Employment Contract For Salon Staff: What To Include

Yes, you should have a written employment contract for your salon staff before they start work. It should cover the usual employment terms, but it also needs salon-specific details like rosters, commissions, product sales, client relationships, social media, training and award obligations.

That extra detail matters because salons are busy, personal and relationship-driven workplaces. A stylist might build a loyal client base, a therapist might earn commission on retail products, and your roster might change every week depending on bookings.

The contract doesn't need to be full of legal jargon. It just needs to be clear about what you expect, what you'll pay, and how your business is protected if something changes later.

Do You Need A Written Employment Contract For Salon Staff?

Yes, you should use a written employment contract for every salon employee, whether they're full-time, part-time or engaged under a casual employment contract. A verbal agreement can still be legally binding, but it leaves too much room for confusion.

For example, if a stylist says they were promised every second Saturday off, or a beauty therapist says commission was meant to apply to all product sales, you'll want a written document that shows what was actually agreed.

A good salon employment contract should sit alongside your workplace policies and the relevant modern award. It shouldn't try to remove minimum entitlements under the Fair Work Act 2009, the National Employment Standards or any applicable award.

You should also be clear about whether the person is really an employee. Some salons use chair rental or contractor arrangements, but calling someone a contractor doesn't make it true. If you control their hours, uniform, prices, services, bookings and how the work is done, there's a real chance they're an employee. Misclassifying staff can lead to underpayment issues, award compliance problems, superannuation problems and Fair Work claims.

In practice, a written contract helps you lock in:

• Role and duties: What services they'll perform, such as cutting, colouring, waxing, lashes, nails, massage or reception duties.
• Employment type: Full-time, part-time, casual, apprentice or trainee.
• Pay structure: Award rate, above-award rate, commission, bonuses and retail product incentives.
• Rosters: Ordinary hours, weekend work, late nights and notice of roster changes.
• Business protection: Confidentiality, client records, social media, restraints and return of salon property.

Which Modern Award Applies To Salon Employees?

Most salon employees are covered by the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020, but you should still check the role and duties carefully. The award usually applies to employees working in hairdressing, barbering, beauty therapy, nail services and related salon work.

The award sets minimum rules for things like:

• minimum hourly rates and classifications
• casual loading, usually 25% on top of the base hourly rate
• penalty rates for weekends, public holidays and certain late hours
• overtime
• meal breaks and rest breaks
• allowances
• rosters and changes to working hours

For full-time employees, ordinary hours are generally 38 hours per week. The award also has rules about when ordinary hours can be worked. For many salon roles, ordinary hours can fall within spans such as 7am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm Saturday and 10am to 5pm Sunday. You should confirm the current award wording and rates using the Fair Work Ombudsman tools before finalising your roster and pay setup.

Award classification is a common risk area. A junior assistant, apprentice hairdresser, qualified stylist, senior colourist and beauty therapist may sit at different levels. If you put someone at the wrong classification, you may underpay them even if their contract says they agreed to the rate.

Your contract can pay above the award, but it can't go below award minimums. If you use annualised salaries, loaded rates or commission-heavy arrangements, you'll need to check that the employee is still better off overall across each pay period or other legally required comparison period.

What Should A Salon Employee Contract Template Include?

A salon employee contract template should include the standard employment terms plus the salon-specific clauses that affect how your business actually runs. A generic template often misses these details, which is where disputes tend to start.

Here's a practical outline you can use when planning the contract. This isn't a finished legal document, and a lawyer should tailor it before you use it with staff.

