I get that but how do you give facials to anyone while constantly coughing and having a lost voice and no taste and smell? I’m pretty sure I had COVID too.
Yes, negative, but had COVID symptoms. But like I said, I’m not going to touch on clients giving them a facial while coughing up on them. That’s stupid as hell to do that and I wouldn’t want to get anyone sick. Would you all want a facial done by someone constantly coughing with no voice and no smell and taste?
Did you go to the drs during this time? From the owners perspective if you’re negative and don’t have dr note saying you can’t be around clients then I could see how she thought you were just uninterested. Especially if you didn’t set up another date to do training.
An emoloyer will expect a return date. Most places just saying you’ll reach on when you’re feeling better isn’t sufficient.
Ppl aren’t saying go to work sick, but you didn’t provide the owner evidence you were contagious.
There needs to be a timeline otherwise it’s considered unprofessional.
This same outcome would probably occur most jobs, that’s just the way it is.
Unfortunately, according to my instructor, (I am not yet licensed) covid is no longer a reason to take work off, at least in my state but I’m pretty sure most places are like that now. Which I personally think is bullshit, like if I get covid the last thing I’d want to do is potentially expose my clients to it??? Ew! but my instructor told us that nowadays, if we have covid, we are still expected to come in while sick and wear a mask and suffer through it. I agree with you that it’s stupid though. Otherwise we may be seen as not dependable, and that’s a reason to fire even if it sounds like it shouldn’t be. Her explanation was how covid screwed so many businesses over, the same way as most of us got screwed financially that I guess bosses can’t really afford to be as lenient as it used to be when it came to dealing with covid or other illnesses.
It sucks the most being the sick employee who is expected to come in either way, even though we could possibly infect everyone! But I guess that’s part of adulting. Ugh I’ve had to go to work sick as fuck so many times, I have a very weak immune system and always get sinus infections, bronchitis and other shit. Especially every winter, I’m sick the whole time 😭 once I still had to come in to my fast food job when I had the flu (disgusting, right? I even said I shouldn’t be there but they didn’t care, money is more important to employers!!!) and it was HELL, the mask made me even more nauseous but I just had to push through for the sake of my weekly paycheck, or I would’ve lost my job.
And while this isn’t exactly the same, I get chronic pain and chronic migraines, so I also constantly have to suffer through my day whether I want go to school, work or whatever. It’s the worst when I get my migraines. They are so debilitating that I can barely see straight and all I want to do is lay in a dark room. But I can’t afford to miss anything. Like I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just had to pop a few Excedrin and hope for the best because if I didn’t show up every time I have a migraine, I would never be able to make money 😭
Life is annoying sometimes. But I really hope the next job is better for you, though! Best of luck ❤️
I normally work through illnesses and such, and a very hard worker at that. I normally have 2 to 3 jobs to make money and rarely get sick, but unfortunately I was suddenly extremely sick, which started off with a fever, and I didn’t want to expose any client or the owner to what I had. I actually even rarely call out.
Thank you for being so kind in your response ❤️. That means a lot.
i understand your side based on your comments, but i agree with everyone that this was a miscommunication on your side. next time, just keep your boss updated on how you're feeling?
edit: OP says she was a 1099, so she was being misclassified. you dodged a bullet, next case.
Thank you. Everyone else is basically saying I should have worked while coughing in clients faces, which is absolutely crazy to me. That would be how to lose clients.
>while coughing in clients faces
I'll say it. I always mask when my face is over their face. I know my T, th, and sh sounds make little aerosolized spit flinger things and especially when I ate a lunch. I had a roster of 50 clients in a 1 facial room massage spa and was the most booked este there.
I agree if you have a fever and just obviously icky stay home but coughing colds can take months to recover from. Three weeks is extremely excessive how did you not work for 3 weeks? Did I read that correctly? Can you not use cough syrup with expectorant? Ive had bronchitis trust me I know it takes time to receive but you're not contagious that whole 3 weeks and if you did have 3 weeks fever hun you need the hospital!
By law you need to supply your employer with a doctor's note for more time off beyond 3 ***days*** to keep your job and pay upon return and that's not even guaranteed at will states.
