Self employed mat leave

[francesXXX]

What usually happens with renting a salon chair and maternity leave? Do you still have to pay your rent for 9 months if you took that amount of time off (which I am)? It wasn’t mentioned in my contract and I haven’t asked my salon owner yet, I’m afraid to! I can’t lose my chair but I defo can’t afford 9 months of paying rent with no income either. I know 9 months is a long time for a hairdresser to take off but I’ve had health issues so going back sooner isn’t an option, says my doctor.

 

[Euphoria One Hair]

Good morning

If a maternity leave policy is not mentioned in your contract then you may have grounds. Was there an agreement with the owner prior to taking leave? x

 

[AcidPerm]

If you’re self employed, you can appoint someone else to work in your place. That’s one of the tests for ‘self employment’.
If I was the salon owner, I wouldn’t want an empty chair for months on end, so if you can appoint someone to work in your place during your leave, that is probably the best solution. Obviously, you might lose some clients but at least you keep your chair and you can charge your ‘tenant’ rent to cover your chair rent.

See Section 1, point 8 below.
https://www.salongeek.com/threads/hmrc-guidelines-for-determining-self-employment.295298/