Self employed percentage

[Beautytherapist123]

Hiya, I’m new to all this so please be nice lol

So basically, I’m a newly qualified therapist and hold both Level 2 & 3 certificates.

I was offered a position in a salon on a self employed basis, earning 50% or whatever I make. This week is my 4th week in the job and I’m already thinking of leaving. I don’t want to as I’m really enjoying it, I’m recieveing lots of positive feedback with clients rebooking. My problem is the pay ...

Now I receive 50% of the treatment cost - but my weekly wage is less than minimum wage - how can this be right? Is this quite normal in this industry?

The salon owner does ALOT of offers on groupon which are already heavily discounted - for example I did a back massage the other day on a client that cost £12 - that means I come out with £6 - less than minimum wage.

I was previously on benefits and obviously the idea of coming off them and going to work is to be better off - not actually worse‍

 

[AcidPerm]

Leave now!
This is a scam employment arrangement and totally illegal.
Your access to any benefits could be affected because you’re not technically employed.

If you’re offered a percentage split, you are classed as self employed so responsible for running your own independent business, registering as self employed with HMRC, paying your own tax and national insurance. You should have your own business account, take money directly from your clients, set your own prices etc.

You are also responsible by law, to hold all your client data separately to the salon. If the salon is storing your client details, that’s illegal.

Report the salon owner to HMRC and leave.

 

[Beautytherapist123]

This is what I thought! My partner said I should be invoicing her every week? I’ve never been self employed so this is all new to me.
The way she put it to me was you’re self employed but pay your own tax and National insurance. It’s 50% you’ll receive. The other 50% will pay for the room, products, uniform etc and then she provides the clients. Not once has she asked to see certificates, etc ..

 

[AcidPerm]

No, what’s she’s saying and doing is potentially illegal. A lot of employers do this because they don’t want the risks and responsibility that goes with having employees but they risk prosecution if found out. HMRC are cracking down on sham employment arrangements and they prosecuted a large number of salons last year.

If self employed, you must be 100% responsible for running your own business, from advertising for clients to setting your own prices. You choose what to wear, what days/times you want to work. If you want to do Groupon clients (!!!), then you have to arrange the contract directly with them. It must NOT be booked through her salon.

When self employed, she’s simply your landlord collecting rent or you give her a percentage of YOUR takings which you receive directly from YOUR clients. It must not go through her till, otherwise it can cause all sorts of potential accounting problems.

She’s trying to manage you as an employee by doing her groupon clients but HMRC will prosecute her if they find out.

Also, you could be prosecuted if you allow her access to YOUR client details, as that’s a breach of the new data protection laws.

You really must get yourself properly informed. Please start by reading the guidelines thread below.

https://www.salongeek.com/threads/hmrc-guidelines-for-determining-self-employment.295298/

 

[Beautytherapist123]

Thank you! I’ll have a read over this weekend.

So when it comes to me leaving - do I have to give her notice or can I just collect my wages and leave! - oh that’s another thing! She pays me cash in hand

 

[beautygeek20]

what do you mean collect your wages? she shouldn't be paying you when you are self-employed. You basically run your own business within her salon therefore you should take all your own bookings, manage your diary, choose to work the hours that suit you and most importantly you should be taking your own money. You would then give her a percentage of your takings and ask for a receipt. That figure should go down as one of your expenses when you come to doing your tax return.
If you have a contract with her that says you must give notice to leave then you will need to follow that, however if there is no contract you don't owe her anything. I would question if the contract is even legally binding as she already appears to be breaking the law.

 

[AcidPerm]

Thank you! I’ll have a read over this weekend.
So when it comes to me leaving - do I have to give her notice or can I just collect my wages and leave! - oh that’s another thing! She pays me cash in hand

She’s trying to fiddle the tax system so just leave. If she says you have to work your notice, tell her that you will be discussing it with HMRC to see what they advise. She won’t get you out of the door quickly enough.

 

[Sasha Malone]

Call the police line, book with them an appointment to bring an officer with you. So when you go to collect all your stuff, the officer is present to keep the peace... I was in a similar situation, however the stylist I was renting a chair from was trying to coerce me into commiting fraud for her momentary gains!
I left but however i didn't collect all my stuff. As they couldn't all fit into my bag, without her noticing. When I brought a family member with me to collect the rest of my stuff, a week later. She went ballistic and refused to give me my stuff (she hid them in the back locked away) she accused me of alsorts including not paying her my rent, in front of all her clients. She yelled swore, threw things and demanded i pay her a further amount of money, for her losses. She did this to make me look like the bad one. I politely left and outside her salon I contacted the police. They stated I should have called them before I went into her salon and arranged for an officer to attend to keep the peace. They also said, because I didn't do this it is now a civil matter, and to get my stuff back I must take her to court.
The officer had a go at me saying I should have never put myself into a situation like this, as it leaves me open to alsorts as well as not being able to declare expenses for the time I was there, as the lines were blurred.
As for the fraud idea, the police said I have nothing to worry about, as I had no participation in it. They officer said if the stylist continues to contact me or get her staff to contact me, I can peruse harassment charges against her. (She did this for the whole week i left)
The police went around to her salon and warned her. Let's just say she no longer shouts at me, she doesnt so much as look at me. Horrible bully.

Hope you get this all sorted. Please dont let anyone take you for a ride, these people are masterminds at fiddling the system, they do not care about us one bit! Xx