Managing employment contracts and ensuring that you are sticking to best practices is never an easy task, regardless of whether you are employing your first employee or have been operating a successful lash salon for a number of years. In order to help clear things up, we have compiled a list of five items that should be included in the employment contracts of all employees working in lash studios, whether they are lash artists or front desk workers.
Why does your lash studio require an employment contract?
The provision of lash services constitutes the primary source of revenue for a lash studio. Therefore, in order to provide lash services, anyone working in the industry is required to sign either a leasing contract or an employment contract. In a lash studio, a person applying lashes should not be considered an independent contractor under any circumstances.
Employment Classification For Lash Industry.
In the lash industry, your work status can be classified in different ways depending on the classification you fall under.
- Apprentice
- Employee
- Self-employed
- Beds and Booths Renters
- Suite Renter
- Studio Owner.
However, what exactly does it mean to work as an apprentice, to be self-employed, or to rent a booth? If you are placed in the wrong category, you could face some fairly severe repercussions. It is essential to have this level of awareness in order to ensure that you are placed in the appropriate category.
Apprentice
Apprentices are paid workers who are in the process of gaining experience for their future careers. The instruction that they get in-studio is not intended to serve as a substitute for an official education or certification. The apprenticeship is designed to help the newly certified lash artist improve their abilities under the direction of an experienced lash artist (often the owner of the studio) while also providing clients with the opportunity to save money on their treatments.
Customers who book services with an apprentice need to be informed unequivocally that the service they are receiving is being given by an apprentice. In most cases, a reduction will be applied to the price of these services, and the appointment will be booked for a longer period of time than is common. As a result of the fact that the studio is not generating the typical profit per service, it is highly possible that the apprentice will receive a lower wage or commission (must be in compliance with local minimum wage laws).
Either a predetermined amount of time or progression through the ranks can determine the length of an apprenticeship. For instance, a salon proprietor may tell an employee that they will remain at the apprentice level for the next three months or that they will be promoted to regular employee status as soon as the employee is able to correctly and safely apply a full set of lashes in under two hours. If the employee is able to do either of these things, the salon proprietor may decide to promote the employee. The proprietor decides how this should be handled.
Employee
Rule compliance is an expectation placed on employees by their employers. This implies that workers are required to:
- Work according to the schedule provided by the employer,
- Abide by the policies of the studio and the dress code,
- Utilize whatsoever products the production company mandates (and supplies), and
- Provide services in accordance with the procedures established by the studio.
Employees are expected to participate in studio promotions such as discounts, coupons, and events. In addition, employees are forced to attend mandatory meetings and continue their education and participate in ongoing training.
It is expected of employees that they will assist with cleaning activities as well as other jobs in between customers.
The information about the client is under the owner’s control at all times.
The studio’s merchant services are used to handle the processing of payments received from customers.
Payroll taxes are deducted from each employee’s paycheck in addition to receiving a payment (or wage plus commissions) for their work.
Self-Employed
When lash artist works alone, they are considered to be self-employed. The lash artist works alone. They are an owner and operator of a business, which means that in addition to providing services to customers, they are accountable for all aspects of running the company successfully. Many people who are self-employed as lash artists opt to work from their homes, but others rent a bed in a lash studio or a lash suite where they can set up their own individualized small studios. They are required to obtain a business license and carry their own insurance (for further explanation, see the following categories).
Beds and Booths Renters
A bed renter is a business owner who operates their own company within a lash studio but in a manner that is fully separate and autonomous from the studio. Bed renters who work independently maintain one hundred percent of their earnings, are responsible for the price of their own products and supplies, determine their own prices, and determine their own hours of operation. They are not accountable to anyone at any time. To be more specific, this indicates that those who rent beds:
- select the things that they intend to use,
- pick and choose the items that they are going to put up for sale (unless the rental agreement prohibits retail sales),
- acquire and maintain their own customers,
- charge whatever prices they see fit,
- pay all of their own costs associated with advertising and marketing,
- create their own routines and schedules,
- book their own appointments on their own accord,
- collect the money due directly from the customers (the studio must never collect money from the bed renter’s clients).
- It is absolutely unacceptable for a studio owner to give money to a bed tenant under any circumstances.
A contract between a landlord and tenant is the agreement that exists between the owner of a studio and a bed renter. Bed renters are immune to the termination. They are required to be evicted in accordance with the act between landlords and tenants. Renters of beds at a studio cannot be required to participate in meetings or complete studio activities. They run their own companies, each of which possesses its own valid business license, and they just pay rent to the proprietor of the studio.
Suite Renter
A business owner that conducts their operations in a private lash suite is referred to as a suite renter (basically a mini studio). Comparable to renting a bed but with some added perks, such as a stronger sense of independence and privacy than you get with a bed rental. In addition, leasing a suite provides the renter with the opportunity for expansion because it enables the renter to begin growing a crew of lash artists and hire additional employees. Renters of a lash suite enjoy ALL of the benefits of ownership while avoiding ALL of the high overhead costs. There are some landlords of suites who provide additional incentives for their tenants, such as access to continuing education, in-house events, and/or advertising opportunities.
Owner of a Studio
A small business owner who rents (or owns) a retail space and is responsible for managing all of the obligations and overhead costs associated with having a business is referred to as a studio owner. Typically, a studio owner will have a team of employees (or bed renters) as well as many lash beds in order to accommodate a large number of customers all at once.
