Do any other employers...

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I didn't mean salon owners feeling sorry for themselves, someone else had mentioned employees feeling sorry for themselves.

Can't quote on my phone :-(

And I just discovered how to quote! Yey!
 
It's a harsh world! I believe I was born with a switch in my head that said 'do makeup' and I really think I would be so unhappy doing anything else! I've had my salon a year and it is going well- I've only know working in a recession so I make the most of it. I'm lucky I've got a wkd team, two are 10 years older than me, and both say they wld never want the salon coz of all the stress! The rest see I will try my best for them and myself and I do think I'll get there.

Some don't realise the effort, cost and risk involved....there was a client in today saying 'my daughter and her friend are thinking of opening a salon between them, it's £15k a year in rent' ...me- 'thats a big rent' (knowing then theres bills, rates, etc and having worked in a salon that was too huge from the beginning then went under and you can dig urself a grave from the start if ur overheads are huge) client, 'yeah well they will probs do it between them...' me thinking...(should you go into business with friends??! you got extra legal fees on top, the cost of opening, stock, fixtures and fittings, marketing, bookwork etc

and another friend 'your doing so well..' me 'yeah in the last four weeks ive had to pay £600 end of year capped maintence fee, £150 on one music liscence, £86 on another music Liscence, £260 on my skincare tab, got an outstanding £300 haircare tab and thats on top of rent, insurance, accountant and my fat electricity bill at £110 a month and loan repayments as standard...before i pay for my drink with you this evo!

But I love not starting til 10 everyday, bringing my dog to work, going to lunch when i want-where possible, having nice treatments (we all do swaps) meeting some really nice people and making people feel good. There are pros!
 
All of you sound like great salon owners, I am sure most salon owners are good at what they do and care about how they treat their staff.
Can I just say, that some of us - employees have experienced some problems with our employers (most of the time it's about legal stuff) and that's when we post/ask for advice.
I work in a salon, been there for more than 4months and have still no contract. I was told I am not allowed to take any sick days. (not that I ever do- I haven't had a sick day off in 10years) I was paid cash in hand for the first 3months. I was promised training - I haven't had any.
Would you call this a good salon owner?
And yes, I am greatful to have a job in this tough economy times, but surely I am allowed to be treated fairly? All I want is a contract ( can't take such a long time to do one as she employes few other girls who already have one) and training I was promised.
I just wanted to give you my experience and I really look up to all salon owners as it is a really hard job to do.
 
All of you sound like great salon owners, I am sure most salon owners are good at what they do and care about how they treat their staff.
Can I just say, that some of us - employees have experienced some problems with our employers (most of the time it's about legal stuff) and that's when we post/ask for advice.
I work in a salon, been there for more than 4months and have still no contract. I was told I am not allowed to take any sick days. (not that I ever do- I haven't had a sick day off in 10years) I was paid cash in hand for the first 3months. I was promised training - I haven't had any.
Would you call this a good salon owner?
And yes, I am greatful to have a job in this tough economy times, but surely I am allowed to be treated fairly? All I want is a contract ( can't take such a long time to do one as she employes few other girls who already have one) and training I was promised.
I just wanted to give you my experience and I really look up to all salon owners as it is a really hard job to do.

As said elsewhere, it's a legal requirement that you receive a written statement of terms within 2 months if starting.

And I'm sorry but if ANY employer, good or bad, told me I couldn't take any sick days, I'd laugh in their face! Unless she meant 'you won't get paid for sick day's.'

I mean! If you're sick, you're sick! Would she rather her therapists come to work and throw up? Or say 'excuse me' to the clients whilst they run off to the loo with dodgy tummies? Grrr! Sorry I hate people saying you can't be ill, you can't have any family emergencies, oh and to top it off you can't contribute to your pension because I want to pay you cash in hand!
 
As said elsewhere, it's a legal requirement that you receive a written statement of terms within 2 months if starting.