1. Employer And Employee Details: Use your correct business name, ABN or ACN, salon location and the employee's full legal name.
2. Position And Duties: Describe the role, services, reception tasks, cleaning, upselling, training and any leadership duties.
3. Employment Type: State whether the role is full-time, part-time, casual, apprentice or trainee.
4. Start Date And Probation: Include the start date and any probation period, commonly linked to performance and suitability.
5. Place Of Work: Name the salon and say whether work may be required at other locations, pop-ups, events or training days.
6. Hours And Rosters: Set out ordinary hours, weekend work, late nights, breaks, time recording and roster changes.
7. Pay And Superannuation: Include the pay rate, award classification, pay cycle and superannuation arrangements. The superannuation guarantee is 12% from 1 July 2025.
8. Commission And Bonuses: Explain exactly how service commission, retail commission and bonuses are calculated and when they're paid in an employee commission agreement or clear clause.
9. Leave And Absences: Cover annual leave, personal leave, carer's leave and the process for calling in sick.
10. Confidentiality And Client Records: Protect formulas, client notes, pricing, supplier details and booking data.
11. Social Media And Photos: Set rules for before-and-after photos, client consent, business accounts and use of salon branding.
12. Restraint And Non-Solicitation: Set reasonable limits around approaching clients, staff or suppliers after employment ends.
13. Policies: Refer to policies on uniforms, hygiene, bullying and harassment, privacy, work health and safety and social media.
14. Termination: Include notice, serious misconduct, return of property and final pay processes.

Keep the wording clear. Your manager should be able to use the contract as a practical reference when rostering, approving leave or checking whether commission is payable.

How Should You Deal With Rosters, Overtime And Leave?

You should deal with rosters, overtime and leave very specifically in the contract, because salon staffing often changes with bookings, school holidays, weddings, late-night trading and seasonal demand.

For part-time employees, the contract should state their agreed regular pattern of work. If the days and hours change often, you'll need a process for agreeing to variations. For casual employees, you'll want clear wording that shifts are offered as needed and there's no firm advance commitment to ongoing work, while still following the Fair Work Act casual rules.

Under the National Employment Standards, full-time employees get 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year. Part-time employees accrue leave pro rata. Employees also get 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave per year if they're full-time, with pro rata accrual for part-time employees. Casual employees don't get paid annual leave or paid personal leave, but they do receive casual loading and have other entitlements, such as unpaid carer's leave in certain circumstances.

Your contract should also explain time recording. This is especially useful where staff stay back to clean stations, complete client notes, process payments or help with closing. If work is done, it may need to be paid.

Rostering Checklist For Your Contract

• What are the employee's ordinary hours?
• Can they be rostered on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays?
• How much notice will you give of rosters?
• How will shift swaps be approved?
• When does overtime apply?
• How are meal breaks and rest breaks taken during back-to-back appointments?
• Who approves time off during busy periods like December?

Notice of termination is another area to get right. Under the National Employment Standards, the minimum notice period is 1 week for up to 1 year of service, 2 weeks for more than 1 year and up to 3 years, 3 weeks for more than 3 years and up to 5 years, and 4 weeks for more than 5 years. Employees over 45 with at least 2 years of service get an extra week.

Can You Pay Commissions Or Product Sale Bonuses?

Yes, you can pay commissions and product sale bonuses to salon staff, as long as the arrangement doesn't leave them worse off than their minimum award and NES entitlements. Commission should be an incentive, not a substitute for lawful wages.

This is where salon contracts need more detail than many other employment contracts. You might pay commission on services, retail product sales, memberships, packages, rebookings or team targets. Each one needs its own rules.

Your contract should answer these questions clearly:

• Is commission calculated on gross sales or sales excluding GST?
• Does it apply to all services or only selected services?
• Are discounts, refunds, no-shows or complimentary treatments excluded?
• Does the employee need to meet a threshold before commission starts?
• Is commission calculated daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly?
• When is it paid?
• What happens if the client complains or receives a refund?
• What happens to earned commission when employment ends?

Say Mia runs a beauty salon in Parramatta. She pays a therapist an hourly award-covered base rate plus 5% commission on eligible retail products. In one fortnight, the therapist sells $1,000 of eligible products, excluding GST and refunds. The commission is $50. Mia still needs to check that the therapist has been paid at least the applicable award rate, penalties, overtime and allowances for every hour worked. The $50 is an extra incentive, not a way to reduce those minimum payments.

