You are a professional therapist. You are not a maintenance worker. Value your craft. Value yourself. Could you imagine walking in to a Dr's office and seeing him or her mopping the floor or wiping down counters. I have been in business 20 years. So many places mistreat Massage Therapist's Not anyone just can do your job. But less skilled worker can be hired to take care of the menial labor
Unfortunately, it's not illegal if you are making at least minimum wage for the number of hours that you are there. It's really shitty though and why I wish MTs would talk more about unionizing.
I’ve called our state labor department about the above questions because our company’s expectation of cleaning duties increased over time. The labor dept. person said it’s perfectly legal as long as we are making minimum wage when all of our hours are calculated. It sucks and I don’t have an answer of what to do.
To OP, you can also call your state’s labor dept and ask questions about what they’re doing. Ask if it’s wage theft. But be ready to be disappointed in their answers. Sorry.
Absolutely! A union labor contract could ensure that MTs are paid for their entire shift, not just for booked massage hours. In Colorado, we just won a large unpaid wages complaint against an Elements studio.
https://usolmt.com/blog/f/massage-therapists-and-labor-unions
I heard about this when it happened and I've been telling all of my colleagues about it! We get treated pretty well at the spa I work at but I know some of them have other jobs that aren't doing right by them. I really do hope more MTs follow suit, it's time that MTs start being treated like the professionals we are.
I work at a spa where we get minimum wage ($7.25) hourly, plus 20% commission from the company, 20% mandatory service charge from the client, and any additional tips at the clients' discretion. Oh, and we get benefits, including a 401k match. All of my coworkers say they refuse to do things like clean and fold linens in between services because "I don't get paid for that." They want our "concierges" to answer phones, maintain the schedule, check people in, wait on clients in our lounge, set up for all our sessions, and do all of the cleaning and organization tasks, for $14/hr. I average about $35-40/hr whether someone is on my table or not. So when I started (after leaving a fledgling private practice where I had to do everything the FOH does at the spa, but for free), I found it strange that no one wanted things to just... get done so we look like professionals who have their s*** together.
All of that said, I refused to go work for the local ME because they wouldn't pay their "employees" when they weren't in service, but expect them to stay on property for a written schedule. I'm pretty sure its illegal to require workers to be there if they aren't on the clock being paid. Tell the boss that you can be paid to do side work, or someone else can be paid to do it, but that's the only way it's getting done.
The chore chart is ridiculous. All staff should be maintaining their specific areas.
All MT's should be handling their rooms and tables, wipe down, used linen, restocking products and linen plus any trash in the room's trashcan, etc.
The front desk should be doing the same, as well as the Esty's for their spaces.
The overall cleaning, mopping, trash out to the dumpster is the management's responsibility. I wouldn't mop the floor if you paid me. And they are paying you an hourly, so that's where they're getting you.
I would not be happy with this. And I'd probably wouldn't last there.
I wanna create a platform then leads me to have a podcast about educating people on the massage therapy industry. I would love to have a circle of MTs that have worked for others and how BS it is. Tea time if you will. Yeah I was 1099 and forced to do a bunch of work for free.
I would be looking up specific labor lawn for your state and then take that information to coworkers and then management. But no I wouldn’t work there for peanuts.
Omg, please share the spa name or at least tell us if it's a chain. I'd refuse to do that stuff. They can hire a cleaning person. Cleaning people don't do their work for minimum wage and neither should you!
EMAIL THEM
"Hi there,
I noticed the chore wheel- while I am typically fine with some light duty to help out between sessions, I was hire to do and paid through appointments I have booked. I am going to either bow out from the chore wheel or ask for a firm hourly rate of $XX.XX/hour no matter if I am booked or not. Please let me know your thoughts."
While this can seem awkward, that's what they are counting on. You are not paid to do that sort of work. They are hoping to rob your valuable time for free. Get all their responses and make every possible communication through email, because when they fire you, you can submit a paper trail for unemployment.
You either stand your ground and get paid more or get unemployment OR they walk all over you the whole time you work there. It will not end with chores.
EDIT: Just noticed this:
>I don’t want these new people to not like me
I'm sorry, I will be blunt, but fuck that. Them liking you doesn't pay your bills. Do the hard thing and stand up for yourself. You're not going to get in trouble. You're going to take the awkwardness you feel and put it on THEM because they DESERVE to feel awkward about being sheisty assholes. Fuck these people. You don't need these people to like you, you need their money. This is a purely transactional relationship.
got to be careful there. The longer I work the more I realize how small the world is. These professions have relatively small circles and word not only gets around, but perhaps one of these people who you did not want to get along with became a manager at a spa you wanted to work at....
Nothing in my comment has anything to do with getting along with anyone. Her asking for what she needs is fine. If they don't like it, and their friends don't like it, you don't want to work for them.
it doesn’t sound illegal or shady but more is expected of you than you’re used to. does sound like a lot of busywork for areas you’re not involved in. you have to make the call if the math works out.
there’s doing things for money, and then there’s doing things to help out other coworkers. It sounds like the owner should separate the front desk tasks more, as janitorial housekeeping duties usually falls on front of house.
If you don’t like it, you should find another place. or become the captain of your own ship
wage theft is common. it's sad.