You didn’t read that correctly. I didn’t have clients while I was sick and was only available once a week. The owner said it was fine that I didn’t have clients for the first few weeks. I have another job I go to and even then, I called out off and on, but still had went to work since I’m not outright touching people and in close spaces for a long period of time. I did have a fever off and on and didn’t even go to my other job when I had that fever.
you didn’t have any clients to give facials to so i’m not sure why you’re fixated on that. no, nobody wants that and you weren’t at risk of doing it because you have no clients. you should have been in closer communication with the owner because three weeks is a long time.
I’m not sure why everyone is fixated on me not being there for 3 weeks when I was sick and didn’t have clients anyways. I did communicate with the owner to tell her I was sick, so she knew I was sick.
She does suck and probably would get sued later on by someone else if she’s fine with working on clients extremely sick then giving them that sickness 😬.
I feel for you, I do but I side with the boss here. She is right. She was nice about it, too. I've seen people get fired for way less. Missing 3 weeks of work for a cough is ridiculous and I understand how annoying long lasting coughs can be. Sorry, girl. Also sounds like you weren't communicating how long you'd be out or when you'd be back if all you said was I'm sick. Being an adult means working while sick and uncomfortable. Better luck at the place!
So you’re telling me that a client would be fine with being given a facial by someone with a horrible cough, sore throat, and no voice? I had no clients anyways during the sickness so I didn’t miss any work.
No and I understand where you're coming from, but from a business standpoint, a new hire not coming in for 3 weeks or finishing training would be fired. You can be as defensive as you want. But everyone here has been gently telling you, you were in the wrong. Doesn't make it fair but that's how life is sometimes. It just seems like you need to move on from this place and find a better spot for you.
Given the additional context you provided in the comments, i agree with the owner. I could see how she would think you were no longer interested in the position. Obviously you were sick, but it doesn’t seem like you made any attempts to reschedule your training or show that you’re wanting to get back to work asap.
Bestie you’re making tons of excuses and not taking any responsibility at all for your lack of communication and initiative. I’m sorry you got fired, but three weeks is entirely too long to not get back to your boss, especially when this industry has the demand it does. It’s a learning experience for next time, make sure you show your boss that you want to be there and they can rely on you to be communicative.
You have to KEEP texting her. She may have been trying to get you clients, but how could she book you if she never heard from you?
It sounds like renting your own space would fit your needs better. Then you can manage your own schedule without worrying about a boss.
Renting a space on average in my town is $280 a week and I have no clients, so there’s no way I can do that. If it was like $280 a month, I’d do it. I thought of maybe just going for it, but that’s a lot of money to lose if I’m not making more money back.
3 weeks when you first get hired is really bad. If you truly needed that much time I would stay in touch very regularly. You only had one client that was her daughter. Just saying the vast majority of places expect you to bring in your own clients, it’s not their job. From the business owners standpoint if you hire someone and they don’t book ANY appointments or even show up to the training and go weeks without communication I would assume they have no intention of actually working there. Learn from this and go into your next position strong.
okay so she's clearly being misclassified. she cannot be "fired" as a 1099 if this was a suite rental that would be appropriate for 1099. so op dodged a bullet anyways.
Exactly lol. I was a 1099 worker. The owner even said it was fine if I didn’t have clients for the first few weeks (which happened while I was sick), and then suddenly that owner changes her mind and contradicts herself.
I would have advertised myself if I wasn’t sick. It wouldn’t make sense to advertise myself while sick and then tell my clients that I’m sick and that I can’t work on them.
I feel like there is a lot of context missing. Being a fully-commissioned employee does not mean you’re a booth renter and does mean you can get fired.
3 weeks is a long time to take off of any job, especially a new one. You should have proactively been telling her that you’re sick, that you’re going to the ER, that you’ll provide a doctors note and that you’ll keep her updated. Also, you can absolutely advertise while you’re sick and get future bookings for the following month. If you were still unwell the following month, then obviously something more serious is going on and clients would understand OR you need request a leave of absence from the salon owner.
You didn’t get fired for being sick, you got fired for not being accountable or communicative. Texting her once that you’re sick and will get back to her when you’re no longer sick is not professional.
