Every industry, every business, and every manager has their own rules for their staff members and employees; so having a salon employee handbook in your salon business is essential.

Exclusively for salon owners and managers, the new American Salon Beauty Business newsletter includes info, tips and resources for running a salon. By American Salon Staff Mar 12, 2021 12:45pm Pagination.

In modern education, people have been taught since kindergarten to follow a specific set of rules and socially accepted practices to keep everyone save and avoid conflict.

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In this article you will learn how to get a wonderful salon's working team. Belliata Salon Software created a free template to download and use for your hair salon.

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How can you maintain the same kind of order for all those in your salon’s working team?

It’s simple: put a set of salon policies and procedures into place.

Your goal for your salon employee handbook should be pretty straightforward – rules for hair salon employees will keep their behavior in check, manage staff expectations, and keep the salon in harmony.

It’s not easy to write a professional hair salon rules for employees.

That’s why Belliata Salon Software has a come up with a quick list of the things you need to know as a salon owner to help you write your salon employee handbook.

We’ve also attached a free salon employee handbook at the end of this page for your reference.

Quick and easy tips on making your rules effective

As the leader of the salon, you have a responsibility of keeping everything in check and making sure that the rules are enforced.

If rules are written down on paper without enforcement, it’ll be just like having no rules at all. Here are a few points to remember to help your staff understand what you expect of them:

• Enforce your rules, let employees know that there will be ramifications if the rules aren’t being followed
• Keep a note of who doesn’t follow rules, so you know the root cause of ant conflict and can take care of it effectively
• Provide your employees with the rules, and let them sign the salon employee handbook and contract
• Have a mutual understanding, of what you expect from your employees but also what they can expect from you

In short, a salon that doesn't have a salon employee handbook encourages them to make up their own rules. If each individual employee has their own definition of what should and should not be expected from each other, this will led to conflict.

Conflict in the workplace will almost always decrease productivity. This could negatively affect the working atmosphere, customer service, and incur huge financial losses to you.

Make you salon rules and stick to them.

What to include in an introduction for your salon manual

First of all, before the actual hair salon policies and procedures begin remember to welcome them to the company. Employees will be much more receptive to salon employment handbook if it starts off on a welcoming and positive note.

In case they don't know already, introduce your new staff members to the company mission and vision. You can also add a personal note when talking about the company's history and culture.

It may also be a good idea to add a disclaimer in the first part of the salon and spa employee handbook. This clause would be designed to protect you and entitle you to make any necessary changes to the salon employee policy manual down the line.

How to clearly define employee status and roles in your hair salon handbook

We understand that there are many different jobs in a beauty spa and salon business. You could have receptionists at the front desk, massage therapists who operate treatment rooms, hair stylists, nail stylists, team managers, or any other roles you may have in your business.

With so many roles, it is crucial that you clearly define the responsibilities of each of these types of jobs. For example, receptionists may have responsibilities such as appointment making, product promotion, and changing shop displays. You may also require therapists to wear different kinds of clothing to hair stylists.

In addition to job roles, employees could also be classified by job status. These could include classifications such as part time, full time, probationary, temporary, salary, or commission based employees.

It is important to clearly define the conditions that prescribe employees into which of these categories, so you can offer different compensation packages and benefits to different employees. Also note that it is possible for employees to fall into multiple categories.

Probationary periods are a useful clause to include in your salon employee handbook policies.

A probationary period allows you to test if a new hire is suitable for the job for a certain period of time without offering any benefits. You can find more information with the example of a salon employee handbook at the end of this page.

Decide what employment policies to include in the beauty salon rules and regulations

The employment policies of the salon employment handbook are designed to protect new applicants from undue prejudice.

This could include clauses that protect employees from discrimination and only hire or dismiss employees based on merit and work performance. New employees should also be given orientation on their first day of work to familiarize themselves with the workplace and their fellow members of staff.

This section of the beauty salon employee handbook would also be used to provide instructions on how to deal with work related injuries, personal work safety, and address privacy concerns.

You should assure that all their personal information is strictly confidential, but also require them to report any changes to that information in a timely manner.

Safety and security of the staff should also be of utmost important. In order to comply with local and national provisions, you should provide extensive guidelines on the standards of safety that you expect from your employees. This could include the safe operation of heat emitting or electric powered tools, all equipment must be disinfected before and after use, know the location of fire safety equipment and emergency exits, as well as a clean and clear working environment to prevent accidents.

What to include in the salon code of conduct

The code of conduct in the salon employee handbook should ideally be the most detailed part of the salon employee policies and procedures . This is the part that governs the day to day operation of your spa and salon business and keeps employee behavior in check. These general guidelines should include topics such as:

Some examples of hair salon policies for employees to include in your handbook

• Attendance and absenteeism
• Lateness and punctuality
• Meal times and break periods
• Working schedules of different employee classifications
• General harassment, violence and sexual harassment policies
• Disclosure and protection of confidential information
• Ethical and moral code
• Use of technology and equipment while on duty
• Smoking, alcohol, and drug use policy (medical or otherwise)
• Reporting standards for gifts and entertainment
• Making complaints or reports to management
• Salon rules and regulations for clients
• Transfers, promotions, and demotions
• Administrative and disciplinary actions
• Policies on external employment
• Exit and resignation procedures

Make sure you clearly define the scope and definition of each of your rules. You should also check that none of your rules or definitions of your rules conflict with any local or national laws.

