Being made to do treatments!

[Loola]

Im not really sure where to post this, so apologies if i have put it in the in correct section.

I need some advice .....

I work in a salon and absolute hate it there!! It's extremely bitchy and I just cannot get along with a couple of people I work with, they constantly moan & basically treat me like a child.

I have been doing beauty a number of years and am qualified up to level 3 and in extra treatments such as Laser hair removal.

However, I am not qualified to do some treatments that the salon offer and I have no interest in learning to do them as I feel it is something that requires skill and lots of practice, and a bit of a long story, but I have too much other stuff on my plate at the moment. However, because the salon will not turn away the money if someone asks for it, they force me to do it!! Even though there are 3 other therapists that can do it!

I have had meetings with both the manager and owner and said I am not prepared to do this and this has been going on the last few months. However, even after having pretty much, arguments over it, they are still booking me clients in for treatments I am not qualified to do!!!!!

This is really getting me down, to the point that I do not want to go in to work!!!

I cannot stand the fact that I am doing something I am not qualified to do and am giving the client a bad service!!

The pay is awful, I'm not aloud any holiday until the winter, I work back to back with no breaks or lunch, they book me in too many treatments for the time ( if that makes sense) so i end up running over and they don't pay me after the time I am due to finish, even though sometimes, I will be there an hour after my set time to finish!!

I know there is an easy option here, to just go and get another job, but I have been looking for nearly 3 months and there is absolutely nothing around at the moment!!! Unfortunately, I need the money too much at the moment to just leave and I know if I was to go, they would cause problems as I have been told by numerous amounts of people that they are 'dodgy!'

Has anyone got any advice?!

 

[Lynne Baker]

Which treatments are you being made to do, and why don't you want to do them?

 

[Loola]

Nail Extensions.

I don't want to learn to do them because I have recently done a course in semi permanent Make up and would like to practice this rather than nails!!

I feel nails takes a long time to be good at and requires lots of practice before being let loose on full paying clients. Unfortunately, the salon I work for doesn't have the same opinion and thinks it is ok for me, never having stuck a tip on a nail before in my life, to go ahead and do a client a full set of nail extensions!!

 

[Violet Star]

You could go it alone and be your own boss! You have 3 other options

1. Set up your own beauty business and go mobile - always a popular option for clients
2. Set up your own beauty business and set up a home based salon
3. Rent out a room within a hairdressers and provide your treatments from there.

There is no point staying in a place that you hate as your passion for it goes and it cant be nice arriving at that salon everyday knowing what your in for.
hths

 

[SmileNails]

the first problem i see here is that if you are not trained in something then you are not insured to perform it on a client. Therefore if the client had a reaction to the product she can basically sue and the salon wouldnt have a leg to stand on!!!

I really feel for you, be careful that all the pressure on you doesnt make you lose your passion and confidence.

One thing is to go it alone, at home say. but also instead of waiting for jobs to arise - go looking for them. Go into salons, and ask if they have any rooms to rent etc.

Hope things work out for you huni!

kim xx

 

[Poshfloss]

Hi Hun,
I really feel for you, I was treated badly in a salon too, but was fortunate to be in the postion to walk. Got a fab hubby behind me saying don't take that from them.
Now back to your problems. I would suggest as others have go around salons to see if you can rent a room, even beauty salons, if they don't offer semi permanent make up they maybe be pleased to add it to their menu.
There is lots of semi permanent make up artists that I know of who don't have a permanent salon, they are booked by the day to go to differnt salons, and are given a room for the day, usually paying a percentage of the takings, 20% seems the average.
Go out there Hun and see what is availabe for you.
Only take this rubbish until you can go it alone. But do point out to them that you are NOT insured to do a treatment you are not qualified to do.
Best of luck.
Lotsa luv x x x :hug: :hug: x x x

 

[choc choc]

Did you not train in nail extensions in level 3 ?

 

[Loola]

I have said to them that they aren't insured, but it seems to be a risk they are willing to take!

I would love to go round to salons offering Permanent Make up & drop Beauty, as i do feel I am loosing my passion for it, but I know this will take a while to set up the permanent make up side to things.

My partner is behind me 100% and has said I need to get out of this salon.

A few months back, I was so close to walking out after they put me in a horrible situation, but I ended up having a chat with the owner and she persuaded me to stay. Looking back, I wish I had of called it a day then!!

 

[Loola]

Did you not train in nail extensions in level 3 ?

No, nail extensions were not part of my course!!

 

[daisyl]

Firstly you should not be doing treatments you are not trained to do for all sorts of issues.

However, as am employer, I do not think it acceptable to not want to train to do them. If this is part of the treatment menu in the salon, you should be willing to learn new skills and take this as a positive approach. I would be very unhappy if a member of my staff was not willing to learn. In fact, they would not work for me.

If I were you, I would take a different stance and try to discuss this with your boss. Show you are keen to learn, offer to perhaps bring friends as practice models, and above all get properly trained. Your employer has a duty to ensure this also. I hope you resolve your issues.

 

[SmileNails]

just a thought for you huni....if its really make up you want to concentrate on why not advertise at wedding fairs, wedding mags etc. Also approach local modelling companies? They may provide contacts for you, then you can concentrate solely on make up!

HTH Kim xx

 

[Loola]

Firstly you should not be doing treatments you are not trained to do for all sorts of issues.

However, as am employer, I do not think it acceptable to not want to train to do them. If this is part of the treatment menu in the salon, you should be willing to learn new skills and take this as a positive approach. I would be very unhappy if a member of my staff was not willing to learn. In fact, they would not work for me.

If I were you, I would take a different stance and try to discuss this with your boss. Show you are keen to learn, offer to perhaps bring friends as practice models, and above all get properly trained. Your employer has a duty to ensure this also. I hope you resolve your issues.

