Advice needed - massage job

[Massager]

Hello all,

I've been reading the forum a bit now, but I need some feedback and advice as I don't really know anything about the industry

Here is the scenario:

After studying and qualifying from abroad, my friend has started work in a massage salon in London. A friend of hers, who has been in the business for a few years, suggested the salon to her. My friend works 11am to 7pm 4 days a week and is generally the only person there. She gets paid £15 / hour for a massage and a guarantee of £30 minimum a day. The charged rate is £50 / hour. So she could do 0 to 2 hours of massage and still get paid £30. Also she does other duties relevant to the day to day running of a salon.

How does this sound to you? Yesterday, the boss came in for a free massage, since she had no clients. The boss recommended that she is self-employed, with the idea of claiming for travel, expenses etc. Personally, I thought she would be better to be PAYE, although the boss would still be paying as above, but minus tax and NI.

This is her first massage job. So she feels that she has to be flexible to get into the industry. Is it normal for salon workers to be paid in this way? I feel that she should get paid for her role as receptionist too. £30 a day for 8 hours work doesn't seem worthwhile and without any employee benefits. Although I can understand in the current climate, owners would be struggling too with no customers and a premises to run.

I haven't really met the boss, but one woman has worked with him for 4 years so he can't be that bad. This woman also mentioned my friend would need a massage licence. From my limited research, isn't a licence required for a premises not an individual? Obviously, my friend would like private clients for home visits, would she need a licence then? The boss is suggesting he would put her name down on the next licence renewal. However, isn't that benefit only for the council the licence is held with?

What do people think? She is "self-employed" but treated as though she is employed, as she has to be there 11 to 7. Is this what somebody who wants to get into the industry has to go through to gain experience and hopefully get their own clients? Am I being too harsh, since she works 4 days a week and gets a minimum of £120 compared to £184 on the minimum wage? She would have to average 3 massages a day to get close to the minimum wage earned from 7 hours work a day.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading and any replies.

 

[gillian w]

I don't know all the ins and outs of employment but im sure she cannot be self employed and work in this way.I think she is being exploited.
I might add that as she is from abroad has she followed all the legal channels of employment here as often this is how employers exploit workers.

 

[Layrex9]

The answer to this I feel lies in your friend estimating how busy she might become once established within the salon.

What you need to do is calculate the cut off point of where being self employed becomes better paid than salaried.

I assume from the figures in your post that your friend is aged 22 or over.(n.b. If 18-21 minimum wage is £4.77/hour or under 18 its £3.53/hour).

At the moment she is guaranteed £120 for 32 hours.

If salaried on minimum wage she will earn £5.73/hour for 32 hours = £183.36.

To make £183.36 self employed she needs to do 12.2 hours of massaging a week. If she feels that she can exceed this then this would earn her more, but try to also factor in benefits lost and allowable expenses gained and put them into the equation.

There is also the possibility of trying to persuade her boss to calculate her pay on a split basis of £5.73/hour when manning the salon and £15/hour when giving a massage or have him calculate her £15 per hour of treatments on a weekly basis and if less than minimum wage, pay minimum wage.

Before approaching him with these two ideas though, when she is not doing a massage treatment, is she performing activities related just to her clients or is she also taking bookings etc.. for other salon employees. If assisting in generating revenue for other areas of the salon I would feel that approaching the boss with these proposals would be more credible.

 

[Massager]

The answer to this I feel lies in your friend estimating how busy she might become once established within the salon.

*SNIP*

Before approaching him with these two ideas though, when she is not doing a massage treatment, is she performing activities related just to her clients or is she also taking bookings etc.. for other salon employees. If assisting in generating revenue for other areas of the salon I would feel that approaching the boss with these proposals would be more credible.

Gillian W - she's working legally. Has national insurance number etc. Hence, why I thought going PAYE would be better, in that he couldn't pay her as a "self-employed" person but at the minimum wage.

Thanks Layrex9. I think the main thing I wanted to know was whether this sort of arrangement is common within the industry and not exploitative as Gillian W also wonders. Earning £120 minimum a week is not a living wage. As I said she helps in the day to day running of the salon. If she wasn't there the boss would have to hire someone. She works a day in another of his salons, which is located within a hair salon. He has told her to head massage the customers while they wait to try and gain custom.

I don't think the situation is totally fair, but as you say the question is whether the sacrifice is worth it. Wasting a day for £30 isn't really worth it if you could work full time and do massages part time. However, since she is starting off, it is much easier not having to worry about supplies, premises, clients etc . Unfortunately, it's doubtful whether there will be enough customers to make it worthwhile. Also, there has been no mention about getting her own clients. The other day a customer requested her for a Sunday's call out, but through the salon, therefore she would get £15/hour, while the salon receives £75 in that hour or £135 for 2 hours.

She is happy to do it for now, but I believe once she becomes more settled and has a client base she could request compensation for the fact she is doing 2 jobs. She shouldn't have to make sacrifices to help someone else's business, but at the same time I'm sure people could say she will gain a benefit in the long term. Therefore, is her scenario common to get within the industry?

Cheers

 

[AndyP]

Looking at this the issue is whether she is employed or self employed - The HMRC will view the fact that she has to attend certain hours means she should be employed, one of the tests of being self employed is whether you can work what ever hours you like - she clearly can't and therefore should be employed. Similarly the NHF suggest that chair renters shoudl be able to work whatever hours they like not just when the salon owner wnats them to.

 

[jcpark]

Deleted as meant to send this by pm

 

[weezie]

If she cannot come and go as she likes she is employed and it sounds like her employer is exploiting her and trying to get out of paying her more by telling her she is self employed so they don't have to sort out her NI and tax or pay a decent wage. My gut feeling (and I assume yours and hers) says this is not a good situation and she should maybe look elsewhere. :hug:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7157056.stm

Employed on the minimum wage she would earn £40.11 per day for the work she does covering reception e.t.c

http://www.worksmart.org.uk/minwage_calc.php

She should be paying tax on the £30 as a self employed person at the moment.

 

[Massager]

Thank you for your thoughts. As I said I have no experience with how salons work and neither does my friend. She is a conscientious worker, so will work hard regardless. The hair salon girls really like her as she helps them out. They gave her a free cut the other day.

It doesn't seem a good situation, but my question remains, is this standard practice to get into the industry? Alternatively, what should she expect as a novice?

 

[soriminah]

Thank you for your thoughts. As I said I have no experience with how salons work and neither does my friend. She is a conscientious worker, so will work hard regardless. The hair salon girls really like her as she helps them out. They gave her a free cut the other day.

It doesn't seem a good situation, but my question remains, is this standard practice to get into the industry? Alternatively, what should she expect as a novice?

For massage, usually it is (from my experience). Most places here advertise as being paid a certain amount per massage so they are not paying for you not working.

The other option for her is that if she has to be there then approach the boss about bringing in her own clients and paying him a % per client for useof the room. So if she starts advertising herself that she is working at xyz salon, she pays him $10 per massage for the use of the roomand then any massages that come through the salon, then he pays her a % like the current agreement.

Something to think about to increase her wage and get her client base up and running. That way, when she leaves, she can take her client base with her because they are her clients, not his.