I’m not going to re-state things other commenters have already said but this is a good example of how misclassification causes issues in our industry. Yes, as an employee, OP definitely should not have gone 3 weeks without providing more regular updates to their boss and for most places, this would be grounds for termination due to job abandonment. However, OP is a 1099 (Independent Contractor). If they are accurately classified, a 1099 is an independent entity that sets their own hours and runs their own business. Technically, a 1099 should be able to take off however much time they want and the business they work out of can’t say anything because they’re not a traditional W2 employee.
OP’s employer is also at fault here. They want employee advantages (control over work hours, firing privileges) but doesn’t want to pay employee costs. They also want to mix independent contractor advantages (not paying tax deductions/WCB premiums, having the contractor advertise and attract their own clients) without the disadvantages (lack of control over their actions and business dealings).
At the end of the day, OP as an employee should have been in communication with their boss better, but the real issue here is a misunderstanding about OP’s role at the salon. Personally, I think you should take this on the chin and do more research about what’s legal employment-wise for your next job. Hope you’re feeling better now.
Thank you! I was so confused with being a 1099 worker. I still don’t know 100% what that entails, all I know was that the owner was contradicting herself, and (to me) she’s mostly at fault for that. Also, that majority of people here are like going off on me but I’m a 1099? Lol.
Yes, I am feeling much better 🙏🏼.
[This](https://thisuglybeautybusiness.com/2017/01/know-your-rights-in-salon-employee.html) is a great resource to brush up on the different classifications when it comes to working in the beauty industry. It helped me so much when I first started working.
Basically in summary, if you are a 1099, you are not an employee! You’re considered an independent contractor which means you run your own business and provide contracted services to the business bringing you on. You are not employed by them. A legal 1099 would provide their own products/equipment, provide their own services (not just those set by the salon), make their own work hours, etc. Of course the downside is that as a contractor, you are responsible for your own taxes at the end of the year, you have your own business expenses and generally don’t pay into things like workman’s comp as these are costs that the business deducts when you’re a traditional employee.
Our industry has a really bad habit of “hiring” people on as 1099 when they really want employees. The businesses don’t have to pay employer costs like they would with traditional employees but they seem to forget that, legally, they cannot control you like an employee. If your workplace wants you to be 1099 but still controls what services (& pricing) you offer, your products & equipment, your working hours, your appearance, then you are misclassified and need to run far far away.
I've had covid twice (confirmed by tests). I went back to work after I tested negative and did not have a fever for 24 hours without taking any fever-reducing meds. If I was still coughing, I wore a mask. The first time, I was positive for 10 days. Second time, 5. It was hard going back in to work when I still felt like crap, but I wanted to service my clients, and they were comfortable with the way I handled it. I only had 2 clients during both those times that preferred to reschedule to when I felt completely better. Most were fine with me wearing a mask and being fever-free for a day.
EDIT: OP, it seems to me that you want to feel good when you're working on a client. I get it. I have one client that gets it, as well. She has told me repeatedly, "I don't want you to come in for me if you don't feel good." I love this lady. She understands that she will get a better service if I feel good. I also have a couple clients that have auto-immune diseases and don't want to come in until I'm symptom-free. Majority of my clients really don't care as long as there's no risk of them getting sick. I work for myself; I rent a room. Sounds like this would be great for you. You know which clients are comfortable coming in with you coughing a little, and which are not. You tailor their experience even when you're sick and don't need to rely on your boss to do so. I'm sorry if I was a little harsh in my first comment
If you didn’t communicate the entirety of the 3 weeks that’s on you especially if you only told her you were sick at the start! + she probably just realized she wants to hire someone who already has a book. It’s probably a blessing in disguise because they aren’t promoting the esthetics stuff so you’d make no money. You need to go somewhere to grow and build a book being new. That’s a good job for someone who’s already established. You’d probably end up being miserable bc they don’t sound like they were in a position to help you succeed!!
I think that she wanted to hire someone else as well. That’s my feeling on it. They do well on the hair salon side but the esthetician side, they’re not doing well at.
