T: 0131 341 4250|E: andrew@salonfrog.com
T: 0131 341 4250|E: andrew@salonfrog.com
In the last few hours, the government has updated its guidance around furlough and we’ve been looking through it.
There are 3 key updates that we think affect you:
1. The original guidance stated that employees who resigned and left after 28 February to start a new job could not be furloughed by their old or new employer.
The updated guidance now says that the old employer can take the employee back and furlough them, but appears to use very generic wording nor any guidance on how it would work.
Remember, there is no obligation to re-hire, and we advise employers to be cautious. This new guidance seems very high level and we await questions on it over the next few days.
2. The updated guidance still does not deal with the question of holidays, although Acas has confirmed that employees on furlough can take holiday at the same time. This will help employers whose employees return from furlough with a lot of holiday to use up.
3. The new guidance has also changed its stance in that now furloughed employees can work for a different employer during furlough, so long as their employment contract allows it.
Continually changing!
See all our guidance here.
So Rishi Sunak has made amendments to the scheme, announcing them 3rd April.
If you have applied unsuccessfully, go back to the bank again. But wait a few days, as you’ll see below.
Only around £90m of CBIL loans have been approved for 1,000 small businesses so far, despite 130,000 enquiries. Not good.
Why is this?
Number one is the Treasury’s failure to place restrictions on interest rates, meaning banks were offering CBILS loans with interest rates of up to 30% and demanding personal guarantees from before they would lend.
Rishi Sunak announced the following amendments (3rd April):
He is expected to speak to the banks next week to review the scheme and “ensure everybody is playing their part”.
See more in our coronavirus survival guide
This post has now been replaced by our Coronavirus page:
Salons and spas need to be proactive at the moment and actively communicate with their client base to minimise client cancellations.
It’s been seen that explaining the special measures your salon or spa has implemented to protect its clients is key.
Remember, it’s a worrying time your clients and it won’t take much for them to cancel their next appointment.
Below is an example of a communication you could send to all your Clients, especially the ones booked in over the next 4-6 weeks (but do tailor it to your own circumstances);
and also have your receptionist (or whoever answers the phone and emails) primed with what to say when a Client wants to cancel an appointment, or they’re asking whether the salon is still open, or indeed what measures you’ve got in place.
Here’s the example email:
Dear [client name]
No-one underestimates the impact that the spread of Coronavirus Covid-19 has already had and will continue to have in our daily and working lives for the foreseeable future.
I wanted to personally reassure you that we continue to monitor the situation daily and we are in a position to respond to official Government guidance as it arises.
Over the past two weeks we have put in place the following to keep you safe:
Our salon is working tirelessly and doing the best job we can to protect our Clients and keep them looking great!
It is still business as usual for us in these highly unusual circumstances and our intention is to continue to deliver the highest standard and quality, to all our clients and support you in every way we can.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and to thank our staff who are all working incredibly hard to ensure we can continue to serve our Clients well.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Stay safe,
You should have a Business Continuity Plan and a Critical Interruption Plan in place and all staff should know both. For salons and spas, these tend to be one and the same document.
Business Continuity Plan
Your plan of how you will continue to run your salon if one or more of your staff phone in sick.
Critical Interruption Plan
Your plan of what to do if you need to close the salon for one or more days.
What to include in each
The list goes on but in other words: plan now because it can get chaotic very quickly when things are hitting the fan.
And make sure all your staff know what to do.
The NHBF have produced a really good guide which also looks at what to do if you need to close and what rights you have as an owner here:
In preparation for salon and spa staff taking time off for the corona virus, we revisit the rules around statutory sick pay SSP.
It’s in law that you have to pay SSP; but you cannot reclaim it back
Since 6th April 2014, an employer can no longer claim back any SSP it has paid to its employees. The SSP paid is therefore an absolute cost to the salon owner.
SSP is £94.25 a week for up to 28 weeks
Other rules to bear in mind:
You may not have to pay SSP if any of the following is true:
Self employed peeps (eg chair renters)
For self employed stylists and therapists, there’s no SSP; and also no other government benefits they can claim for time off sick.
They may have private health insurance but would have to check if Corona Virus is covered.
Advice from the FSB:
“Employees who develop symptoms will of course be unfit for work.
They will be entitled to SSP subject to meeting the qualifying criteria. Additionally, an employee is deemed to be incapable of work for SSP purposes if they:
• are a carrier of, or
• have been in contact with an infectious or contagious disease of a kind specified in Regulation 2(3) of the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 and has been issued with a statement from a registered medical practitioner advising them not to go to work due to it being known or reasonably suspected that they have been in contact with or infected by one.”
Advice from ACAS:
“The ACAS guidance on coronavirus states, in brief, that there’s no statutory right to pay if someone is not sick but cannot work because they:
But it’s good practice for their employer to treat it as sick leave and follow their usual sick pay policy or agree for the time to be taken as holiday.
The guidance can be found here: https://www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus
Clearly if employees have been told to self-isolate on medical advice because it is known or reasonably suspected they have been exposed to the virus, rather than just as a precautionary measure, they would be entitled to SSP (subject to meeting eligibility criteria).”
Salonfrog thinks this podcast is great!
And we have seen that the more successful salons are doing this already. It’s just a process that’s in place for them; and why we also recommend you keep an eye on your rebooking and pre booking KPI’s!
It definitely worth a listen and we’ve made a few points from it to show you why:
As Adam says, your Salon should be asking every Client this question, every time:
“Shall we get you booked in for next tine so you can get your preferred day and time.“
Here’s the link:
January has wizzed by and like most salon and barbershop owners you’ve been looking forwards to the year ahead. Maybe you’ve already reset your budget for the year, started revisiting your commission structure, or thinking of how to push retail sales more this year.
But it’s also a great time to do something called ‘admit and commit’; often known as ‘sorting out’ the white elephants in the room!
Admit:
What are the things that your business is not getting right.
Jot them down, in any order.
It might be around a specific stylist who’s not performing well; how you handle your stock; the Client’s journey from booking to chair; your online booking system; or whatever. You probably know what they are already!
Commit
Commit to sorting them out.
From the list, choose the easy pickings (the ones you can sort out quickly) and also (say) the top 3. Work out what you need to do, who needs to do it, and a time frame. Committing to sorting something out is the most important step. Then discard the rest.
Get your staff involved
Ask your staff to do the same. Or at least, ask them what they think the ‘Admits’ are for the salon. You might find they differ from what you think; and by getting your staff bought into the Admit/Commit process, you’ll find it easier to do.
Admit and Commit for 2020.
Great video from Raymond at MySalonManager, which includes some interesting thoughts on:
26 mins.
For more info:
soon to be
The Government has said its first Budget, presented by Sajid Javid will take place on 11 March 2020.
The Scottish Parliament has now announced that its 2020 Budget will be held on Thursday 6 February 2020, less than a week after the date now set for Brexit of 31 January 2020.
The original Scottish budget date was delayed as it was originally due to be held on the day of the general election and the Scottish parliament wanted to wait until the Chancellor of the Exchequer had held his first budget.
However, with that now scheduled for 11 March, Scotland cannot afford to wait, since they also have a deadline for setting their local authority budgets by 11 March.