5 Items Every Lash Studio Employment Contract Should Have
Type Of Employment
As an employer, you are going to be faced with the decision of whether you want your employees to be on a contract basis or an at-will one. In the United States, the default assumption for employment is “employment at will,” which means that both the employer and the employee can put an end to the employment relationship at any time for any reason that does not constitute discrimination.
You will likewise be required to make a decision as to whether a person you intend to hire will be considered an employee or an independent contractor. Your judgment is absolutely necessary for this matter! It’s possible that you know that certain times of the year, like the holiday season or the summer vacation season, are going to be significantly busier for your lash salon and that you’ll need an additional lash stylist solely to assist during those few months.
In addition to this, you need to make sure that you state if the employee is working full-time or part-time for the company.
The Name Of The Employee’s Position And Its Description
You are required to specify the employee’s official work title somewhere in the offer letter or the contract that you give them. You will also need to offer a comprehensive and comprehensible work description that outlines the employee’s responsibilities in great detail!
If your salon is expanding, you and your employees may discover that you frequently need to have “all hands on deck” and complete activities that aren’t expressly outlined in the job bulletins. In this case, you and your employees will need to be flexible. During client hours, for example, it’s possible that lash stylists and front desk workers will both need to help out in other areas of the business in order to keep things running properly.
In this scenario, you might want to put wording in the contract stating that you expect the people you hire to take on responsibilities that are outside of the scope of what they are normally responsible for. The key to avoiding disgruntled employees and, as a result, mediocre performance and irate customers is to be upfront and honest with your workforce from the very beginning about what is expected of them.
Compensation
It is essential to comply with the pay rules of each state in order to keep employees happy, cultivate a culture that is welcoming and trustworthy, and reduce the risk of legal liability. The District of Columbia and some states, including New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, and California, as well as Washington, D.C. — Make it a requirement that businesses, in general, and employment offer letters in particular, comply with the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2016.
The specifics differ from one state to the next. In principle, you are required to declare to your employees their salary and pay rates, as well as the status of their employment (hourly or salaried), including whether or not they will be paid overtime. In addition to this, you will be required to declare the schedule of your regular paydays, specifying whether they will occur weekly or monthly. You need to designate how frequently commission earners, who are most likely your lash stylists, will receive their checks for their earned commissions.
There are several states that mandate that any and all information regarding compensation be translated into the employee’s primary language. Even if not needed in your region, it may be beneficial to consult with a legal professional who is proficient in at least one of these languages in order to get assistance with this matter.
Lash stylists are compensated in different ways, one of which is through tips. Clearly and completely explain the procedure that your store follows for handling tips. As an employer, you are supposed to report any cash received in the form of tips; however, this ultimately helps rather than hinders your employees. The amount of tips they claim to get is factored into their total annual income. The increased income numbers assist them in other areas, including lowering interest rates on credit lines, mortgages, and vehicles, amongst other benefits.
Arbitration Clauses
Regardless of how cautious you are, there is always the possibility that you will need to seek legal recourse at some point. Including an arbitration clause in your employment contract has the potential to save both you and your employees some amount of time and money while also reducing the amount of stress experienced. When a contract has an arbitration clause, the employee (and the employer, in most cases) give up their right to file a lawsuit in a conventional court. Instead, the parties have come to an agreement that any legal problems will be resolved by arbitration and/or mediation. Even while incorporating an arb/med clause is not required, you and your employees may find that doing so makes everyone feel more at ease with the knowledge that, in the worst-case situation, neither party will be required to pay exorbitant legal fees or spend years navigating the judicial system.
Noncompete Clauses
A majority of lash artists harbor the hope that soon they will be able to launch their own company, their own salon. Your employees will leave at some point, whether they do so to acquire new experiences working elsewhere or to launch their own business. This departure is unavoidable. It is only natural that they would take the methods and abilities they picked up while working at your salon with them. When that day arrives, you will feel such immense pride, yet, you also need to mentally prepare for the possibility that some of your current employees will go on to become your future competitors.
Including noncompete terms in employee contracts without making those restrictions overly restrictive is the main problem faced by owners of beauty salons. The most important thing when drafting an acceptable noncompete agreement is not to restrict prospective lash artist workers from working elsewhere within a reasonable radius of their current residence. Behavior of this kind is not only against the law, but it also sows seeds of mistrust and animosity within our tight-knit lashing community. It is, nevertheless, reasonable for the condition to ban employees from working with comparable firms within a short radius of your salon for a certain time frame — for example, a one-mile radius for a period of one year.
Be certain that the state in which you live upholds the legality of including a non-competition clause in employment contracts before you go ahead and include one. It is against the law in some areas, such as California, for employers to require their employees to sign a non-compete agreement. This is done to prevent circumstances in which an employee is prevented from practicing their profession where they live.
Conclusion
There are so many aspects to take into account! My recommendation is that you begin your career as an employee or an apprentice and then work your way up through the available possibilities in the order that they are presented above. Through these means, you will gradually take on more responsibilities. You have the potential to develop and learn at every stage.
Make sure you are up to date on any legislative changes that may occur in your region so that you may continue to operate in a compliant manner, regardless of which choice you feel is the best for you. There are variations in the laws and classifications that are in place across the country, and some states do not permit particular classifications.
We hope that this article helps (at least a little bit!) simplify the complicated world of employment contracts as you navigate the process of establishing and expanding your lash studio. As always, we would like to stress that the information in this article is not genuine legal advice. When drafting your contracts, you need to seek the advice of an attorney to ensure the fullest possible compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