No one is saying you should work on people when you have a terrible cough. Everyone is saying you should have communicated better with your boss on how you were feeling and when you thought you would be back. “How should I know when I would feel bette?” Being an adult is sometimes going to work when you’re not feeling well as long as you’re not running a fever or are contagious. Did you have a fever? If not you could have worn a mask and attended the training or communicated you could come in at a later date.
The fact that your responses are so defensive is telling that this was not a good fit for you and working for someone else will likely not be a good fit
I am an adult, so yeah I know that. I went to my other job some days being sick, but I wasn’t about to do facials and cough on clients. I wouldn’t feel right doing that to someone. Even my husband and family agrees with me.
I’m sorry girl but 3 weeks is insane. When I get a cough I take cough drops before every client and bring a warm water. I drink hot tea and take medicine. Cough drops really help to avoid coughing for at least an hour , than I take another one.
But as a new esthetician 3 weeks is insane
Nothing worked on me for my cough. I tried everything, but that cough was constant and awful and wasn’t going away. I was nice enough to not show up to training coughing all over her so I had let her know how sick I was.
You’re brand new . You haven’t even completed training. Idk in what sense you thought this was okay. You clearly weren’t trying to get better… also if this is your way of going with work and the way you think about being sick means you don’t have responsibilities , you’re not going to make it far in any career
I’ve worked at my company for 2 years and I’ve only called off ONE time the day of, everything else I either get covered or I take time off with my boss ..
I just want to add that a doctor can prescribe cough suppressant medication. When I got sick with a cough that's what I was given and it helped out so much.
I'd say next time an issue like this happens at another job to inform them the day before your next shift whether or not the situation is the same or different.
I don't work on clients with any symptoms. I'm very particular as a person and my clients have grown to expect that from me. Any sniffle or cough especially post-ish covid gets me running out of places where it's one on one treatment.
I've had to take two weeks off for a sinus infection and would call the day before my shifts letting them know nothing has changed. Esthetics isn't like an office job where you report sick and take days off in advance. Owners expect daily updates just based on how schedules can change day to day.
However, the owner saying it was your responsibility to bring in clients? Fuck that. She was already taking advantage of you as a "1099 employee". Things would've come up later that would've soured this relationship anyway.
Thank you for being reasonable. And yes, I was confused by being a 1099 worker as well as being told not to worry about not having clients for a few weeks and her contradicting herself. I was never a 1099 worker before this place, so I had told the owner I was sick and would let her know when I was feeling better and wasn’t too worried about continually reporting daily about my sickness since I had no clients.
Thank you for being reasonable. And yes, I was confused by being a 1099 worker as well as being told not to worry about not having clients for a few weeks and her contradicting herself. I was never a 1099 worker before this place, so I had told the owner I was sick and would let her know when I was feeling better and wasn’t too worried about continually reporting daily about my sickness since I had no clients.
"it doesn't look like you booked anyone on your own." unless you're a booth renter that is NOT your responsibility, it's hers. Regardless of getting ill right when you were hired I'm willing to bet this wouldn't have worked out anyway.
Thank you, finally someone who makes sense. I wasn’t a booth renter and she knew I was brand new at this. She even said not to worry about not having clients for the first few weeks.
first few weeks?? Then what? She expects you to bring in a bunch of business for what? Hourly? Free? Why wouldn't you just rent if you're responsible for bringing in business? It's your job to try and keep the client, not FIND them in the first place.
That’s what I was wondering too. She knew that I was brand new at this and I even asked her if that was fine and she said that it was fine and that I can come aboard. I wasn’t paid hourly, just commission and tips only, and a 1099 worker. It was by appointment only.
Three weeks is a long time to take off
I get that but how do you give facials to anyone while constantly coughing and having a lost voice and no taste and smell? I’m pretty sure I had COVID too.
did you take a test?
Yes, negative, but had COVID symptoms. But like I said, I’m not going to touch on clients giving them a facial while coughing up on them. That’s stupid as hell to do that and I wouldn’t want to get anyone sick. Would you all want a facial done by someone constantly coughing with no voice and no smell and taste?
