works! Merck is Micromanaging to the point where their expectations are no longer feasible! If we do 8 calls in under 8 hours, we need to stay out in the field until we have been there for 8 hours. Hmmm! How can I do more than 8 calls/samples per day when you have given me 2 boxes of Asmanex to last me 2 months!?! If I do more than 8 calls what's my sample to call ratio gonna look like?!? What's my call per hour ratio gonna look like?!? My gut is screaming that we are being set up to fail!
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8 hours includes travel to and from storage. So f you are at your storage at 9 am. first call around 10am +/- 15 minutes. take break mid-day. read/answer emails. last call around 4pm. Head back to storage. Get Home, plug laptop in, synch done for the day. What's the big deal.
 






Anonymous said:
8 hours includes travel to and from storage. So f you are at your storage at 9 am. first call around 10am +/- 15 minutes. take break mid-day. read/answer emails. last call around 4pm. Head back to storage. Get Home, plug laptop in, synch done for the day. What's the big deal.
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No, 8 hours DO NOT include travel to and from storage...never has been.
 






I have not been told any us this crap by Manager in fact he said good job!!! keep it up!!!! Again work and they won't call you out for anything if your numbers are bad then make sure you are doing everything correctly if your Manager is really a jerk then call HR. 99% of us are working and love this contract!!!! I get 5-7 sample signatures a day which I can agree is tough due to LACK of samples but that is the ONLY complaint!!!!!!
 






Anonymous said:
Nobody would ever be called on that?!?! You obviously don't have my manager!! She calls us out on everything little thing AND we ARE working!!!! My guess is that everyone on here who is still loving this contract either has a really cool manager OR has no idea what you're talking about! I've been doing Pharm. Sales for a LONG LONG time and I know how it works! Merck is Micromanaging to the point where their expectations are no longer feasible! If we do 8 calls in under 8 hours, we need to stay out in the field until we have been there for 8 hours. Hmmm! How can I do more than 8 calls/samples per day when you have given me 2 boxes of Asmanex to last me 2 months!?! If I do more than 8 calls what's my sample to call ratio gonna look like?!? What's my call per hour ratio gonna look like?!? My gut is screaming that we are being set up to fail!
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OK deep breath and relax. You should not be feeling this way. None of us are being set up to fail, including you, so get that out of your head. Talk to your DM about your business. You have to talk, no e-mail. If you are pinged about things you think are little, you need to understand why. It is much easier to write a rule than it is to execute. The rule writers never have to execute. I won't even go into the resource issue, but you are so right. Do your job in good faith, follow the rules, communicate with your DM, and let the BS go. Sounds like your DM is reacting. That happens. There is a lot of undue stress at their level. If she knows you are working, and if she can talk about your territory to others like it was hers, you have no issues. Help her help you get away from this bad feeling and go sell with a smile. Otherwise, you will sell nothing.
 






Anonymous said:
No, 8 hours DO NOT include travel to and from storage...never has been.
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How could this be true? Going to our storage unit twice a day is mandatory and part of our job. How would this not be included in the 8 hours? Please explain. From my understanding anything that is work related is counted in the 8 hours per day. Last I checked we aren't salaried employees, therefore, anything we do for work is billable time and counted towards the 8 per day.

At this point, I really feel like people are getting too worked up about these little minor details. Just do your job, put in an honest day, and you'll be okay. Just my two cents.
 






Anonymous said:
How could this be true? Going to our storage unit twice a day is mandatory and part of our job. How would this not be included in the 8 hours? Please explain. From my understanding anything that is work related is counted in the 8 hours per day. Last I checked we aren't salaried employees, therefore, anything we do for work is billable time and counted towards the 8 per day.

At this point, I really feel like people are getting too worked up about these little minor details. Just do your job, put in an honest day, and you'll be okay. Just my two cents.
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100% accurate and good advice for all.
 






Anonymous said:
No, 8 hours DO NOT include travel to and from storage...never has been.
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Your day starts when you get to your storage, and if you have samples left at end of day, you have to return them to storage and that is when your day ends. If anyone says different, get them to put it in writing.

Having said that, our manager requires that our sample storage be as close to middle of our territory as possible. It is an hourly job. Getting and returning samples are a job criteria.
 






Anonymous said:
Your day starts when you get to your storage, and if you have samples left at end of day, you have to return them to storage and that is when your day ends. If anyone says different, get them to put it in writing.

Having said that, our manager requires that our sample storage be as close to middle of our territory as possible. It is an hourly job. Getting and returning samples are a job criteria.
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I'm not the one who posted earlier regarding travel to and from storage not being part of an 8 hr work day, but the way my manager looks at it is that our work day begins with the first signature and ends with the last one. People in my district including me have been called out by him for not having a first sig at 9am and having a last sig at 4pm. He expects us to get to our storage unit from 7-8, first sig at 9, last sig at 5, and travel to storage from 5-6. Travel to and from storage isn't included as far as he is concerned. He called a few of us out for logging those "extra" hours before and we were told that he would write us up the next time we did again.
 






Anonymous said:
I'm not the one who posted earlier regarding travel to and from storage not being part of an 8 hr work day, but the way my manager looks at it is that our work day begins with the first signature and ends with the last one. People in my district including me have been called out by him for not having a first sig at 9am and having a last sig at 4pm. He expects us to get to our storage unit from 7-8, first sig at 9, last sig at 5, and travel to storage from 5-6. Travel to and from storage isn't included as far as he is concerned. He called a few of us out for logging those "extra" hours before and we were told that he would write us up the next time we did again.
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Your manager sounds like an ass. Were you billing for more than 8 hours per day? If not, you should get him to put in writing that he is asking you to work a 10 hour plus day and only pay you for 8. Furthermore, they hired mostly moms for this job, since most that aren't wouldn't want part time. It's just not feasible to go to your storage unit between 7 and 8. This is when most are dropping off children to school or daycare. If I went to my storage unit at 7, my clock would start at that time. I would be heading back to return samples by about 1pm or 2. Drive home, synch, email, done. That's 8 hours
 






I agree if your Manager is really holding you to that then he will loose everyone BUT it is not the Contract my Manager is not saying that at all. You have an HR issue you better document all of your hours including all the extra ADMIN. time you are not paid for and call HR. If you are truly working over time the company could get in a lot of trouble.
 






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