And I'm sorry but if ANY employer, good or bad, told me I couldn't take any sick days, I'd laugh in their face! Unless she meant 'you won't get paid for sick day's.'

I mean! If you're sick, you're sick! Would she rather her therapists come to work and throw up? Or say 'excuse me' to the clients whilst they run off to the loo with dodgy tummies? Grrr! Sorry I hate people saying you can't be ill, you can't have any family emergencies, oh and to top it off you can't contribute to your pension because I want to pay you cash in hand!

Let's see it from the other side of the coin. I'm sure the salon owner isn't saying you can never be off sick, I'm sure it's more of a warning.
Think of the blind panic when 10mins before their 1st customer comes in you get a phone call (sick voice) "I feel really ill and won't be coming in today."
As an salon owner you now have 15 appointments to change or cancel, all whilst you have to deal with your own clients. Whilst your employee sits watching tv all day or worse goes shopping and gets seen by customers!
I would much rather my employees make the effort to come into work, if they are ill I will send them home. We all get ill at some point and I'm sure not everyone skives off work BUT some people do! A little sniffle is not grounds for a day off work!
 
Just want to add that all bosses have at some point been an employee as well, so we have seen both sides - when I opened my own business I had learnt a lot from my good bosses and my bad one, who was my last one and probably the reason I opened my own salon, so something good did come out of that:lol:.

I know there is always a chance that a decision I make will not be liked but usually when I explain why it has been made it is understood. A lot of the problems are not about the problem itself but how they are communicated. I also find those who still are not happy are usually the ones who are never happy.
 
If I get told one more time by my staff that I'm minted I might just scream. I have just had to transfer what is left of my savings into the business to keep it going. I work every hour got sends and hardly ever get to pay myself a wage. And yet according to my staff 'I minted'.
Give me strength..
 
Even though the owner of my salon & spa is, indeed, wealthy, it's not due to the salon. He barely breaks even. His other businesses are where he derives his wealth.

I love my owner. He's fabulous and treats us like gods. He could very well close this business...it's not a money-maker for him. It's more of a pain in the a**, really. He keeps it open for us.
 
As said elsewhere, it's a legal requirement that you receive a written statement of terms within 2 months if starting.

And I'm sorry but if ANY employer, good or bad, told me I couldn't take any sick days, I'd laugh in their face! Unless she meant 'you won't get paid for sick day's.'

I mean! If you're sick, you're sick! Would she rather her therapists come to work and throw up? Or say 'excuse me' to the clients whilst they run off to the loo with dodgy tummies? Grrr! Sorry I hate people saying you can't be ill, you can't have any family emergencies, oh and to top it off you can't contribute to your pension because I want to pay you cash in hand!

You would "laugh in their face?"
You sound like employee of the year:Scared:

Guess what, I have not had even one day off sick in 15 years.
The amount of time off sick staff take has at times led me to beleive that they eat out of dustbins:eek:

Anyone "laughed in my face" they would be signing on.

People with you attitude is exactly why this thread was posted.
 
I do have to say, although i agree, im always the bad guy if i dont give someone the morning off because theyre hungover...however, I have previously asked on here about a salon owner i worked for before i started my own business. She was whole y unprofessional... In fact, an absolute nightmare, no payslips, no holiday, some cash in hand when she didnt want to run things through the books....

So, although im sure all of us on here are excellent ;)
There are some bad ones out there giving us bosses a bad name!!
 
Guess what, I have not had even one day off sick in 15 years.
The amount of time off sick staff take has at times led me to beleive that they eat out of dustbins:eek:
Dawn this rings so true. Even the day after my huge M25 RTA I went in to work. I broke my foot week before last and still stood on it all day waxing.

I used to tell my staff who "had been up all night with diarrhoea" that they owed to our customers and their colleagues to continue with their work if at all possible. After all, they were never far away from a toilet - most of the homes they cleaned had at least 3 of them and then I'd take them out a bottle of lucozade and a pack of immodium. I've never known a bunch of people be so sick.....
 