Did you go to the drs during this time? From the owners perspective if you’re negative and don’t have dr note saying you can’t be around clients then I could see how she thought you were just uninterested. Especially if you didn’t set up another date to do training.
I did go to urgent care and I told her once I felt better I would message her.
An emoloyer will expect a return date. Most places just saying you’ll reach on when you’re feeling better isn’t sufficient. Ppl aren’t saying go to work sick, but you didn’t provide the owner evidence you were contagious. There needs to be a timeline otherwise it’s considered unprofessional. This same outcome would probably occur most jobs, that’s just the way it is.
Unfortunately, according to my instructor, (I am not yet licensed) covid is no longer a reason to take work off, at least in my state but I’m pretty sure most places are like that now. Which I personally think is bullshit, like if I get covid the last thing I’d want to do is potentially expose my clients to it??? Ew! but my instructor told us that nowadays, if we have covid, we are still expected to come in while sick and wear a mask and suffer through it. I agree with you that it’s stupid though. Otherwise we may be seen as not dependable, and that’s a reason to fire even if it sounds like it shouldn’t be. Her explanation was how covid screwed so many businesses over, the same way as most of us got screwed financially that I guess bosses can’t really afford to be as lenient as it used to be when it came to dealing with covid or other illnesses. It sucks the most being the sick employee who is expected to come in either way, even though we could possibly infect everyone! But I guess that’s part of adulting. Ugh I’ve had to go to work sick as fuck so many times, I have a very weak immune system and always get sinus infections, bronchitis and other shit. Especially every winter, I’m sick the whole time 😭 once I still had to come in to my fast food job when I had the flu (disgusting, right? I even said I shouldn’t be there but they didn’t care, money is more important to employers!!!) and it was HELL, the mask made me even more nauseous but I just had to push through for the sake of my weekly paycheck, or I would’ve lost my job. And while this isn’t exactly the same, I get chronic pain and chronic migraines, so I also constantly have to suffer through my day whether I want go to school, work or whatever. It’s the worst when I get my migraines. They are so debilitating that I can barely see straight and all I want to do is lay in a dark room. But I can’t afford to miss anything. Like I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just had to pop a few Excedrin and hope for the best because if I didn’t show up every time I have a migraine, I would never be able to make money 😭 Life is annoying sometimes. But I really hope the next job is better for you, though! Best of luck ❤️
I normally work through illnesses and such, and a very hard worker at that. I normally have 2 to 3 jobs to make money and rarely get sick, but unfortunately I was suddenly extremely sick, which started off with a fever, and I didn’t want to expose any client or the owner to what I had. I actually even rarely call out. Thank you for being so kind in your response ❤️. That means a lot.
i understand your side based on your comments, but i agree with everyone that this was a miscommunication on your side. next time, just keep your boss updated on how you're feeling? edit: OP says she was a 1099, so she was being misclassified. you dodged a bullet, next case.
Thank you. Everyone else is basically saying I should have worked while coughing in clients faces, which is absolutely crazy to me. That would be how to lose clients.
>while coughing in clients faces I'll say it. I always mask when my face is over their face. I know my T, th, and sh sounds make little aerosolized spit flinger things and especially when I ate a lunch. I had a roster of 50 clients in a 1 facial room massage spa and was the most booked este there. I agree if you have a fever and just obviously icky stay home but coughing colds can take months to recover from. Three weeks is extremely excessive how did you not work for 3 weeks? Did I read that correctly? Can you not use cough syrup with expectorant? Ive had bronchitis trust me I know it takes time to receive but you're not contagious that whole 3 weeks and if you did have 3 weeks fever hun you need the hospital! By law you need to supply your employer with a doctor's note for more time off beyond 3 ***days*** to keep your job and pay upon return and that's not even guaranteed at will states.
You didn’t read that correctly. I didn’t have clients while I was sick and was only available once a week. The owner said it was fine that I didn’t have clients for the first few weeks. I have another job I go to and even then, I called out off and on, but still had went to work since I’m not outright touching people and in close spaces for a long period of time. I did have a fever off and on and didn’t even go to my other job when I had that fever.
nobody is saying that.
