Advice?

[Hairfairy1904]

Hi geeks, I'm hoping one of you can help me.
I left work feeling really disheartened today. I work in a small salon, we do not have a lot of staff. There is my boss, me, a lady that rents a chair and a Saturday girl.

First off I have been hairdressing for nearly 6 years. I began voluntary hairdressing in a salon at the age of 15 just doing general duties such as shampooing, making drinks, greeting clients and keeping the salon clean and tidy. I then started my level 2 in women's hairdressing after finishing school. I continued to work voluntary along side my now boss who left that salon to open up on her own. She asked me to go work for her and become her apprentice. I accepted and have worked at the salon for three and a half years. After a year on my level 2 I had to switch courses to the level 2 apprenticeship which I did for two years and then continued onto level 3. My boss didn't really encourage me to do my level 3 she didn't mind either way. She herself has not done her level 3 so wasn't sure what it entailed.
I have now finished my level 3 and I'm fully qualified (yay) I also won my in house competition in April and got three awards at the celebration evening including 'graduate of the year'.

I have been on minimum wage since completing my level 2 apprenticeship.
I was not expecting a pay rise once completing my level 3 as it wasn't my boss that wanted me to do the course. I myself wanted to be as qualified as can be!

However I felt extremely disheartened to find out that our Saturday girl (whom is 16 and is doing her alevels, not on a hairdressing course) is being paid £5 per hour. I myself am being paid £5.03 per hour and I am 20 years of age. When I was her age I was working voluntary in the past salon and then moved to this salon and was on the apprenticeship wage of £2.50 per hour. I don't know if I should feel like this or if I am being silly?
I just feel a bit annoyed that I am a qualified hairdresser bringing money into the salon through my clients and retail whereas the other girl is only shampooing/tidying/cleaning etc.

Sorry for the ramble! Anyone's opinions and advice welcome
Thankyou x

 

[Rachel123]

It's very frustrating 😁I would say it to your boss- you should definitely be on more than that! You are bringing in an income for her - if she won't increase your hourly pay then ask to be put on commission once u have hit a target say 200 ie your weeks wages? X

 

[Sooz12342]

Do you have your own clientele?! Would it be worth while discussing renting your chair and becoming self employed instead of being paid by your boss? - just a thought

 

[Hairfairy1904]

It's very frustrating 😁I would say it to your boss- you should definitely be on more than that! You are bringing in an income for her - if she won't increase your hourly pay then ask to be put on commission once u have hit a target say 200 ie your weeks wages? X

Thankyou I will speak to her that's a good idea
Thankyou for taking the time to read it too I know I babbled lol! Xx

 

[Hairfairy1904]

Do you have your own clientele?! Would it be worth while discussing renting your chair and becoming self employed instead of being paid by your boss? - just a thought

I am currently building my clientele. I have many returning clients but t wouldn't be enough to earn even minimum wage self employed. Unfortunately I have a financed car and need to keep up with the payments. I don't want to get into trouble for the sake of wanting fair wages.
Thankyou though! Xxx

 

[HairdressingBug]

Hi,
I no it is disheartening but there are two things you need to think about here
1) you say that you wouldn't even bring in min wage (£5.03ph) if you where self employed so technically you are not bringing in your wage to the salon never mind overheads etc so the chances are if you mention this to your boss then if could cause unwanted friction because I cant see her giving you a pay rise while this is the case.
2) and this one is the one you really need to consider ... how happy where you when with your wage before you realised the Saturday girl was on the same as you? if you where happy before with your wage then you need to just forget about the fact that this girl is taking the same.
Also if your 21 soon your wage will be going up to £6.31ph.
The reason that this girl is not on £2.50ph is because she isn't an apprentice. You can only pay apprentice wages to someone on an apprenticeship scheme.
Hope this helps.
Keep working hard and it will eventually pay off xxx

 

[Hairfairy1904]

Hi,
I no it is disheartening but there are two things you need to think about here
1) you say that you wouldn't even bring in min wage (£5.03ph) if you where self employed so technically you are not bringing in your wage to the salon never mind overheads etc so the chances are if you mention this to your boss then if could cause unwanted friction because I cant see her giving you a pay rise while this is the case.
2) and this one is the one you really need to consider ... how happy where you when with your wage before you realised the Saturday girl was on the same as you? if you where happy before with your wage then you need to just forget about the fact that this girl is taking the same.
Also if your 21 soon your wage will be going up to £6.31ph.
The reason that this girl is not on £2.50ph is because she isn't an apprentice. You can only pay apprentice wages to someone on an apprenticeship scheme.
Hope this helps.
Keep working hard and it will eventually pay off xxx

Thankyou for your advice. I've not really been happy for a while now before I knew about her wages. I know I'm not covering my wages 100% but I'm nearly there. With insurance and overheads for myself if I was to rent a chair I believe it would be more costly.
I think I'm just going to forget about it, it's not long until I turn 21 and things will change.
The Saturday also knows about my wages and said herself she thinks it's unfair and not really a lot of reasoning behind it. It's not that I don't think she deserves her wages, she definitely does! I just feel a bit unappreciated.
Thanks for your help x

 

[ColourGirly]

You get training I assume? She doesn't!

