PDA secures over half a million pounds through settlement agreements in 2023

Individual pharmacists received compensation ranging from under £10,000 to more than £125,000 this year 

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) revealed on Friday that it was able to secure more than half a million pounds of payments through negotiated settlement agreements on behalf of pharmacists treated badly by their employers during 2023.

An employer and an employee can resolve a dispute through a settlement agreement without having to go through an employment tribunal hearing. By signing a legally binding agreement, the employee agrees to settle their potential claims and in return the employer will agree to pay compensation, the association said.

This can involve any pharmacy, the NHS or other employers, but the details of the claim cannot be revealed to the public.

Through cases resolved this way, the PDA’s employment team helped its members received compensation ranging from under £10,000 to more than £125,000 this year, securing a six-figure total of payments.

Mark Pitt, Director of Defence Services at the PDA said, “In these cases we have secured payment for our members before the case goes through an employment tribunal process and, as part of the confidentiality agreements, we are restricted from discussing the identity of the employer or the detail of how they mistreated the pharmacist. However, we know who these employers are and have seen the evidence of what occurred.”

This kind of support in resolving specific workplace disputes for pharmacists is only available to those who were PDA members before their issue arose.

Therefore, Mark has asked every pharmacist to join the PDA, if they have not already done so.

Further, the association noted that securing these settlements often requires months of hard work by its employment team and painstaking negotiations.

In some cases, pharmacists suffer physically and mentally due to their employment situation, and they require a level of pastoral support from the PDA’s employment team.