I sit and listen to some of my co-workers sometimes as they comment or complain about our owner. I have to say it pisses me off. So when I have a chance to "school them," I do.

Our owner came zooming up in a brand new 2012 BMW 850i. Beautiful car...cost more than most of our homes. A few of the hairstylists made a negative comment..."He's charging us 15% product fees so he can live the high life." Really?

Last month the salon's product invoices totalled $8492... most of it for hair product, BTW. He splits our 15% product fees with us, so we only pay 7.5%. I doubt our owner could do much high living on $637.

Dumbasses.
 
I have to say that since i've been renting a room and seeing exactly where the money goes, i have a new-found respect for salon owners. I always thought i'd like to have my own one day, but now i'm thinking that i just love my little place and i don't know if i could deal with the added stress and employees.

Of course there are some bad bosses, but i'm sure they don't even make up 5% of business owners. Our hairdressers don't holiday pay, but they have jobs...they were told that was what the owner could afford and if things improved, the situation would be reviewed.

My parents had their own business and i was brought up to respect myself and my boss by not taking the p*ss. I knew if i was off sick, my clients would be messed around and another girl would have to cover me on her day off. I felt too guilty! I had a week off in one salon when i hurt my back and the doctor put me on bed rest, but i couldn't even dress myself.

Keep doing what you're doing ladies. You are inspirational xxx
 
I think those staff who think they can "laugh in the face" of their employer, who think they are too good for our salons and who think they should earn more than the person who has risked their all to give them a job, should bite the bullet and open their own perfect salons. They can show the rest of us exactly how its done.
Until they do that, they can zip it.
 
I think those staff who think they can "laugh in the face" of their employer, who think they are too good for our salons and who think they should earn more than the person who has risked their all to give them a job, should bite the bullet and open their own perfect salons. They can show the rest of us exactly how its done.
Until they do that, they can zip it.

If an employer told me I 'couldn't have any days off sick' then yes, I would laugh in their face, and wouldn't want to work for someone that said that.

As I also said, she might have meant it as 'you won't get sick pay if you take a day sick' in which case fair enough, but I know there are people that would say something along these lines to 'warn the staff'.

When my cousin was just 16 she worked for a small independent shop, the boss there told her something along the same lines. She dragged herself into work because she was worried she would lose her job because of what the boss had said. Later that day she was rushed to hospital.

If that boss had communicated better, she would have felt comfortable enough to ring in sick that day.

I've seen too many employers taking advantage of staff, particularly young, slightly naive ones.

And yes I'm fully aware that it goes both ways, I have seen staff act in ways that would make you cringe (this was in a large hair salon) but can I ask if so many of you struggle to pay employees wages, would it not be better to rent chairs/rooms or do a % split?
 
If an employer told me I 'couldn't have any days off sick' then yes, I would laugh in their face, and wouldn't want to work for someone that said that.

As I also said, she might have meant it as 'you won't get sick pay if you take a day sick' in which case fair enough, but I know there are people that would say something along these lines to 'warn the staff'.

When my cousin was just 16 she worked for a small independent shop, the boss there told her something along the same lines. She dragged herself into work because she was worried she would lose her job because of what the boss had said. Later that day she was rushed to hospital.

If that boss had communicated better, she would have felt comfortable enough to ring in sick that day.

I've seen too many employers taking advantage of staff, particularly young, slightly naive ones.

And yes I'm fully aware that it goes both ways, I have seen staff act in ways that would make you cringe (this was in a large hair salon) but can I ask if so many of you struggle to pay employees wages, would it not be better to rent chairs/rooms or do a % split?
I had disasters renting rooms/ chairs. Crap therapists blaming me because clients didnt return. Crap stylists whining because they didnt want to pay anything towards the overheads of the salon on the basis that I had to pay for it anyway:eek:
Crap stylists not working to my salon standard, shoddy work etc.
Am currently in litigation with ex room renters for rent arrears and the liberation of my stock and equipment.

