Nails salon owners, how do you pay your technicians?

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Xskyzx

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Just see how everyone do it in different states? Thank you
 
Just see how everyone do it in different states? Thank you

In the NSS salons, techs are paid by comission (edited by a moderator)
 
In the NSS salons, techs are paid by comission
How do you get the technicians to come on time and leave when we close? Since they are contractors? Or you pay the technicians w2? Thanks
 
How do you get the technicians to come on time and leave when we close? Since they are contractors? Or you pay the technicians w2? Thanks

lol. That is actually a very good question with an interesting answer.

If you are paying your techs commission, they are 1099. You don't have a say in how they work or what time they come in. Its entirely up to them since they are independent contractors. Its only when they are employees that you can set a time.

However, in most NSS salons where the techs are all 1099, they come in on time and leave at closing time. That is because the owners pressure them. They may get dirty looks or get gossip if they leave early. And even lose turns. Its really not right and they should actually get fined heavily for this practice. But at the end of the day, the techs fear for their jobs and are kinda ignorant about how 1099 is suppose to work.

Remember, 1099s have to pay their own taxes at the end of the year, not the owner. So really these NSS salon owners save a ton of money on taxes each year while being able to get their techs to work full time.

My advice for you, be knowledgeable, be good at nails. Build an atmosphere where techs want to work for you. Techs follow leaders that knows what they are doing. When a tech sense that the owner has no clue what they are doing, they quit within a couple of months.
 
This is what happening in texas ,that's why I want to make sure. I'm 100% sure all NSS nail shops do this to the techs (pays 1099 but make techs come and leave at owner's expense). I wonder no one file a complain to department of labor.
 
This is what happening in texas ,that's why I want to make sure. I'm 100% sure all asian nail shops do this to the techs (pays 1099 but make techs come and leave at owner's expense). I wonder no one file a complain to department of labor.

No its fine. No need to complain to department of labor. The techs are partially at fault for this. There are many jobs out there, not just nails. But most choose to do nails because of the atmosphere and being with their own people.

Im interested why you are wanting to know all of this?
 
Thinking opening a salon but want to go the right ways. And I do feel bad for the techs if I'm doing the way how all texas nail shops is doing.
 
Thinking opening a salon but want to go the right ways. And I do feel bad for the techs if I'm doing the way how all texas nail shops is doing.

Yea, its pretty difficult to make money with a nail salon without cutting some serious corners and breaking some rules. There's actually a lot more to it like proper ventilation.

But at the end of the day, just treat your techs with respect, show that you can do nails well, show that you can lead a shop, follow state laws concerning sanitation and you'll be fine.

My mentor would kill me if he heard me say that, lol.
 
If you want to complain about salon owners cutting corners or not following the correct rules, then they should be referred to as Non Standard Salons or NSS.

There are plenty of salon owners who break the rules and plenty of salon owners who follow them but their nationality is irrelevant.
 
If you want to complain about salon owners cutting corners or not following the correct rules, then they should be referred to as Non Standard Salons or NSS.

There are plenty of salon owners who break the rules and plenty of salon owners who follow them but their nationality is irrelevant.

I have to disagree with you on this. Nail salons here are predominantly owned by Vietnamese ethnicity. So nationality is very relevant. As techniques and way of doing things are passed on within this group.

I am Vietnamese, so I should know.
 
In 1992, I turned my techs loose as independent contractors in one of my salons, thinking I would save $ in payroll taxes, according to my tax advisor. (Hmmm? Why didn’t he do that with HIS office staff?)

It was a mess. Scheduling was random and no one could rely on the person next to them to be there in a pinch. Dress code didn’t exist, prices were changing willi -nilli, strange products were showing up. Clients were confused as to who they called for appointments, who the checks were to be made out to, etc.

After 5 weeks of crazy, everybody voted going back to employee status paid on a floating commission. Everyone was happy again. When I sold that salon 8 years later, it still had the original techs and 3 new ones.
 
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“If you are paying your techs commission, they are 1099.”

That could be true, but it’s not always the case. I paid employees commission and cut a W-2 at the end of the year. I had a floating system, 40%,50%,60%, according to sale of services.

This thread is obviously USA based. How are contractors and employees differentiated in UK?
 
In 1992, I turned my techs loose as independent contractors in one of my salons, thinking I would save $ in payroll taxes, according to my tax advisor. (Hmmm? Why didn’t he do that with HIS office staff?)

It was a mess. Scheduling was random and no one could rely on the person next to them to be there in a pinch. Dress code didn’t exist, prices were changing willi -nilli, strange products were showing up. Clients were confused as to who they called for appointments, who the checks were to be made out to, etc.

After 5 weeks of crazy, everybody voted going back to employee status paid on a floating commission. Everyone was happy again. When I sold that salon 8 years later, it still had the original techs and 3 new ones.

lol yes, that is a major problem. Once they become true 1099, they come in and do everything as they please. But thats how it should be as 1099 since they are independent contractors. But I think a system should be in place to make things orderly without stepping on 1099s freedom.

