Working in a salon

[Bluerinse]

Monday 9-3 salon 4-7 book work and orders.
Tues 8.15 till 6
Wed 8.15 till 6
Thursday 8.15 till 7
Friday 8-8
Sat 7 till 5
Sunday DEAD!! I work stupidly long hours rarely get lunch break but hey I love my career and dint see it as a job, and I'm self employed which means working these hours I can enjoy 4 holidays a year

 

[zebra_cake]

Monday 9-3 salon 4-7 book work and orders.
Tues 8.15 till 6
Wed 8.15 till 6
Thursday 8.15 till 7
Friday 8-8
Sat 7 till 5
Sunday DEAD!! I work stupidly long hours rarely get lunch break but hey I love my career and dint see it as a job, and I'm self employed which means working these hours I can enjoy 4 holidays a year

you would have to be self employed to work those hours lol , or i would want to be paid a hell of alot more than MW lol

 

[MissLou]

Yeah my days in the salons were much the same. In my apprentice ship breaks were none existent. I'd start at 8.30 sometimes 8.00 and finish about 5.00 and 6.00 on a Friday so my days were 9-10 hours straight. The deal was 45 mins lunch and sometimes we'd have it but only if the bosses had lunch. If they didn't we didn't. Also being the junior I'd always be told to start washing the clients at 12.30 so most of the time I'd only get 25mins lunch on the days we got it. This even continued until i was trained and I was told to think myself lucky I was having my own clients-even tho I was only allowed to do them in my unpaid luck break.

Its a tricky one because it does seem to be the way of this trade, don't get me wrong its great to busy and I understand time is money etc but when you have to hold on for 3 hours just to have a pee thats getting a little ridiculous. (boy the times i've done that and nearly pee'd myself!lol) In saying that one big chain salon I worked in always made sure we had at least half hour break. We were entitled to 45 mins but in the nature of our trade not always possible which is fine, but due to the risk of being sued my manager would make sure we had a min of 30mins somewhere in the day and when it'd wind down near the end of the day she would let us grab a 10min tea break.

In my experience salon owners will take the mick and you do need to mention but do it tactfully, you don't want to come across as if you don't have the motivation.
It is a bit sad mind you that you have to put this to your manager, i mean rules and laws are set in place for a reason, its not healthy for a person to be rushed off their feet for 9-10 hours a day with minus 1 hour pay and not have a chance to get a bite or even go to the loo!

Like everything swings and roundabouts, you've proven to ur manager you are a hard worker and ur willing to get on with it so I feel its only fair they should respect ur rights and work with you by making sure you get ur unpaid break even if it has to be taken at different times during the day.

Good Luck

 

[Bluerinse]

you would have to be self employed to work those hours lol , or i would want to be paid a hell of alot more than MW lol

Add to this the running of a house, dog, cat, 12yr old step son and my partner lol he has 2 of his own business's.

life is manic and none stop but....I get bored easily And it's all because of this wonderful industry and my first boss I have to thank for teaching me hard work and blisters from cleaning a salon soon pay off when you move up the ladder, now I'm really seeing the rewards.

 

[persianista]

I do;
Monday 9-5 on clients, then wholesaler run.
Tues 9-3 in one salon, 2 hrs for admin, then 5-8 in the other salon on clients.
Wednesday is the same as Tuesday.
Thursday and Friday are bothe 9-8 on clients.
Saturday is 9-6 on clients.
I also run the online shops, do the admin, and run my other businesses as well (usually early in the morning (I normally start my admin at 6 am)

 

[Ammej85]

I disagree with people who say 'it's the norm', but also read a few posts up that a large chain made sure you got breaks.

Maybe it's just the larger chains that ensure you take your breaks. I worked in 2 salons both under the same chain and in both they made sure time was booked out for both the stylists and apprentices and it was of course staggered.

At the 2nd place juniors got a 15 minute coffee break in both the morning and afternoon and 30 mins for lunch.

Stylists got 30 mins lunch and everyday a junior would take the stylists lunch orders and nip round the town. There were anything from 5-12 stylists there at a time, maybe the larger ones are just run in such a way that breaks are taken into account?

 

[MissLou]

I disagree with people who say 'it's the norm', but also read a few posts up that a large chain made sure you got breaks.

Maybe it's just the larger chains that ensure you take your breaks. I worked in 2 salons both under the same chain and in both they made sure time was booked out for both the stylists and apprentices and it was of course staggered.

At the 2nd place juniors got a 15 minute coffee break in both the morning and afternoon and 30 mins for lunch.

Stylists got 30 mins lunch and everyday a junior would take the stylists lunch orders and nip round the town. There were anything from 5-12 stylists there at a time, maybe the larger ones are just run in such a way that breaks are taken into account?

Yep i totally agree with you, I mean it does seem to be the norm in this industry but I think things should change now. To me this whole expected to work all day with no breaks is a tad old school. Yea i used to do it and its great fun being busy all day but its not healthy or right. Like u say the bigger chains do tend to make time for breaks like mine did and we staggered them. At incredibly busy times eg xmas, understandably its crazy and we would sacrifice breaks but we'd still grab a quick 10mins here and there. I feel the chains do it because there is more risk for them of getting done unlike smaller salons they can get away with a lot more.
At the end of the day I think stylists are pressured into working incredibly hard and fast to pull in the money, I don't think its much to ask for the salon owners to return the respect and let stylists have decent breaks. After all it has to work both ways to have a happy running salon.
Who wants a run ragged, hungry, thirsty stylist who's been dying for the loo for hours on end doing their hair? I'd rather have a happy stylist who's had sufficient breaks and who will not risk making minor mistakes because she's exhausted.

 

[topcuts]

my apprentice gets her break every single day, an hour on normal working days tues - fri and only the minimum 20 minutes on saturdays. if we are mega busy she will give up her saturday break voluntarily but then we finish early alot of the nights and she gets to go home early sometimes as much as an hour early so she is definitely doing well out of us which is fine, i know she will give it back if and when needed ie christmas time.

 

[GIGGLER]

Hi geeks,

I qualified Level 3 in June this year and have just started working in a salon 2 weeks ago as a stylist. Is it normal to work so many hours with no breaks? basically, i work Monday (10-6) Weds-Fri (10-8) and Sat (10-6) i was told when i started i would get an hours break each day so therefore they deduct 5 hours per week from my wages. But since i've been there i have not had 1 lunch break. I'm aware salons are busy places and often you don't get a chance to sit down but everytime i get a colour applied to one client or finish a cut there is another that i have to deal with even if they're not in my column. I am also always in late so most of the time i'm working 11 hours straight with no breaks. Will it ever ease up, or is this the business i've entered and need to suck it up?! xx

Swings in roundabouts I reckon..if ur running into your lunch because ur behind time, then u can't really ask for that time back. But thankfully u will speed up over time!

I'm sure there will be times like in January where it will be quiet so then u may have longer lunch breaks! Never a bad thing!

But if it's constant and through no fault of ur own then maybe mention it and ask for some time back. An afternoon off maybe.. Or a layin?Afterall, working at a demanding pace it extremely tiring. All the best!