1/01/2012

Spa Wages

I recently found out that some spas pay their massage therapist an hourly wage.  Some may think this is a good idea, as there are slow days where a comission based pay would leave the MT empty handed.  An hourly wage is very uncommon in the massage industry.  It is because it is a service based industry.  You get paid for the actual service you provide.  There are 2 things wrong with this.  The most obvious one is total income.  An hourly pay is good if the MT has a slow day and hardly works.  They at least know they are getting something for their time.  What happens when they have a busy day and provide 5 massages at over a $100 each?  Then the MT is working quite hard and making small fraction of what the spa is receiving.  The other problem is quality.  if a MT is not getting paid for the service they provide, they don't need to work as hard, as well nor worry about retention.  If they are not getting paid for what they do, why do it well?  So not only are they not getting paid fairly, but the type of MT's drawn to this structure are interns, those right out of school, or slackers (every profession has them).  There are exceptions to the rule.  There are some MT's that work in spas that are decent and some spas pay alright, just know what you are actually paying for.  An expensive massage at a spa is most likely a swedish massage but with a nice robe, tea, munchies, and a beautiful lounge to wait in.  It's the ambiance you are paying for, not the quality of massage work.