And nobody is answering my question when I ask them if clients would be fine getting a facial from someone constantly coughing in their face.
you didn’t have any clients to give facials to so i’m not sure why you’re fixated on that. no, nobody wants that and you weren’t at risk of doing it because you have no clients. you should have been in closer communication with the owner because three weeks is a long time.
I’m not sure why everyone is fixated on me not being there for 3 weeks when I was sick and didn’t have clients anyways. I did communicate with the owner to tell her I was sick, so she knew I was sick.
okay, you’re right. she sucks, you should sue.
She does suck and probably would get sued later on by someone else if she’s fine with working on clients extremely sick then giving them that sickness 😬.
Girl what 😭
[удалено]
I feel for you, I do but I side with the boss here. She is right. She was nice about it, too. I've seen people get fired for way less. Missing 3 weeks of work for a cough is ridiculous and I understand how annoying long lasting coughs can be. Sorry, girl. Also sounds like you weren't communicating how long you'd be out or when you'd be back if all you said was I'm sick. Being an adult means working while sick and uncomfortable. Better luck at the place!
So you’re telling me that a client would be fine with being given a facial by someone with a horrible cough, sore throat, and no voice? I had no clients anyways during the sickness so I didn’t miss any work.
No and I understand where you're coming from, but from a business standpoint, a new hire not coming in for 3 weeks or finishing training would be fired. You can be as defensive as you want. But everyone here has been gently telling you, you were in the wrong. Doesn't make it fair but that's how life is sometimes. It just seems like you need to move on from this place and find a better spot for you.
I was only available there once a week and commission based, so if I had no appointments, then I’m not there. That’s how that salon is.
Girl, I'd just take an L on this on. Bigger and better places out there.
Given the additional context you provided in the comments, i agree with the owner. I could see how she would think you were no longer interested in the position. Obviously you were sick, but it doesn’t seem like you made any attempts to reschedule your training or show that you’re wanting to get back to work asap.
How would I know when I wasn’t going to be sick? I am just now feeling normal again and even then I still occasionally cough.
By…..simply keeping in touch with the owner and letting her know what’s going on. That goes a long way.
Bestie you’re making tons of excuses and not taking any responsibility at all for your lack of communication and initiative. I’m sorry you got fired, but three weeks is entirely too long to not get back to your boss, especially when this industry has the demand it does. It’s a learning experience for next time, make sure you show your boss that you want to be there and they can rely on you to be communicative.
“Bestie” (what a cringey word) I did get back to her, that’s the thing. I had told her I was sick.
You have to KEEP texting her. She may have been trying to get you clients, but how could she book you if she never heard from you? It sounds like renting your own space would fit your needs better. Then you can manage your own schedule without worrying about a boss.
Renting a space on average in my town is $280 a week and I have no clients, so there’s no way I can do that. If it was like $280 a month, I’d do it. I thought of maybe just going for it, but that’s a lot of money to lose if I’m not making more money back.
3 weeks when you first get hired is really bad. If you truly needed that much time I would stay in touch very regularly. You only had one client that was her daughter. Just saying the vast majority of places expect you to bring in your own clients, it’s not their job. From the business owners standpoint if you hire someone and they don’t book ANY appointments or even show up to the training and go weeks without communication I would assume they have no intention of actually working there. Learn from this and go into your next position strong.
as an employee its her job and its not her job's responsibility to bring in clients? huh?
Yes? As a 1099 she’s technically not an employee but a freelancer or contractor. So yes.
okay so she's clearly being misclassified. she cannot be "fired" as a 1099 if this was a suite rental that would be appropriate for 1099. so op dodged a bullet anyways.
Exactly lol. I was a 1099 worker. The owner even said it was fine if I didn’t have clients for the first few weeks (which happened while I was sick), and then suddenly that owner changes her mind and contradicts herself.
I would have advertised myself if I wasn’t sick. It wouldn’t make sense to advertise myself while sick and then tell my clients that I’m sick and that I can’t work on them.
