Self Employed Advice

[M_clairelouise]

Hiya

I am a Self-Employed hairdresser and Have been for a while at my previous Salon I work at I did the hours I wanted.

I have now moved to a new salon, which is just getting up and running.
I feel like I have to be there all the time to answer the phone and if I dont and leave early then the owner of the salon gets annoyed with me.

But I will always be flexiable with clients and stay late any time.
Also she mentioned I cant take holiday when she takes her holiday is that correct?

I do a 50-50 split and have bought clients with me.

My question is do I have to work the hours she wants me to?
Should I be sitting there taking calls all the time when my clients are not there?

Please help cause I am not sure if I am right or wrong?

xxxxxxx

 

[vitality]

Did you sign a contract when you moved to the new salon? This depends on what you agreed or signed when you started. If you are renting a room then basically the salon owner should really just be your landlady and nothing more, but many salons who take on self employed staff do tend to have other rules and regulations

 

[M_clairelouise]

No I Havent signed a contract I just rent the chair?

 

[vitality]

Did you verbally agree to her terms and conditions?

 

[M_clairelouise]

No we only verbally agreed the chair rent and uniform

 

[vitality]

Ok well I think you should have a professional chat with the landlady, telling her that you wish to work your own hours as you are self employed, you feel as if she is your employer and that you did not sign a contract or make an agreement with her to work specific hours. Maybe she come to a compromise.

 

[M_clairelouise]

That sounds perfect just wanted to see where I stood be for I spoke to her. Its just confirmed what I was thinking. Thankyou so much x

 

[Salon lawyer]

Assuming you consider yourself self-employed already, if you want to put a bit more pressure on the salon owner, you could say that the more control she has, the more the tax man is likely to treat it as an employer/employee relationship rather than a self-employed relationship, and that means she's going to have to think about PAYE and National Insurance and employers liability insurance to cover you. It's a fine line between employed and self-employed, which I'm guessing neither of you will want to cross.

A good lawyer or accountant should be able to advise you on where the boundaries are for your particular circumstances.