Self employed staff member caught complaining about owner

[redlottie13]

Hi all. Recently I have been feeling really low at work, the morale is negative and 2 self employed staff members have a 'you owe me' attitude because they pay me a rent.
..... They are blurring the lines and expect all the benefits of being employed: funded Xmas do, supplied support staff, and bookings. Yet these two won't answer the phones, and work half days galore....yeah that's great. But that's why they aren't busy.
...they then also the benefits of being self employed, ie lots of money and 'boss babe' status
Today i have caught a self employed staff member slagging me off to a client.
She has thrown me under the bus several times to clients and this is the last straw.

Can anyone tell me if they have done this before?

Her contract states she must act professionally, Her last day will ideally be tomorrow.

I have discovered this girl is fake, to my face she calls me her 'big sis'....behind my back it's a different story.
....all the help setting up her own business has been thrown back in my face.

Help needed thankyou x

 

[Sasha Malone]

Oh dear sounds like a complete nightmare!

If she is self employed, then you are only her landlord. Politely state to her that you are having a rethink of self employment situation and unfortunately she has two weeks (or what has been stated in your contract with her) to leave. It's your playing field and she is only there to rent, not be a pest!

You seriously do not need the drama, its affecting you and your business.
Start advertising for a new self employed position. Hopefully this time round you find a lovely hard working person to rent your space to.

 

[AcidPerm]

I’m sorry you’re still struggling with the people working in your salon.
It’s difficult to advise from afar but I think you could really do with a professional mentor to come to the salon and help you resolve the issues.

Sometimes it’s much easier to work out what’s wrong when you’re viewing the dynamics from an outsiders perspective and not personally affected by the drama.

 

[salonfrog]

I can see how hard this is but I agree with @AcidPerm
Maybe take a step back and look from a business point of view. It might not need much resolving (easy for me to say) and it’s rental income in at the moment.

If you did end her contract, then she might be out there saying worse things. Talking and resolving the issue is definitely an option.

Having said that, if you can’t resolve the issues, then as landlord, just give notice and advertise the space to someone else.

Good luck and really hope you resolve it all. You have enough pressure on you as an owner without all this stuff going on.

 

[RED STAR]

I cannot see the benefit of self employment within a salon.
As has been said many times before - you are just their landlord - the rent collector!
The amount you receive for a daily chair rental versus the sh*t you often end up in is a no- goer for me!
I work alone, with just an assistant, good quality staff are hard to come by as they have their own set ups in there homes/log cabins.....
I am always on the look out however - but it seems so few want ‘employment’ nowadays as they like the cash & flexibility - but that doesn’t suit us salons
At the Beauty show this year, they had some very good speakers from the industry explaining how we need to return to employing.
Nothing beats working as a team

 

[Mstango]

Hi really sorry to hear this. My advice is get rid taking you for a ride getting this too where they mistake kindness for being a mug. I’m a new salon owner and have a pretty crap day/week. The problem with returning to employment is the stress of meeting everyone’s wage I’ve just set up and am trying to establish myself too. I have a nail technician who does three day I allowed her a free day to help as she is just new she’s been in now for 5 weeks. Pretty confident in some ways no clue in others ways. I asked her if she knew how to use the booking system I showed her how it worked initially but she managed to book someone in at 2.15pm for a full body massage (1 hour) then the next client was already booked in at 2.30pm so she was literally given me a 15 minute space for an hours treatment. Another day she managed to book someone into the system from a day in the past luckily I came out my room looked at the booking system and seen it as it was still on the same page. The person phoned back so I was able to put them into the correct day but only by chance. Anyway the story with her is she has never been very forthcoming with her rent one day she handed me £20 for rent so next day I was like oh by the way it’s £25 for rent wtf. The other day she literally stayed for about an hour it was my late night too she left at 12 noon but went to the shops at about 11am and did t arrive into the salon till about 9.45am. So know how you feel the laugh is she spent money getting her hair done but can’t pay me rent and is stressed out she starting crying when I asked for it. Totally stressing me out I do need to address quite a few issues with her. Any help or advice for my situation would be greatly appreciated too xxx

 

[TheDuchess]

Dump her. She's not ready and she could take you down too.

