Understanding the laws around your spa or salon staff’s contracted working hours is vital. Even if you know you are fulfilling requirements, they’re worth double-checking to make sure you’re not in breach of the European Working Hours Directive. If these rules on working hours are broken, you could incur an unlimited fine.
So, we have outlined key questions and answers to make sure you understand the legal requirements and help your staff stay happy:
What contracted working hours need to be outlined?
First thing’s first – you will need to provide staff with an outline of their contracted working hours. While your team will contain different ages, skills and working patterns, there are a few key rules that will apply across the board when writing their contracts:
- The maximum working day is 13 hours (or 12 for young worker)
- The maximum working week is 48 hours (or 40 for young workers)
- Shifts beyond six hours will need at least a 20-minute break
- Employees are entitled to at least one day off per week
- Staff working five days a week require at least 28 days paid annual leave, including bank holidays.
What break options do staff receive?
Breaks are roughly split into three different types that all staff are entitled to: rest breaks, daily rests and weekly rests. Rest breaks are those 20-minute breathers for six hours of work, which you can choose to pay for or not. Daily rests should be at least 11 hours of downtime between working days. Weekly rests must be at least one uninterrupted period of 24 hours each week, or 48 hours every fortnight.
We also outline details such as sickness on our blog for how much holiday are your staff entitled to.
What annual leave entitlement do staff have?
Everyone deserves booked time off every now and again, but how much is needed? Your staff will start to build up annual leave entitlement from day one with you and will need to build up enough leave before taking time off. For anyone working full time (typically 36 hours and above), they have 28 days paid annual leave, but part-time staff will be pro rata depending on the hours they work. It’s up to you how much time in advance they will need to give for booking time off, however!
When should the contracted working hours be given?
It’s easy to tell new staff their contracted working hours, but it’s actually more important to provide these in a written statement. This should make it clear what those hours are, what breaks they receive and if they’re paid, as well as holiday entitlement. Most important of all, the written statement must be given on the first day of employment, so make sure everything’s ready for when your staff starts.
Should you wish to use a working template, the National Hair and Beauty Federation (NHBF) has plenty of contracts and staff handbooks for members too!
Salon by Premier Software® can help amend any staff schedules and working patterns for their contracted working hours. For more details, check out our playlist on Salon staff features, or book a free presentation today.
