Self employed beauty therapist contract terms?

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Sophiesbeauty

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Hello there

Just wondering anyone's advice regarding this matter..

I am self employed beauty therapist, working from one salon and very much fall under the 'employed' criteria upon research. I am paid an hourly rate, but don't rent the room or provide own equipment. I am told when to work example 9-5 and there are no benefits eg no holiday or sick pay, I pay my NI contributions,

I have a contract, so, should I be expected to carry out the notice period required, if I am self employed? Surely I should be my 'own boss' in effect.


So confused, feedback would be great
Thanks!
 
If you can't set your own prices or determine your working hours, then it sounds very much a sham arrangement and therefore, illegal.

How long have you been working there?

You could ring HMRC for advice. If they investigate and decide you are being treated as employed, they will check what you should have been paid under NMW and require the boss to pay you any outstanding monies.
 
This is done by a very prestigious salon near me. Staff are told when they have to be there and they just get a percentage of every treatment they do. The other salon near me has the same arrangement as you. The staff are paid a salary but are expected to pay their own tax and national insurance. Something else to be aware of. If you're self employed who pays for your insurance? If she pays your insurance but you're classed as self employed it may not actually cover you.

Do you pay your own tax as well? Does she hand you £6.70 per hour at the very least?

No, you can leave whenever you want as your contact isn't worth the paper is written on. She is breaking the law.

Vic x
 
For info: press release issued July 2015





Follow HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) 273

Hair and beauty sector targeted in new national minimum wage campaign
Press Release • Jul 29, 2015 11:06 BST
jmtrjumsnddk2ksuburmbw.jpg

Employers in the hairdressing and beauty sectors who pay their staff below the national minimum wage (NMW) are being targeted in a new campaign announced today.

As part of this campaign – the first of its kind – HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), supported by the National Hairdressers’ Federation and the Hair and Beauty Industry Authority, will work with hair and beauty businesses to help them understand their pay obligations to their employees.

HMRC will provide employers with tailored tools and guidance to check if they are paying the correct amount, and put it right where they are not. Employers who take this opportunity to self-correct will not have to pay penalties, nor will they be ‘named and shamed’. If employers choose not to comply with their NMW obligations, HMRC will take action to ensure that employees are paid what they are owed.

HMRC action to tackle employers who fail to pay the minimum wage identified £3.2 million in NMW arrears involving over 26,000 workers across a range of sectors in 2014/15 alone. The Government is committed to ensuring every employee receives at least the NMW, and HMRC is helping workers to recover any money owed to them.

BIS analysis shows that 42% of businesses in the sector do not pay level 2 and level 3 apprentices the correct minimum wage – the highest underpayment rate of any sector. Those paying under the minimum wage now have a chance to put things right. If they fail to do so it could result in their business being publicly ‘named and shamed’ and facing a fine of up to £20,000 per employee.

Jennie Granger, HMRC Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said:

“This innovative campaign is about helping employees who have been underpaid get the money they are legally due back into their pockets. It will help them understand where they can report underpaying employers confidentially.

“It is also about helping employers check if they are making mistakes, and self-correct if they are. Some employers will need a bit of a reminder to check they are getting it right, and some will need stronger action from us, so we are bringing in more enforcement officers to support this campaign.

“I urge all employers and employees in the sector to check that salary is being paid correctly, as we will use these extra resources to find and investigate where it is not. Check you’re paying NMW correctly – it’s worth it."

This new campaign is the first step in expanding HMRC’s compliance activities using smart data.

The government, in the Summer Budget, announced extra funding to expand HMRC’s data analytics and enforcement teams.

Employers who are unsure of NMW rules and want to find out more can get free advice through the Acas helpline 0300 123 1100.

Hair and beauty businesses are being asked to come forward as part of the National Minimum Wage Campaign by:

  • Telling HMRC they want to take part in the campaign
  • Disclosing details of arrears now paid to their workers and confirming that wages worth at least the NMW are now paid to all workers
For more details, plus help and support on the campaign, employers can phone a dedicated helpline on 0300 123 2671 or visit HMRC’s website at: https://www.gov.uk/nmwcampaign

Notes for editors:

1. Employees can report under-payment of the NMW at: https://www.gov.uk/pay-and-work-rights.

2. More information about the national minimum wage: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage/employers-and-the-minimum-wage.

3. There are 55,000 businesses in the hair and beauty sector in the UK.

4. There are 250,000 people are employed in the sector in the UK.

5. The typical hourly rate of pay in the hair and beauty sector is £7.11 compared with £11.61 in other sectors.

6. Follow HMRC Press Office on Twitter @HMRCpressoffice.

7. HMRC's Flickr channel: http://www.flickr.com/hmrc.gov.uk.

Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
 
Thanks for your replies. It is extremely helpful.
I get paid slightly over the minimum wage.
I pay my own beauty insurance for the year. I pay my own NI contributions.

My concern is the contract. Nothing matches me to being self employed, I don't have to rent a room
Or get a percentage of client takings..so regarding a notice period... Is it mandatory that I give a months notice?