 

[AcidPerm]

I have a nail technician who does three day I allowed her a free day to help as she is just new she’s been in now for 5 weeks. Pretty confident in some ways no clue in others ways. I asked her if she knew how to use the booking system I showed her how it worked initially but she managed to book someone in at 2.15pm for a full body massage (1 hour) then the next client was already booked in at 2.30pm so she was literally given me a 15 minute space for an hours treatment.

If she’s self employed, why is she booking your clients into the salon?
Presumably, you’ve trained her how to use your booking system? I think you risk this situation being classed as a sham employment arrangement if you continue to train her to do normal salon duties. She must not get so involved with the day to day running of your salon, particularly in the beginning when she should be trying to establish herself.

If she’d been running her own business in the salon for a long time and chose to help you out occasionally, I think that would be viewed quite differently.

If she’s late with the rent (crying!) and bunking off and not taking it seriously, then ask her to leave. Don’t waste any more time in the busy period coming up to Christmas, but get in someone new who’s going to be reliable. You also don’t want her casual attitude to rub off on employed staff and if she lets down any clients, it will unfortunately affect your salon’s reputation.

 

[Sasha Malone]

Hi really sorry to hear this. My advice is get rid taking you for a ride getting this too where they mistake kindness for being a mug. I’m a new salon owner and have a pretty crap day/week. The problem with returning to employment is the stress of meeting everyone’s wage I’ve just set up and am trying to establish myself too. I have a nail technician who does three day I allowed her a free day to help as she is just new she’s been in now for 5 weeks. Pretty confident in some ways no clue in others ways. I asked her if she knew how to use the booking system I showed her how it worked initially but she managed to book someone in at 2.15pm for a full body massage (1 hour) then the next client was already booked in at 2.30pm so she was literally given me a 15 minute space for an hours treatment. Another day she managed to book someone into the system from a day in the past luckily I came out my room looked at the booking system and seen it as it was still on the same page. The person phoned back so I was able to put them into the correct day but only by chance. Anyway the story with her is she has never been very forthcoming with her rent one day she handed me £20 for rent so next day I was like oh by the way it’s £25 for rent wtf. The other day she literally stayed for about an hour it was my late night too she left at 12 noon but went to the shops at about 11am and did t arrive into the salon till about 9.45am. So know how you feel the laugh is she spent money getting her hair done but can’t pay me rent and is stressed out she starting crying when I asked for it. Totally stressing me out I do need to address quite a few issues with her. Any help or advice for my situation would be greatly appreciated too xxx

It's time for her to go, politely tell her she has so many days to pack her stuff. In the mean time look for another technician, you do not have time and money for her BS!

 

[Mstango]

If she’s self employed, why is she booking your clients into the salon?
Presumably, you’ve trained her how to use your booking system? I think you risk this situation being classed as a sham employment arrangement if you continue to train her to do normal salon duties. She must not get so involved with the day to day running of your salon, particularly in the beginning when she should be trying to establish herself.

If she’d been running her own business in the salon for a long time and chose to help you out occasionally, I think that would be viewed quite differently.

If she’s late with the rent (crying!) and bunking off and not taking it seriously, then ask her to leave. Don’t waste any more time in the busy period coming up to Christmas, but get in someone new who’s going to be reliable. You also don’t want her casual attitude to rub off on employed staff and if she lets down any clients, it will unfortunately affect your salon’s reputation.

If I am in treatment she answers the telephone. I told her she can book in her clients as my system protect you against late cancellation and no shows.

Not had a chance to have a word with her yet, but think your right time for her to go. Either that or she needs to play by my rules.

 

[AcidPerm]

....I told her she can book in her clients as my system protect you against late cancellation and no shows.....
...Either that or she needs to play by my rules.

Both of these options are on dodgy ground because she’s supposed to be running her own separate business and if you get involved, it could be construed as a sham employment situation which is taken very seriously by HMRC. Don’t forget HMRC have the power to prosecute, meaning you end up with a criminal record. It’s not worth the risk.

 

[Mstango]

Both of these options are on dodgy ground because she’s supposed to be running her own separate business and if you get involved, it could be construed as a sham employment situation which is taken very seriously by HMRC. Don’t forget HMRC have the power to prosecute, meaning you end up with a criminal record. It’s not worth the risk.

Thanks for the advice.