Chair time, commission and clock time in a salon

Three pay models

An employee stylist may be paid hourly with a bonus on retail sales. Another may be paid 45 percent of service revenue. A booth renter pays the salon a weekly fee and keeps the rest. The time rules differ: a booth renter who runs a real independent business does not clock in, while an employee does. Salons that label commissioned employees as renters, without giving them control over prices, clients and hours, face misclassification claims.

Commission employees and minimum wage

When an employee is paid only on commission, federal law still requires pay of at least the minimum wage for every hour worked, plus overtime beyond 40 hours. Empty hours between appointments count. A stylist who works 10 hours, takes in $200 in services and earns 45 percent ($90) has been paid $9 an hour, below $10.50 if your state’s minimum is higher, and the salon must top it up.

The same arithmetic, run at a state minimum of $15 an hour, requires $150, and the salon owes the $60 difference.

Gaps, cleanup and training

A stylist waiting for the next client between 11 and 1 is working if required to stay. Setup, sanitizing stations, laundering towels and attending product training are working time too. Mark these on the schedule so no one is clocked out for them by default.

Tips

Tips belong to the stylist who received them. When clients pay by card, the card fee cannot be taken wholly from the stylist beyond the actual cost. Keep a record of tips paid on each paycheck.

Booking and the clock

A booking system shows appointment times, while a time system shows presence. Compare the two each week: a stylist with only 18 booked hours and 40 clocked hours is either under-booked or in need of a different schedule.

Treatment rooms and turnover

A spa with four treatment rooms and six therapists loses money when rooms sit empty. Compare booked room-hours to staffed room-hours each week. If Wednesday morning has two therapists and one booking, move a shift. Allow turnover time between clients for cleaning, and include it in the paid day, since the therapist does it as part of the job.

Commission, booth rent or hourly, side by side

A booth renter who sets their own hours, books their own clients, buys their own products and pays rent is usually independent. A stylist who works the salon’s schedule, uses its booking system and splits revenue is usually an employee, whatever the contract says.

When commissioned stylists are exempt from overtime

Under section 7(i) of the FLSA, employees of a retail or service establishment can be exempt from overtime if their regular rate is more than one and a half times the minimum wage and more than half of their pay over a representative period comes from commissions. Many salons qualify as service establishments, so this exemption often fits commissioned stylists.

In a slow week with the same hours and $400 in commission, the regular rate would be $8.70, which fails the test, so overtime is owed. Several states do not follow the federal exemption, so check yours.

Licenses and chemicals

State cosmetology boards license stylists, barbers, estheticians and nail technicians, and many require the license to be displayed at the station. Several states also require continuing education to renew. Keep each license number and expiry date on file, because an unlicensed service can bring fines for the salon too.

OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard covers hair dyes, relaxers, acrylics and disinfectants. OSHA has also warned that some hair smoothing products release formaldehyde, which is covered by its own standard with exposure limits and training requirements.

Assistants and apprentices

Many salons employ assistants who shampoo, sweep and help stylists, and some run apprenticeship programs approved by the state board, where hours count toward a license. Assistants and apprentices are employees. They are owed at least the minimum wage for all hours, including training classes the salon requires, and overtime over 40 hours unless an exemption applies.

Track apprentice hours carefully, because the state board usually needs a record of hours and skills completed before the apprentice can sit the exam. A clock-in record by date and task makes the paperwork simple at the end.

Mistakes salons make

• Calling stylists booth renters while setting their schedules.
• Assuming the overtime exemption applies every week, even slow ones.
• Letting license renewals lapse.
• Skipping hazard training for new color and smoothing products.

Questions people ask

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