And you're system is kinda weird. Basically they are W-2, meaning they must listen to your rules and follow your code, come in at an expected time and leave at an expected time, but they only get paid if work on a client, meaning they arn't covered if there is no clients. The good thing is that they don't pay taxes.

It basically boils down to this, customers are expecting that the techs are paid hourly, which is things are structured - they come in on time, and leave on time and do things according to owners rules. But if they are to do that, that means the owner must pay them $50 an hour - which comes out to $500 a day 10/hrs.
 
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I have to disagree with you on this. Nail salons here are predominantly owned by Vietnamese ethnicity. So nationality is very relevant. As techniques and way of doing things are passed on within this group.

I am Vietnamese, so I should know.
Yes, most are Vietnamese, but within that community, you will find many truly excellent nail salons that play by all the rules, and many non-standard salons. In the nail industry, you will find many Vietnamese nail techs who personify the highest examples and standards of the industry. I've worked for many years as an industry consultant on improving immigrant businesses and the issue is not ethnicity, but education. Vietnamese is not a synonym for NSS and should not be used in this way. (And many patrons get the ethnicity wrong - and can't tell Chinese from Korean from Vietnamese from Cambodian). The fact that you are willing to accept this does not make it any less racist.
 
Yes, most are Vietnamese, but within that community, you will find many truly excellent nail salons that play by all the rules, and many non-standard salons. In the nail industry, you will find many Vietnamese nail techs who personify the highest examples and standards of the industry. I've worked for many years as an industry consultant on improving immigrant businesses and the issue is not ethnicity, but education. Vietnamese is not a synonym for NSS and should not be used in this way. (And many patrons get the ethnicity wrong - and can't tell Chinese from Korean from Vietnamese from Cambodian). The fact that you are willing to accept this does not make it any less racist.

I understand that you don't to bring ethnicity or race into the picture but it will be a very hard problem to solve if you don't. But I don't want to speak on this too much because I will be honest with you, I haven't given the subject enough thought. What I spoke on in terms of ethnicity is just a quik whip off of my head.
 
I understand that you don't to bring ethnicity or race into the picture but it will be a very hard problem to solve if you don't. But I don't want to speak on this too much because I will be honest with you, I haven't given the subject enough thought. What I spoke on in terms of ethnicity is just a quik whip off of my head.
Let me be perfectly frank. I am quite willing to bring race/ethnicity into the discussion; it is a fact of life that needs to be addressed. But I am not willing to address it on your terms. Race/ethnicity is not an issue for just a "quik whip;" it merits substantial thought before speaking. Anything less perpetuates prejudices. Addressing this as a problem of race/ethnicity makes it virtually impossible to solve because it is tied to an immutable-race/ethnicity. "The problem" is quite solvable if you address it as a function of cultural understanding and education, not ethnicity.
 
I am Vietnamese, so I should know.

I appreciate that you’re talking from your own perspective, but it’s no different to me stating as a matter of fact that Australian Techs are better at Nail art than American Techs or that Korean Techs have better hygiene standards than British Techs? Sweeping generalisations aren’t really useful as they

@NancySyd has pointed out so very eloquently, racial ethnicity doesn’t come into it.

No-one is born with an innate knowledge of all things nails. That’s what education and training are for and you also have to consider how local conditions impact on the sector. What you were talking about relates more to the cultural aspects of the business.

In the US, you have licensing laws set individually by each State whereas in Europe, there are fewer regulations governing qualification standards, but tighter controls over cosmetic ingredients and testing.
 
Thank you AcidPerm. Essentially the same in the US.
BTW, I read thru a bit of the thread from 2015 and recognized many members I no longer see. I confess that I took a long break before coming back to the site, but soon remembered how informative and fun it can be.
 
In the US an independent contractor is a self-employed person. They file IRS income taxes as self-employed, (schedule C) which means they pay all of the taxes due. (If employed the employee would cover 1/2 of taxes due.)

A self-employed person is expected to handle all monies, etc., and keep records. If that self-employed person has signed a contract accepting a commission as payment, then they are a contracted worker (and self-employed) and will receive a 1099 IRS form to include on their IRS forms.

One designation does not preclude the other.

The IRS guidelines specifically say that an independent contractor may be paid commission. That has no bearing on the classification. An employee may be paid on a commission basis as well. Many sales positions work that way.

In the 40+ years my husband and I have been in the business, in three states in the US, we have never seen an establishment that paid an hourly wage. The only time we did that was training new people. We paid them the minimum wage plus commission until they finished the advanced training we supplied. That way they could ease into the business. They received a W-2 as did all of our employees.

We paid on a sliding scale commission based on services rendered. Obviously, the more hours you worked the more you earned. Our prices were high enough that no one suffered for working part time. After experienced techs built a clientele base and were not taking new clients, that gave new techs a starting base.

It’s been a pleasure to see at least three of our former employees branch off and start viable businesses on their own. We still see each other and they still follow the business model they learned as beginners.
 
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