Be careful with deductions. Under the Fair Work Act, deductions from wages usually need to be authorised in writing and must be principally for the employee's benefit, or otherwise permitted by law or an industrial instrument. For example, you should get advice before deducting product costs, training costs or refund amounts from wages or commission.

If you sell product packages or memberships, it's worth spelling out whether commission is earned when the package is sold, when the client redeems it, or when the business receives cleared funds. That one sentence can prevent a lot of tension later.

Can You Stop Staff Taking Clients Or Posting Work On Social Media?

You can protect your client relationships and brand, but the contract needs to be reasonable and carefully drafted. A clause that tries to stop someone working anywhere in the industry for a long time is much more likely to be challenged than a targeted clause about not soliciting your clients.

For salons, the most useful protections are often:

• Confidentiality: Client lists, treatment notes, colour formulas, pricing, supplier terms, marketing plans and staff details should stay confidential.
• Client non-solicitation: The employee agrees not to encourage your clients to follow them to a new salon for a set period after leaving.
• Staff non-poaching: The employee agrees not to encourage your team members to leave and join another business.
• Social media rules: The employee needs approval to post client images, use your logo or run salon promotions through personal accounts.
• Intellectual property: Content created for your salon's accounts, such as captions, photos and videos, should belong to your business where appropriate.

Restraints aren't one-size-fits-all. What's reasonable for a senior stylist with access to your top-spending clients may be too broad for a junior assistant. The length, location and activities covered by the restraint all matter.

For example, if Liam owns a hair salon in Geelong and hires a senior colourist, he might include a clause saying the colourist must not directly contact clients they serviced in the last 12 months to move them to another salon for 3 months after leaving. That's more targeted than saying the colourist can't work as a hairdresser anywhere in Victoria for 2 years.

You should also think about privacy. Client photos, contact details and treatment records may be personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 if your business is covered by the Act, and they're sensitive from a customer trust perspective even if the Act doesn't apply. Get clear consent before using client images, especially for close-up beauty treatments, skin treatments or any photo where the client is identifiable.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

The biggest mistake is using a generic employment contract and assuming it will cover the way your salon actually works. Salon arrangements can be quite specific, and the contract should match your real systems.

Watch out for these common issues:

• Missing the modern award: If you don't identify the correct award and classification, your pay terms may be wrong from day one.
• Unclear commission wording: If you don't define eligible sales, refunds and payment timing, staff may expect more than you intended.
• Rosters that don't match the contract: If the contract says fixed part-time hours but you roster the employee differently every week, that can create problems.
• Overly broad restraints: A restraint should protect your legitimate business interests, not punish someone for leaving.
• No social media rules: Before-and-after content is valuable, but you need rules around consent, ownership and brand use.
• Ignoring policy documents: Your contract should work with practical policies on hygiene, safety, bullying, harassment, privacy, uniforms and phone use.

Make sure the contract is signed before the employee starts. If you introduce new restraints, commission rules or major changes after they've already started, you may need fresh agreement and sometimes additional consideration. That's a good moment to get tailored advice rather than trying to patch the document yourself.

Also keep good records. Under the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations, you need accurate records of hours, pay, leave and other employment details. In a salon, this means your booking system, payroll system and roster should all tell the same story.

Key Takeaways

• A salon employment contract should cover ordinary employment terms plus rosters, commissions, product sales, client relationships and social media.
• Most salon employees are covered by the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020, so check classifications, penalties, overtime and allowances carefully.
• Commission can work well, but it should sit on top of lawful minimum wages and be clearly defined.
• Restraint and non-solicitation clauses should be targeted to protect your client base without going too far.
• Templates can be a useful starting point, but salon contracts work best when they're tailored to your services, staffing model and award obligations.

If you'd like help with your salon employment contracts, commission clauses, award compliance and client protection terms, you can reach us at 1800 730 617 or team@sprintlaw.com.au for a free, no-obligations chat.