% splits dont work in a large vat registered salon, stylists dont wanna give 20% of their takings to the vat man, and I dont like giving clients away.

At least with employees, the salon sets the standard, the hours, the rules and the salaries.
plus I want something to sell when I retire. A shop full of self employed people is worth didly. The client base is the value in a business.
 
I had disasters renting rooms/ chairs. Crap therapists blaming me because clients didnt return. Crap stylists whining because they didnt want to pay anything towards the overheads of the salon on the basis that I had to pay for it anyway:eek:
Crap stylists not working to my salon standard, shoddy work etc.
Am currently in litigation with ex room renters for rent arrears and the liberation of my stock and equipment.

% splits dont work in a large vat registered salon, stylists dont wanna give 20% of their takings to the vat man, and I dont like giving clients away.

At least with employees, the salon sets the standard, the hours, the rules and the salaries.
plus I want something to sell when I retire. A shop full of self employed people is worth didly. The client base is the value in a business.

So if a stylist/therapist/whatever rented off you at, lets keep it simple, £100 a week, in a VAT registered salon would that not cover it of they then have to pay VAT on the rent too. Im confused where you say 20% of their takings? Although surely eventually they will have to give a % to tax man when they put their tax return in? (That's if they're bothering to declare in the first place)
 
In a perfect world employer and employee would work symbiotically to create a mutually beneficial partnership. This would keep the client at the heart of the business.
We don't live in a perfect world. However, we need to aim for it.
It is up to both parties to fulfill the contract agreed at the job offer stage. If either reneges, to an unacceptable extent, then it's time to part company.
None of us is perfect, though.
 
Get fed up of being treated like the enemy? Like a faceless entity with no feelings, no life, no hardship.

I mean, we own businesses, salons, franchises... So surely we're all rolling in it right - and just out to screw over the poor little people?!

Urgh....

Some days, I can't afford to eat. I can't remember the last time I paid a personal bill. I lost a house!!!! All to pay my employee's as promptly as possible, in the hope that one day in the future, my children and I will have a happy life.

Business owners take risks that most other people aren't willing to take. So WHY are we treated like poo?!

I don't want to screw anyone over. I don't want to be the enemy. I just want to be a caring employer, who gives people the chance to make a living, and make a living myself.

I'm sorry for the rant (sure it'll be deleted), but I am so fed up with reading people slagging off their bosses here. These are the people who SACRIFICE to give YOU a job. Even if they're "rolling in it" now, they've been through stuff you will probably never understand.

This is the BUSINESS section. For BUSINESS owners. Please, please, PLEASE can we stop bad mouthing the people who put food in your mouth?!

You sound like a really caring boss who deserves the best and I'm sorry that you feel how you do.

I'll be honest and say that as a recently qualified therapist who is looking for work, I have come across some potential employers who have (to the best of my knowledge/experience) been out to screw people over...this is something I have voiced on salon geek because it really threw me and I felt that I needed some support/advice because this is something I wasn't expecting.

Overall though I think it's a shame that a few "bad apples" spoil the cart because I suspect that there are a large number of bosses out there who are fantastic: people who care about their staff, their clients, their business and about beauty in general...I would always want to support a boss who gave out a vibe that they were doing their best.

I think that when a person gives out positive energy this should be returned to them by their employees and it's a shame to think that this equation is not always the case.

I think in the beauty industry, from what I have seen, it pays to look out for your rights as there are people who want to employ people illegally/unfairly but on the other hand, I am also a very strong believer in going above and beyond to support an employer who is trying their best in every respect because I have the ultimate level of respect and admiration for anyone who is brave enough to run their own business knowing that they are trying their very best.

I hope things go well for you because it sounds like you're a very hard working and caring person who deserves to have the rewards that come with this :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top