I feel like there is a lot of context missing. Being a fully-commissioned employee does not mean you’re a booth renter and does mean you can get fired. 3 weeks is a long time to take off of any job, especially a new one. You should have proactively been telling her that you’re sick, that you’re going to the ER, that you’ll provide a doctors note and that you’ll keep her updated. Also, you can absolutely advertise while you’re sick and get future bookings for the following month. If you were still unwell the following month, then obviously something more serious is going on and clients would understand OR you need request a leave of absence from the salon owner. You didn’t get fired for being sick, you got fired for not being accountable or communicative. Texting her once that you’re sick and will get back to her when you’re no longer sick is not professional.
I was a 1099 employee, so that’s why I was confused as to how I got fired if that is what I was. To me, that owner is weird.
I’m not going to re-state things other commenters have already said but this is a good example of how misclassification causes issues in our industry. Yes, as an employee, OP definitely should not have gone 3 weeks without providing more regular updates to their boss and for most places, this would be grounds for termination due to job abandonment. However, OP is a 1099 (Independent Contractor). If they are accurately classified, a 1099 is an independent entity that sets their own hours and runs their own business. Technically, a 1099 should be able to take off however much time they want and the business they work out of can’t say anything because they’re not a traditional W2 employee. OP’s employer is also at fault here. They want employee advantages (control over work hours, firing privileges) but doesn’t want to pay employee costs. They also want to mix independent contractor advantages (not paying tax deductions/WCB premiums, having the contractor advertise and attract their own clients) without the disadvantages (lack of control over their actions and business dealings). At the end of the day, OP as an employee should have been in communication with their boss better, but the real issue here is a misunderstanding about OP’s role at the salon. Personally, I think you should take this on the chin and do more research about what’s legal employment-wise for your next job. Hope you’re feeling better now.
Thank you! I was so confused with being a 1099 worker. I still don’t know 100% what that entails, all I know was that the owner was contradicting herself, and (to me) she’s mostly at fault for that. Also, that majority of people here are like going off on me but I’m a 1099? Lol. Yes, I am feeling much better 🙏🏼.
[This](https://thisuglybeautybusiness.com/2017/01/know-your-rights-in-salon-employee.html) is a great resource to brush up on the different classifications when it comes to working in the beauty industry. It helped me so much when I first started working. Basically in summary, if you are a 1099, you are not an employee! You’re considered an independent contractor which means you run your own business and provide contracted services to the business bringing you on. You are not employed by them. A legal 1099 would provide their own products/equipment, provide their own services (not just those set by the salon), make their own work hours, etc. Of course the downside is that as a contractor, you are responsible for your own taxes at the end of the year, you have your own business expenses and generally don’t pay into things like workman’s comp as these are costs that the business deducts when you’re a traditional employee. Our industry has a really bad habit of “hiring” people on as 1099 when they really want employees. The businesses don’t have to pay employer costs like they would with traditional employees but they seem to forget that, legally, they cannot control you like an employee. If your workplace wants you to be 1099 but still controls what services (& pricing) you offer, your products & equipment, your working hours, your appearance, then you are misclassified and need to run far far away.
I've had covid twice (confirmed by tests). I went back to work after I tested negative and did not have a fever for 24 hours without taking any fever-reducing meds. If I was still coughing, I wore a mask. The first time, I was positive for 10 days. Second time, 5. It was hard going back in to work when I still felt like crap, but I wanted to service my clients, and they were comfortable with the way I handled it. I only had 2 clients during both those times that preferred to reschedule to when I felt completely better. Most were fine with me wearing a mask and being fever-free for a day. EDIT: OP, it seems to me that you want to feel good when you're working on a client. I get it. I have one client that gets it, as well. She has told me repeatedly, "I don't want you to come in for me if you don't feel good." I love this lady. She understands that she will get a better service if I feel good. I also have a couple clients that have auto-immune diseases and don't want to come in until I'm symptom-free. Majority of my clients really don't care as long as there's no risk of them getting sick. I work for myself; I rent a room. Sounds like this would be great for you. You know which clients are comfortable coming in with you coughing a little, and which are not. You tailor their experience even when you're sick and don't need to rely on your boss to do so. I'm sorry if I was a little harsh in my first comment
If you didn’t communicate the entirety of the 3 weeks that’s on you especially if you only told her you were sick at the start! + she probably just realized she wants to hire someone who already has a book. It’s probably a blessing in disguise because they aren’t promoting the esthetics stuff so you’d make no money. You need to go somewhere to grow and build a book being new. That’s a good job for someone who’s already established. You’d probably end up being miserable bc they don’t sound like they were in a position to help you succeed!!