 

[Hairfairy1904]

You get training I assume? She doesn't!

No I don't get any training. When I was doing my qualifications I had one or two nights training in 3 years.
Xx

 

[Dondon90]

No I don't get any training. When I was doing my qualifications I had one or two nights training in 3 years.
Xx

If it were me I would look elsewhere. But it really depends on your experience and how confident you are in your work.
Totally blowing my own trumpet here (I apologise) but if the salon I work in were to shut down tomorrow I'd find another job within a couple of weeks.
If you feel you could benefit more from staying there and gaining more experience than do, but if there's nothing else to gain I'd walk 👍

 

[shypurdy81]

I personally would ask for commission x

 

[benandrewsao]

I know exactly how you feel, I had a similar experience where the Saturday girl shampooist was getting £5.50 an hour from the second she started work and a few of us qualified stylist who are very busy we're on less than her, we now get 10% commission on top of our pay but I still find it annoying a girl nearly 10 years younger is getting paid more! It's a very unfair trade we work In

 

[persianista]

If you get commission after taking your wages, then in theory, you are on far more, if you put the work in.
Minimum wage laws mean that in theory, a 21 year old Saturday person can get a higher hourly pay rate than a 19 or 20 year old hairdresser.
If you aren't even covering your wages, then I'm afraid you don't have any sort of bargaining tool. If you want higher pay, you need to build your client base, bring in more revenue, and prove your worth. Otherwise, the moment you start moaning, the boss is gonna simply say that you don't warrant higher pay, because you are costing the salon money simply by being there. The fact that you've over-committed yourself financially is not the bosses problem.

 

[Hairfairy1904]

If you get commission after taking your wages, then in theory, you are on far more, if you put the work in.
Minimum wage laws mean that in theory, a 21 year old Saturday person can get a higher hourly pay rate than a 19 or 20 year old hairdresser.
If you aren't even covering your wages, then I'm afraid you don't have any sort of bargaining tool. If you want higher pay, you need to build your client base, bring in more revenue, and prove your worth. Otherwise, the moment you start moaning, the boss is gonna simply say that you don't warrant higher pay, because you are costing the salon money simply by being there. The fact that you've over-committed yourself financially is not the bosses problem.

Thank you for your advice.
I haven't over-committed myself I just have things to pay for like everyone does. I just feel an unqualified 16 year old should not be on such a similar wage. I cover my wages the majority of the time. But like most people when building a clientele the salon has quiet days. We are not in a town centre and do not get walk ins so without advertising it's difficult to get new clients besides word of mouth

 

[Hairfairy1904]

I know exactly how you feel, I had a similar experience where the Saturday girl shampooist was getting £5.50 an hour from the second she started work and a few of us qualified stylist who are very busy we're on less than her, we now get 10% commission on top of our pay but I still find it annoying a girl nearly 10 years younger is getting paid more! It's a very unfair trade we work In

Exactly! It's so disheartening to feel you could get paid the same amount for doing half the work. I feel like I need some targets to strive towards and then once I've proven I can do this there will be more room to bargain

 

[Rachel123]

Exactly why a stylist should be on commission to be rewarded for her hard work x I find it so disheartening to ( previously) being paid €30 more a day than a junior and bringing in €€€ and secondly being paid the same as another stylist when ur column is fully bkd , no lunch break yet they are after their 4 th cig break and had half hour lunch! Hard work should be rewarded/ I have no probs working my ass off if I'm looked after xx

 

[ColourGirly]

Thank you for your advice.
I haven't over-committed myself I just have things to pay for like everyone does. I just feel an unqualified 16 year old should not be on such a similar wage. I cover my wages the majority of the time. But like most people when building a clientele the salon has quiet days. We are not in a town centre and do not get walk ins so without advertising it's difficult to get new clients besides word of mouth

To be honest it's just like say and unskilled worker in McDonalds who is 16 gets paid more than you.

If your not getting training then it's not an apprenticeship, the whole point of a apprenticeship is that you are training to be a hairdresser. If you only got 2 model nights in 3 years, were you paid to go to college on day release? Have you attended any courses? Are you signed up as an apprentice?


I wouldn't be concerned about other peoples wages, as a manager it really gets my back up if a stylist says 'o so and so gets xxxx' concentrate on what your earning potential is, be careful tho, moan too much and discuss it with other staff, they might left you got for not being cost effective.

 

[faerififi]

Get experience, build up your client base then look into rent a chair/ being self employed. The potential to earn is so much better and you motivate yourself, not your boss paying you pittance and leaving you disheartened. In my opinion, the amount hairdressers on a wage get paid is a total joke when you think how much qualified electricians or plumbers make. Even £6.31 is rediculous unless you are getting a commission, thats what they pay part time staff at Costa! I got paid £7 an hour just to do event bar work this weekend. Get your confidence up and get out of there if you arent happy with the pay.