When I took the Job, there was a nail technician that did all the nails, so I was never required to do nail extensions! I can understand that as she no longer works with us, she wants me to do them.

I have said previously to my employer that if it is something she feels so strongly that I do, then she needs to send me on appropriate training, she was not willing to pay for me to do any training and so she said she'd rather get someone, meaning a girl I work with to go through with me how to do them and then I practice on full paying clients!!!

In my opinion, this is unacceptable, but she is in charge of me and chooses to ignore my opinion on the subject and force me to a rubbish set of nails!!

 

[daisyl]

In your first post you said you had 'no interest in learning them'. Has something changed between this post and your last? Sorry, but you are now saying something entirely different!

It is not acceptable to make you do something without the proper accredited training however, so I do think your employer is falling short of his/her responsibilities. It has to be a two way thing!

 

[Lynne Baker]

I've said this before, and been flamed for it, but I'm going to say it again. Businesses are not democracies. You don't always get to choose what you do at work. I agree that the employer is falling short of their responsibilities in not ensuring that you're fully trained and competent, and they are an insurance claim waiting to happen. Not to mention the very obvious business myopia they're demonstrating! It won't be long before someone complains about the nails you do, which will do nothing to help your already depressed mood, and is likely to land you with a ticking off from your employer. And saying "well I told you I didn't like doing them" is not an acceptable excuse.
If you're really that miserable about it then leave. It's not fair on your colleagues (you can bet they're fed up of you being unhappy around them), it's not fair on your clients, and it's not fair on your employer (despite their questionable standards).

We've all had to do things at work that we didn't particularly like. Guess what? You do it anyway, because it pays the bills. When you get to the stage where you think enough already, I want to do my own thing, then that's the time to think about starting your own business. Or maybe it's the time to think, hey, I have a job, 1 in 13 (yes really!) don't. You choose.

 

[Beautification]

i think they need a wake up call and need reporting to the insurance company or whatever.

Trading standards

 

[persianista]

Sorry, I agree totally with Calla. I decide the treatment menu in my salon, and while I am fully prepared to pay in full for my therapists to be properly trained, they don't get a say in whether or not they enjoy those treatments. I too would suggest that you set up on your own, that way you will not have an employer to dictate to you.

 

[choc choc]

As much as I don't agree with you doing treatments you are not trained in, I do think a lot of newly qualified therapists would jump at the chance you have. but if your not happy move on. as it's been said before everyone will be unhappy, and that's not good.

 

[Loola]

Yes I have said in my first post, I have no interest in learning to do nails!!!! After spending nearly £15,000 on Permanent Make up training, obviously I want to put my money to use and perfect the skills of dong this, rather than being snowed under with on top of that, learning to do nails!!!

They knew this from day 1 and employed me still!!

Since then, circumstances have changed and they have become greedy and insist on me carrying out treatments without being qualified, that sets not only a bad name for the salon but for me as well, as I let them do it because I dont really have a choice!

All I asked for is advice on what I should do now, as me saying to them I am not qualified, or insured to do nails isn't getting me anywhere and they are not willing to pay for me to train properly in the subject.........

How would you approach the managers, owners again about the subject?

 

[angelina221]

You trained as a beauty therapist and not a nail technician so i can completely understand where you are coming from.
When you took the job you were taken on solely as a beautician.
Nail technician is a completely different job and expecting you to do them is, in my opinion, unfair.
As a salon owner i expect to be able to offer a whole range of treatments to my clients and i take on people who are good at what they do.
As i've mentioned in posts before, my staff make my business what it is today and without them i wouldn't be where i am today. I want my staff to be happy as happy staff makes a happy atmosphere in my salon.
Doing nails is a skill that requires dedication and a hell of a lot of practice. To expect you to do them without the appropriate training is absurd, especially as she has other staff trained in them.
After taking my salon on i was in a lot of debt but i love my job and did whatever it took to keep myself afloat.
My husband and i discussed the possibility of selling our house if we had to. Luckily i'm doing ok now but what i'm trying to say is that you need to decide what you want from life.
We spend a third (more like a half for me!), of our life at work and if it is making you miserable, it then impinges on the rest of your life.
Is it really worth making yourself that unhappy?

 

[Loola]

You trained as a beauty therapist and not a nail technician so i can completely understand where you are coming from.
When you took the job you were taken on solely as a beautician.
Nail technician is a completely different job and expecting you to do them is, in my opinion, unfair.
As a salon owner i expect to be able to offer a whole range of treatments to my clients and i take on people who are good at what they do.
As i've mentioned in posts before, my staff make my business what it is today and without them i wouldn't be where i am today. I want my staff to be happy as happy staff makes a happy atmosphere in my salon.
Doing nails is a skill that requires dedication and a hell of a lot of practice. To expect you to do them without the appropriate training is absurd, especially as she has other staff trained in them.
After taking my salon on i was in a lot of debt but i love my job and did whatever it took to keep myself afloat.
My husband and i discussed the possibility of selling our house if we had to. Luckily i'm doing ok now but what i'm trying to say is that you need to decide what you want from life.
We spend a third (more like a half for me!), of our life at work and if it is making you miserable, it then impinges on the rest of your life.
Is it really worth making yourself that unhappy?

Angelina...... that is exactly what I am trying to say!!!! I trained as a Beauty therapist not as a nail tech!! Thank you!
I have gone on to do various extra training within beauty, just not in nails!!

Glad your doing ok now with your business! You sound like you have worked extremely hard!!

You are right though, it is making me unhappy! Not to the point where I am obviously depressed at work and bringing others down with me as someone posted previously!! But more to the point where I dread going into work and have about an hours conversation with my partner as soon as i walk in the door about what a horrible set of nails ive had to do!!