I have just been offered an amazing opportunity and the company want me to start training ASAP. I am loyal and a nice person! So I don't want to leave my
Boss in the lurch but nothing is adding up regarding my self employed title and the whole set up.
My boss wants the four weeks notice but I can only give a week. What a dilemma!
 
Thanks for your replies. It is extremely helpful.
I get paid slightly over the minimum wage.
I pay my own beauty insurance for the year. I pay my own NI contributions.

My concern is the contract. Nothing matches me to being self employed, I don't have to rent a room
Or get a percentage of client takings..so regarding a notice period... Is it mandatory that I give a months notice?

I have just been offered an amazing opportunity and the company want me to start training ASAP. I am loyal and a nice person! So I don't want to leave my
Boss in the lurch but nothing is adding up regarding my self employed title and the whole set up.
My boss wants the four weeks notice but I can only give a week. What a dilemma!
And of course I pay my own tax at the end of the tax year
 
He's not been paying you holiday pay (5.6 weeks money per year) plus sick pay plus Class 1 NI contributions.

He IS NOT a nice boss AT ALL!!
Don't give him any notice. Just walk away.

He is operating illegally and needs reporting before he screws over another poor therapist!
 
Agree with @AcidPerm. Give a week if you're nice but don't fret. What's he or she going to do if you only give a week? Come after you? Just threaten to report them for the ILLEGAL contact you've been working under.

They're not nice. If you've got a great opportunity, go for it.

Good luck x
 
Thanks so much for the feedback.

There is a lot of conflicting views from
HMRC and citizens advice

Thankyou again x
 
That's great.
You have been so helpful... It's making my stressful situation more straight forward!
I just need to be confident, and assured.
Although I feel the notice period, is in her favour because of the contract :(

Thankyou x
 
This is a very interesting topic. I am in a slightly similar situation. The salon I work in gave me a written agreement via email stating the days and hours which we agreed on and that I am responsible for my tax and NI.

My only issue is that she is kinda of treating me like an employee and I have to politely remind her that I am not. I don't rent the room from her and she has set the prices and provided SOME equipment, some of the stuff I have had to bring from home. My question is when it comes to taking days off for holidays do I need to ask? Or just tell her I won't be in and also reading the above post should she be paying me NMW? As I am only on a comission basis?

Feedback would be appreciated.

P.S Sophie I would go for the new opportunity it sounds like it will be much better for u x
 
You seem to be missing the point @Sophiesbeauty. Your contract is worthless. She is acting illegally. It's not a grey area, it's not confusing .

If you're self employed, you take the money you earn. If you're in a percentage, you then give your landlord their percentage or you pay them rent. Everything left is yours. You pay your own tax and national insurance. You can take as much time off as you want but you won't earn any money. You would probably tell your landlord as a matter of courtesy. Your clients list is yours. There is no minimum wage as you don't get paid.

If you're employed you would earn a minimum of £6.70 per hour. Your hours should be clearly defined and your employer should give you a wage slip each month.

Some places have tried to use the terms that builders and contracters use to warp the rules but these don't apply in a salon environment. Read the hmrc info carefully.

If you give your employer a weeks notice and she kicks up, apologise but make it clear that it's not negotiable. What is she going to do? Sue you for breach of contract? She won't because she would then be declaring that she's employing you illegally.

Just because she's your employer doesn't mean she's right - she's not.

Good luck

Vic x
 
That is v helpful. In my situation the clients that I do are the hair salons clients so I have been trying to build up a relationship with them and have to approach people on a daily basis. Before I started the job she said I can't steal the clients away if I was to keave which I totally understand but would she need to put this in writing to protect herself?
 
That's great.
You have been so helpful... It's making my stressful situation more straight forward!
I just need to be confident, and assured.
Although I feel the notice period, is in her favour because of the contract :(

Thankyou x

Lol, the contract isn't enforceable because it's illegal. You can swan off and she won't legally be able to do anything about it. :)
 
That is v helpful. In my situation the clients that I do are the hair salons clients so I have been trying to build up a relationship with them and have to approach people on a daily basis. Before I started the job she said I can't steal the clients away if I was to keave which I totally understand but would she need to put this in writing to protect herself?

Simple answer:

You are self employed as you are paying your own tax and insurance, therefore the clients you attend belong to you regardless of what the owner says. The owner is simply your landlord, no more, no less.

Read the HMRC link posted above and print a copy to keep with you.

HMRC are a very powerful government department. They can prosecute people and have them imprisoned for breaking the law.

You should be keeping all client records under the rules of the Data Protection Act 1998.
If the owner is keeping the data she is acting illegally and can be prosecuted.

They may be the salon owner but they are breaking the law. :rolleyes:

----------------

For anyone employed receiving a wage slip and not paying their own tax, NI you are employed, clients belong to the salon and you must not poach them.
 
I have contacted acas, a company who deal with employment rights etc
And they are basically saying my
Contract, regardless that I am self employed, is terms of agreement and my boss can sue me.

I'm so worried and disappointed. My new job role is amazing and for a very big hotel and spa. I will keep thinking.....
Thanks again
 
Either we haven't understood right. Or ACAS haven't. But, have you not got holiday left, which you could use as your notice?

Do you get paid monthly or weekly? Usually you just give notice of how you get paid? X
 

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