- 3.5 day work weeks are also a con for some. ZAs either work Sunday-Wed or Wed-Sat schedules. You will always be working one weekend day. There is no possibility for part time or altered schedules. 3 days are 9+ hour shifts.
- Extremely low PTO accrual rate. There is no separate sick pay - if you get sick you are forced to use your PTO. If you get COVID, you will have to use PTO and once that runs out, remain unpaid for the time you get sick.
- Low pay for the amount of tasks given, especially if you are a busy central clinic. Annual raises maximum are 3% - not even a dollar added to your hourly rate. The only way to get paid more as a ZA is to work at a specialty clinic or the Super location. There are a limited amount of positions for these specialties, so if there are no positions open, you are essentially stuck with no way to progress. There is truly no way to get paid more besides your annual raise of a few cents.
No career pathing for ZAs within the company. No opportunity for growth.
Tenure as a ZA means nothing to the company.
- Feedback about ZA working conditions and pay are never implemented despite feedback for patient experience being acted upon promptly. There was a leadership change recently, yet nothing much has changed regarding ZA working conditions. They bumped the hourly rate to $22 in the Seattle market but with inflation this is still inadequate as a living wage.
- If you have a home clinic, you may still be forced to provide coverage for other clinics. You will not have a choice. You will be responsible for paying for gas or an uber upfront.
- You have to work one holiday. If you are hired later in the year you may be stuck working on major holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving.
- Clinics are typically staffed with one ZA and one ZP. Most if not all communication with other coworkers occurs on slack. There is no in-clinic support if you are having an issue, you will have to seek help online.
- Poor communication from leadership about company wide decisions.
- Overall, not valued as an important asset to the company.
Despite the healthcare experience you receive, I would not recommend working for this company. It may be bearable to work here until you get phlebotomy certified (Which can take potentially months) but receiving little pay and not being valued in the company makes the workplace depressing. I would say that the only redeeming factors are the 3.5 day work week, okay healthcare benefits, and coworkers.
Tldr: Good for short term employment until you get accepted into med, PA, NP school. Anything more than 6 months you will start to feel the burn of disrespect and low pay.