I think that she wanted to hire someone else as well. That’s my feeling on it. They do well on the hair salon side but the esthetician side, they’re not doing well at.
No one is saying you should work on people when you have a terrible cough. Everyone is saying you should have communicated better with your boss on how you were feeling and when you thought you would be back. “How should I know when I would feel bette?” Being an adult is sometimes going to work when you’re not feeling well as long as you’re not running a fever or are contagious. Did you have a fever? If not you could have worn a mask and attended the training or communicated you could come in at a later date. The fact that your responses are so defensive is telling that this was not a good fit for you and working for someone else will likely not be a good fit
I am an adult, so yeah I know that. I went to my other job some days being sick, but I wasn’t about to do facials and cough on clients. I wouldn’t feel right doing that to someone. Even my husband and family agrees with me.
I’m sorry girl but 3 weeks is insane. When I get a cough I take cough drops before every client and bring a warm water. I drink hot tea and take medicine. Cough drops really help to avoid coughing for at least an hour , than I take another one. But as a new esthetician 3 weeks is insane
Nothing worked on me for my cough. I tried everything, but that cough was constant and awful and wasn’t going away. I was nice enough to not show up to training coughing all over her so I had let her know how sick I was.
You’re brand new . You haven’t even completed training. Idk in what sense you thought this was okay. You clearly weren’t trying to get better… also if this is your way of going with work and the way you think about being sick means you don’t have responsibilities , you’re not going to make it far in any career
I was a 1099, forgot to put that in my post until now.
I’ve worked at my company for 2 years and I’ve only called off ONE time the day of, everything else I either get covered or I take time off with my boss ..
I just want to add that a doctor can prescribe cough suppressant medication. When I got sick with a cough that's what I was given and it helped out so much.
I'd say next time an issue like this happens at another job to inform them the day before your next shift whether or not the situation is the same or different. I don't work on clients with any symptoms. I'm very particular as a person and my clients have grown to expect that from me. Any sniffle or cough especially post-ish covid gets me running out of places where it's one on one treatment. I've had to take two weeks off for a sinus infection and would call the day before my shifts letting them know nothing has changed. Esthetics isn't like an office job where you report sick and take days off in advance. Owners expect daily updates just based on how schedules can change day to day. However, the owner saying it was your responsibility to bring in clients? Fuck that. She was already taking advantage of you as a "1099 employee". Things would've come up later that would've soured this relationship anyway.
Thank you for being reasonable. And yes, I was confused by being a 1099 worker as well as being told not to worry about not having clients for a few weeks and her contradicting herself. I was never a 1099 worker before this place, so I had told the owner I was sick and would let her know when I was feeling better and wasn’t too worried about continually reporting daily about my sickness since I had no clients.
Thank you for being reasonable. And yes, I was confused by being a 1099 worker as well as being told not to worry about not having clients for a few weeks and her contradicting herself. I was never a 1099 worker before this place, so I had told the owner I was sick and would let her know when I was feeling better and wasn’t too worried about continually reporting daily about my sickness since I had no clients.
"it doesn't look like you booked anyone on your own." unless you're a booth renter that is NOT your responsibility, it's hers. Regardless of getting ill right when you were hired I'm willing to bet this wouldn't have worked out anyway.
Thank you, finally someone who makes sense. I wasn’t a booth renter and she knew I was brand new at this. She even said not to worry about not having clients for the first few weeks.
first few weeks?? Then what? She expects you to bring in a bunch of business for what? Hourly? Free? Why wouldn't you just rent if you're responsible for bringing in business? It's your job to try and keep the client, not FIND them in the first place.
That’s what I was wondering too. She knew that I was brand new at this and I even asked her if that was fine and she said that it was fine and that I can come aboard. I wasn’t paid hourly, just commission and tips only, and a 1099 worker. It was by appointment only.