US Employers Resources

If you work at Walgreens and have not checked your PTO policy recently, you need to. The company eliminated 6 paid holidays as of November 2025, and that is just one piece of a larger cost-cutting wave. Knowing exactly what time off you still have, and what you have lost, is more important right now than at any other point in Walgreens’ recent history.

Myth: “Walgreens Still Offers the Same Holidays as CVS”

Reality: Not anymore. Walgreens cut all six of its paid holidays in November 2025. Those were Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. CVS Health, by comparison, still offers 7 paid holidays for full-time employees.

This is not a temporary suspension or a restructuring. The paid holidays are gone. If you work on these days, you may receive your regular hourly rate, but the holiday premium that used to come with those shifts has been removed.

What this means for you: If you were counting on holiday pay for these six days, your annual compensation just dropped by roughly 48 hours of premium pay (assuming 8-hour shifts at time-and-a-half). That is real money, potentially over $500 depending on your hourly rate.

Myth: “The Sycamore Deal Won’t Affect My Day-to-Day Benefits”

Reality: It already has. Sycamore Partners completed a roughly $10 billion acquisition of Walgreens in August 2025, and the cost-cutting started almost immediately. Besides eliminating paid holidays, the company has:

• Closed or announced closure of 1,200+ stores over three years (500+ already done, ~350 more planned for 2026)
• Laid off 628+ employees in February 2026 (469 in Illinois, 159 in Texas)
• Cut benefits across the board
• Acknowledged publicly that 25% of remaining stores are unprofitable
• Begun splitting the company into 5 standalone businesses

Your PTO is part of this changing picture. Benefits that existed six months ago may be modified or eliminated without the kind of advance notice you would get from a publicly traded company. Walgreens is now private, which means less public disclosure.

What to do: Check your current PTO balance on People Central through WBA Worldwide (wbaworldwide.wba.com). Screenshot or print your balance and accrual rate. If benefits change again, having documentation of what you were promised helps.

Myth: “My PTO Accrual Rate Has Not Changed”

Reality: PTO accrual rates have been under pressure across the company. While Walgreens has not publicly announced a blanket reduction in PTO accrual, individual employees have reported changes to their expected balances, particularly after store closures and transfers.

If you were transferred from a closing store to a different location, verify that your tenure, PTO balance, and accrual rate transferred correctly. System errors during mass transfers are common, and nobody is going to catch them for you.

Myth: “I Can Still Use My PTO Whenever I Want”

Reality: With 1,200 stores closing and remaining locations running leaner, getting PTO approved has become harder at many Walgreens locations. Managers dealing with skeleton crews are less likely to approve time-off requests, especially during flu season, holidays, or any period with pharmacy staffing shortages.

This does not mean you have lost the right to use your PTO. It means you should submit requests earlier than you normally would and have a backup plan if your first-choice dates get denied.

Tip: If your PTO request is denied and you believe it should not have been, ask for the denial reason in writing. Contact askhr@walgreens.com or call 1-800-825-5467 if your store management is unresponsive.

What PTO You Still Have

Despite the cuts, Walgreens still provides PTO for eligible employees. The structure generally includes vacation time that accrues based on tenure and employment status, plus sick time in states and cities that require it by law.

The exact accrual rates depend on your position (store, pharmacy, distribution, corporate) and how long you have worked for the company. Pharmacy staff and store managers typically receive different PTO packages than front-end cashiers or shift leads. Check People Central for your specific numbers. Do not rely on what a coworker tells you, because their classification, tenure, or location might give them different rates.

If you have been with Walgreens for several years, your accrual rate should reflect your tenure. But double-check that your years of service transferred correctly if you were moved between stores during the closure wave. Payroll systems do not always handle bulk transfers cleanly, and a missing year of tenure can cost you days of PTO.

How to Access People Central for PTO Information

Log in to WBA Worldwide at wbaworldwide.wba.com using your OneID credentials. From there, navigate to People Central (powered by SAP SuccessFactors) to view your PTO balance, accrual rate, and request history.

If you are having trouble logging in, the WConnect App on your phone has a direct link to People Central. For more help with portal access, see the Walgreens login portals guide.

How Walgreens PTO Compares to CVS Right Now

The comparison between Walgreens and CVS is unavoidable, especially for pharmacy workers who could move between the two. Here is where things stand:

CVS still offers 7 paid holidays for full-time employees. Walgreens now offers zero. CVS provides 20 to 30 days of PTO per year depending on role and tenure, with a 6-month waiting period before PTO kicks in. Walgreens PTO accrual is comparable on paper, but the elimination of holidays creates a real gap in total paid days off.

CVS also still operates as a public company with regulatory disclosure requirements. Walgreens, now private under Sycamore Partners, is not required to announce benefit changes publicly before implementing them. That difference in transparency matters if you are trying to plan ahead.

If you are a pharmacist or pharmacy technician weighing your options, the PTO and holiday gap between these two companies is now wider than it has been in decades.

Planning Around the Uncertainty

Walgreens employees are in a tough spot right now. The company’s own executives described the business model as “non-sustainable” in October 2024, and everything that has happened since confirms that assessment. Employee morale is at historic lows.

If you are staying at Walgreens, use your PTO. Do not bank it expecting conditions to improve or that you will be able to use it later. Use what you have earned before any further policy changes reduce what is available to you.

If you are considering leaving, check what your state requires for PTO payout at separation. The Walgreens PTO payout when you quit page has details. Also review what happens to your benefits after termination and the Walgreens quitting process.

For a full picture of what Walgreens still offers, visit the Walgreens company hub. And for context on how Walgreens compares to other pharmacy retailers on benefits, see the Walgreens employee benefits page.