For more specific examples, please refer to the free beauty salon employee handbook attached at the end of this page.

How to determine the salon dress code policy

It’s not easy to determine the dress code for your employees and there’s definitely no one set of clothes that are suitable for all the roles in a salon and spa facility.

You may have different clothing requirements for a nail stylist than a hair stylist. It pays off to think hard about what kind of image you want to give your customers.

Salons often require their staff to dress professionally and adequately for the job they are performing. For example, you may want your receptionist to dress in smart business attire, while a massage therapist may be required to wear an apron and a mask.

If there is a role that requires uniforms to be worn, make sure you define whether it is company property or not and how you expect your staff to care for it.

What compensation rules to consider for salon policies for employees

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The salon employee handbook should include a detailed section on employee compensation to avoid any financial conflicts down the line. This should be written to protect the employee so they are paid a fair wage and to protect your interests as an employer to prevent unfair or illegal claims against you.

Apart from base compensation and basic salaries, consider how you would award bonuses to employees with outstanding performances. Design these in a way to encourage employee productivity and customer satisfaction. Outline how and which employees are eligible for overtime pay.

For example, part time employees and hourly wage workers may be entitled to overtime pay but full time staff on monthly salaries may not be entitled to the same overtime benefits.

Manage staff expectations and let them know how they will be paid. How often will payment be made, on a weekly or monthly basis?

Which day of the week will they be paid on may depend on your accounting procedures. Would you consider different payment frequencies for part time and full time staff?

How would you pay them? You could use means such as cheque, cash, electronic payment, wire transfers, or company stock options. Decide on your payment frequency and means carefully as this would impact your salon’s cash flow.

What benefits you could provide in your hair salon policies for employees

If you offer any non monetary benefits to your employees, it might be a good idea to let them know if they are eligible. As mentioned before, you may separate your employees into different groups and that could affect their eligibility for certain benefits.

That’s why it is important to clearly set out which classification of employees are eligible for which benefits.

Your salon could provide benefits such as:

• Worker injury compensation, may be required by local laws to ensure that all costs of work related injuries are covered by the employer.
• Contributions to retirement funds, could increase employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover, minimizing recruitment costs.
• Employee discounts, reduce the incentive for employee theft.
• Unemployment benefits, to protect employees if they are laid off for financial reasons.
• Further education funds, to encourage employees to take on new skills relevant to the salon’s line of work so customers have more services to choose from.
• Continued professional development, to make sure staff are up to date with all new industry standards and services.

Salon handbook ideas for time off and vacation benefits

There are many different reasons on why an employee may need time off from work and it is your responsibility as an employer to provide different types or paid and unpaid leave to suit these situations.

Your salon’s policies for time off could include holidays and vacations, sick leave, jury duty, maternity leave, bereavement leave, medical and disability leave, personal or medical leave, and leave for military service.

Regardless of the type of leave, make sure you clearly define which kinds situations fall under which types of leaves and the procedures to apply for leave.

You may also want to specify how many days of paid and unpaid leave different types of employees are entitled to.

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Guidelines for booth rental agreement and booth rent salon rules

Salon owners in the US may have a booth rental system in place for individual hair stylists. As the salon owner, you may want to set some guidelines for these independent professionals that are not your employees. These standards may include rules that help create a uniform appearance and procedures on conflict resolution between different parties.

This can greatly enhance the working relationship of those who rent a booth and increase positive customer perception. For more information, please check out the commission stylist employee handbook sample at the end of this page.

Salon rules for stylists’ expenses

There could be different occasions for your company to reimburse employees for expenses, for example in business events, further education, or unforeseen circumstances.

While international telephone calls may require prior approval from a supervisor, transportation expenses for late night shifts may need to be reimbursed afterwards. Make sure there are clear procedures in place to approve or claim expenses.

There should also be a clause that clearly states which job roles are authorized to incur inventory and services expenses on the salon’s behalf.

For example, the receptionist may be responsible for ordering inventory, but a stylist that has run out of back bar stock may need to inform the front desk and not be allowed to order on their own discretion. This would help reduce duplicate orders and minimize wastage in the salon.

Salon employee policies on maintaining open channels of communication

A lot of common employee-employer issues can be prevented with effective channels of communication. Open channels of communication should be put in place to allow employees to voice their concerns and discontent directly to management without fear of retribution.

After all, a salon’s success is dependent on employee performance and customer satisfaction. Satisfied employees are more likely to provide better services than disgruntled staff.

Your salon employee handbook could include staff meetings, anonymous suggestion boxes, and internal email memos and notices.

Key points to remember for you salon policy handbook

Make sure your salon employee handbook is written in clear and simple language. Its terms have to be well defined so that there’s no doubt about company policies.

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Also remember to be fair to your employees, they expect to be treated fairly and will work hard in return.

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Still need ideas for writing your salon employee handbook? There are a lot of free salon employee handbook sample available for download, but you might still want some examples on what content to include.

Belliata Salon Software knows that it can be difficult to start writing your own handbook, so we are giving you a running start with a free salon employee handbook example.

A hair salon employee handbook template could help you if you are stuck. To download your salon employee handbook PDF, please visit: belliatasalonsoftware.com

And if you love these ideas or have some other ideas that you've used in the past to promote your salon business, why not share it with the Belliata community in the comment section below. We would also be delighted to answer your questions, as well.