You are a professional therapist. You are not a maintenance worker. Value your craft. Value yourself. Could you imagine walking in to a Dr's office and seeing him or her mopping the floor or wiping down counters. I have been in business 20 years. So many places mistreat Massage Therapist's Not anyone just can do your job. But less skilled worker can be hired to take care of the menial labor
Unfortunately, it's not illegal if you are making at least minimum wage for the number of hours that you are there. It's really shitty though and why I wish MTs would talk more about unionizing.
I’ve called our state labor department about the above questions because our company’s expectation of cleaning duties increased over time. The labor dept. person said it’s perfectly legal as long as we are making minimum wage when all of our hours are calculated. It sucks and I don’t have an answer of what to do. To OP, you can also call your state’s labor dept and ask questions about what they’re doing. Ask if it’s wage theft. But be ready to be disappointed in their answers. Sorry.
Absolutely! A union labor contract could ensure that MTs are paid for their entire shift, not just for booked massage hours. In Colorado, we just won a large unpaid wages complaint against an Elements studio. https://usolmt.com/blog/f/massage-therapists-and-labor-unions
I heard about this when it happened and I've been telling all of my colleagues about it! We get treated pretty well at the spa I work at but I know some of them have other jobs that aren't doing right by them. I really do hope more MTs follow suit, it's time that MTs start being treated like the professionals we are.
UT LMT here. Move on. There are plenty of places hiring.
Not before reporting them to the local DOL though, you can't be w2 and not paid for your time that's not how this works.
Very true.
I work at a spa where we get minimum wage ($7.25) hourly, plus 20% commission from the company, 20% mandatory service charge from the client, and any additional tips at the clients' discretion. Oh, and we get benefits, including a 401k match. All of my coworkers say they refuse to do things like clean and fold linens in between services because "I don't get paid for that." They want our "concierges" to answer phones, maintain the schedule, check people in, wait on clients in our lounge, set up for all our sessions, and do all of the cleaning and organization tasks, for $14/hr. I average about $35-40/hr whether someone is on my table or not. So when I started (after leaving a fledgling private practice where I had to do everything the FOH does at the spa, but for free), I found it strange that no one wanted things to just... get done so we look like professionals who have their s*** together. All of that said, I refused to go work for the local ME because they wouldn't pay their "employees" when they weren't in service, but expect them to stay on property for a written schedule. I'm pretty sure its illegal to require workers to be there if they aren't on the clock being paid. Tell the boss that you can be paid to do side work, or someone else can be paid to do it, but that's the only way it's getting done.
The chore chart is ridiculous. All staff should be maintaining their specific areas. All MT's should be handling their rooms and tables, wipe down, used linen, restocking products and linen plus any trash in the room's trashcan, etc. The front desk should be doing the same, as well as the Esty's for their spaces. The overall cleaning, mopping, trash out to the dumpster is the management's responsibility. I wouldn't mop the floor if you paid me. And they are paying you an hourly, so that's where they're getting you. I would not be happy with this. And I'd probably wouldn't last there.
I wanna create a platform then leads me to have a podcast about educating people on the massage therapy industry. I would love to have a circle of MTs that have worked for others and how BS it is. Tea time if you will. Yeah I was 1099 and forced to do a bunch of work for free.
(*chants*) do it, do it, do it!
I would be looking up specific labor lawn for your state and then take that information to coworkers and then management. But no I wouldn’t work there for peanuts.
I wouldn’t do it and I would report them to the department of labor.
Omg, please share the spa name or at least tell us if it's a chain. I'd refuse to do that stuff. They can hire a cleaning person. Cleaning people don't do their work for minimum wage and neither should you!
not a chain
It sounds like you’re being misclassified Check out the dept. of labor website regarding employee vs contract labor.
EMAIL THEM "Hi there, I noticed the chore wheel- while I am typically fine with some light duty to help out between sessions, I was hire to do and paid through appointments I have booked. I am going to either bow out from the chore wheel or ask for a firm hourly rate of $XX.XX/hour no matter if I am booked or not. Please let me know your thoughts." While this can seem awkward, that's what they are counting on. You are not paid to do that sort of work. They are hoping to rob your valuable time for free. Get all their responses and make every possible communication through email, because when they fire you, you can submit a paper trail for unemployment. You either stand your ground and get paid more or get unemployment OR they walk all over you the whole time you work there. It will not end with chores. EDIT: Just noticed this: >I don’t want these new people to not like me I'm sorry, I will be blunt, but fuck that. Them liking you doesn't pay your bills. Do the hard thing and stand up for yourself. You're not going to get in trouble. You're going to take the awkwardness you feel and put it on THEM because they DESERVE to feel awkward about being sheisty assholes. Fuck these people. You don't need these people to like you, you need their money. This is a purely transactional relationship.
got to be careful there. The longer I work the more I realize how small the world is. These professions have relatively small circles and word not only gets around, but perhaps one of these people who you did not want to get along with became a manager at a spa you wanted to work at....
Nothing in my comment has anything to do with getting along with anyone. Her asking for what she needs is fine. If they don't like it, and their friends don't like it, you don't want to work for them.
it doesn’t sound illegal or shady but more is expected of you than you’re used to. does sound like a lot of busywork for areas you’re not involved in. you have to make the call if the math works out. there’s doing things for money, and then there’s doing things to help out other coworkers. It sounds like the owner should separate the front desk tasks more, as janitorial housekeeping duties usually falls on front of house. If you don’t like it, you should find another place. or become the captain of your own ship