Contract rates

[Sophieeeeeee]

We are opening a hotel based spa in the spring (Cape Cod). I am inquiring as to what are appropriate rates to be paid to massage therapists. We will have 3 therapy rooms including a couples area. We will also provide facials and nail services..... Any suggestions?

 

[GATORADE]

Contract rates

The way I see it...It all depends on what your business is costing you vs. being fair to the therapist. If you have a beautiful spa, pay tons of money in advertising, supply linens and cremes/oils, hot stones, tables, etc, and basically make it to where the therapist only has to work and do no advertising on his/her own, then it would be fair to give the therapist a lower commission split, such as 50% or even 45%.If the therapist has to supply their own table, sheets, cremes, etc. then they should get a higher split.Are the therapists going to be IC (as assumed from the title of the post) or employee, and will they be on a commission split or paid on an hourly waige? For an hourly waige, remember that you will be paying them whether they are working or not.The person who could probably best answer your questions is RelaxAndRejuvinate. Try searching for this member and send him a Private Message, he's a wealth of knowledge about things like this.

 

[T Bryant]

Contract rates

i worked at a major resort spa in vegas. we received 30% of the fee plus tips. if i wasn't hands on- there was no pay.my hubby, also an MT, worked at a different spa, made an hourly rate, 20% commission of fees, plus tips. if you pay an hourly rate, then you can compel your MT's to work while not 'working'.the rates were different from his spa to mine, but overall, there was a $4.00 difference in pay.the thing that truly pissed me off was finding that esthetitians were making 40% (at my place) based on the same rates for a 1/2 hour vs. 1hour facials (which were the same rates as 1/2 hour and 1 hour massage.) there is no way you can tell me that they work harder than i do when giving a deep to some 300lb. man.on top of it, they all were told to lie to us MT's and say they were making the same.

 

[Yiati]

Another difference with estheticians is that they have a huge product cost. آ With massage therapists there is really not a whole lot of costs after initial start-up with sheets and so on. آ As far as product, all you need to supply is the oil/lotion/cream that they use. آ The rest is cleaning supplies for daily use and that sort of stuff. آ Hairstylists, estheticians, nail techs and so on all use a huge amount of product on each client that gets very expensive.It all varies on what you should pay. آ Also keep in mind the rates that you are charging. آ I have found that the more a spa charges, the less the % is for the therapist because they are charging higher rates for advertisement and so on. آ I was paid 60% at the spa I worked at but it was a corporate company. آ As mush pointed out, sometimes it seems the perceneforum.xxxes in spa pay are very different but when you figure the actual dollar amount paid to the employee, it isn't much. آ Sometimes 30% sounds low but when it's 30% of $150 verses $60 or $70, it makes a huge difference. آ Whatever you do pay, be sure to point out that last fact to potential employees. آ They tend to focus on the % and not the actual $$ amount that they'll be receiving. آ I would think that a therapist shouldn't receive less than $30-35 for a one hour massage-whatever your rates.One more comment I'll add is this.  I wouldn't mess with their tips.  Their tips are theirs, they earned them.  I've heard of spas taking 10% off the top of all tips.  That's insane and I for one would NEVER work for a place that did this.  The only exception would be is if there is someone that gets paid a really crappy wage to clean the rooms, fold the sheets, and any other work that directly affects the employee.  Then that person should receive some kind of tip-out from the employees.  You've gotta take care of everyone.  

 

[Pompal 09.]

I think you first need to decide if your massage therapists are going to be employees  or independant contractors.  I would look at what other spas around you are doing.  The trend in the spa business is  to go with employees  because having IC is borderline illegal although cheaper.  You may want to look at paying your therapists a flat fee per service rather than a %.  You also need to decide if you are going to offer  benefits such as vacations, continuing education....  But ultimately it will come down to what you can afford.  Look at your operating costs.  Spas can be expensive to run, and not always show profits.One way to show profit is through retail sales.  That is why estheticians make more because of their product commission.  Make sure that you have  a great retail line and that your staff is well trained at selling it. As far as tips are concerned, you should encourage them. But be careful if clients leave tips on credit card, this could lead you to accounting nightmares if you don't know how to handle tips left on Credit Cards. Anyway good luck with your new venture. It must be very exciting. For the therapists' sake I hope you are not offering any chemical (smelly) type of nail care.   If you do check out your ventilation system and your facility lay out.