Staff working outside of employed hours - please help

[Lucyc123]

Could people please share any policies you have for employed staff members doing clients outside of working hours or if you have anything in your contract at a salon you work at

I have never had a problem with my staff offering treatments to friends and family outside the salon in their own time however I am now becoming quite concerned with a couple of my staff that they are trying to drum up business for their mobile business on the side and this could potentially have an impact on the business

Thanks in advance for any help or advice

 

[AcidPerm]

Did you have legally enforceable contracts drawn up by a solicitor (or equivalent from a trade body) when you employed your staff?
Usually, they will contain a non competition clause in them.
It’s more difficult to introduce new contract terms after they’ve been working for you for a while as you have effectively agreed to them working outside the salon, as you said yourself in your OP.

Obviously, there’s a difference between doing mates rates for family and a few friends at home and poaching salon clients and building up a clientele with the intention of going fully self employed.

If you have evidence of them advertising their ‘mobile business’ (keep the proof), you could legitimately ask them about when they registered with HMRC as you’ll need to confirm the tax and NI deductions to the Revenue. If they’re earning above the basic tax threshold with you then everything they earn from home is subject to tax.

 

[House Beauty]

Could people please share any policies you have for employed staff members doing clients outside of working hours or if you have anything in your contract at a salon you work at

I have never had a problem with my staff offering treatments to friends and family outside the salon in their own time however I am now becoming quite concerned with a couple of my staff that they are trying to drum up business for their mobile business on the side and this could potentially have an impact on the business

Thanks in advance for any help or advice

Hello Lucy!

It’s very easy for us to worry, afterall we are in an industry that helps soothes others anxieties, we are naturally prone to experience them ourselves. It’s normal to worry about the fate of your business.

If they were working outside of business hours, unless it’s on your premises, with your products, unfortunately it’s none of your business unless they are stealing your customers to do so. Saying that as delicately as possible. Law is very black and white. Evidence is always needed but it can be seen one way or another. It’s not really something I’d recommend from a well-being perspective, as it won’t be good for you to panic about it and assume there are guilty parties.

I did dabble in law for about a year but rather than worry about that side of things...just an idea for now.. speak to them. Casually chatting ask about how they are getting on, an appraisal even. Ask about their progress and whether they feel theta are getting enough practice in areas they struggle etc. If they feel the need to do it at home ...you never know, they might feel like they don’t know what their doing, feel that their skills are lacking and want to practice themselves. They might be really low on funds and be doing all they can to make ends meet. Maybe they have a family and having a job with set hours isn’t giving them the flexibility they need to support their family.

If you know for sure they are, ask if there is anyway to support them. Do they feel they need additional training? How is family life? How can you as their boss support them and their family life better?

I know if a certain boss I had had been more flexible with me or given me an open chat a long long time ago I’d have been about 90% more likely to stay in recruitment. If I’d been able to grow in my position without feeling under so much pressure. But I also know a bit later and nobody could convince me otherwise that I was going to eventually work for myself and have my own business.

If they are going to have their own businesses, keep that bridge! Allow yourself to be proud of them. Could you imagine them doing that when they started?

You could be brutally honest and say whether they can hack it and if they have the skills.. you could give them more responsibilities so they can grow and then they will actually succeed when it’s time.

You could be that manager that when they leave and move on they tell everyone is their role model xx

One last thing I just thought of....maybe they don’t have a clue about conduct and don’t know what to say when clients ask them questions. Often I don’t myself!! You know the ones that ask what are you doing how long you been doing it do you do it yourself what’s your business called what’s your mums address and how much do you earn hahaaa.
Give them a basic reply they can use in these instances. They probably don’t want to mess up and have you hear them talking about their own businesses really as it would affect their current position.

Remember it’s never as bad as it seems.

 

[Alison Pilkington-Child]

Two good responses, why not use both. Use the appraisal as a basis for solidifying their employment with a contract.

There is usually a three month probation period before contracts are offered to employees anyway and if you have employed them for longer they really ought to have one. With a little research you may find a tailor-made contract that already perfectly fits your business or one that only needs a couple of tweaks. You don't necessarily need to employ solicitors etc. I would approach HABIA for starters and see what advice they have. I bet the Citizens Advice Bureau would be helpful too.

From my experience of being an employer I found younger people in particular can be surprisingly anxious about the reliability and status of their employment without one. Also, if they do have upcoming plans to go solo they will need to say so as they will not necessarily want to tie themselves to an agreement containing the standard competition clause and an obligatory period of notice.