I moved to California from France in 2010 and became a massage therapist. In 2013 I was hired as an independent contractor (but “we don’t do 1099s”) at a small spa ran by a couple in their 40s. It was just me and 2 or 3 other girls but I was the only one “on site”. The others were “on call”. So on site meant I was required to be there at 9am, open up the spa, organize everything, and stand at the computer/phone by the main door, in case of a walk in or phone call, answer the phone, make appointments, check clients out, process payments, and at the end of the day mop the floors, clean up the rooms, spray bathrooms, and close up. Closing was at 4:30pm if no last appointment or 6pm if a last appointment. So 9am to 6pm with a 30 mins break whenever I could. I mean of course if I had a 9am appointment I was required to come earlier. This was 5 days a week including weekends.
My bosses: the wife was also an esthetician but with 4 kids at home she was often away. She was overly nice, but also controlling and a perfectionist. She would get upset if the beds weren’t perfectly made or if I left a speck on the floor while mopping. Her husband was in site but doing something in his office most of the time (so not dealing with the spa side). As a new immigrant I was happy having a job.
My pay for all this? $0.
I was getting paid $25 a massage, and could hope for tips which ranged from $0 to $20 usually. So there were days when I was very busy, but also many days when I wasn’t and would show up at 9am (my boss would call me if she figured I was 5 mins late despite no appointment on the books for 9am), and either have nothing all day (so I was “allowed” to leave around 3pm), or say nothing until 4:30pm, etc. I also had to buy my own lotion/oil which would add up.
But after a year of this (and they also hired another young girl to do the same things so we would split the week or sometimes both be there at the same time), I realized this felt really wrong. But because they were so nice and I thought oh they have 4 kids they’re struggling maybe, I didn’t do anything about it. But I still feel like I was robbed of so many hours.
For reference, I currently work at a high end spa that I love, where I make $95 (including tips) per hour of massage. And obviously get paid my $15 hourly wage when I don’t have an appointment or when getting things ready. I get paid about $5500 a month for an average of 20 hours a week. At that first spa, I was on site an average of 40 hours a week and making about $1600 a month! And I’m so mad that they just took advantage of me and my friend this way. Clearly they must have known!?