Are You Really Self-Employed? What HMRC Says About Hairdressers
There has been a lot of discussion about hidden employment in the hairdressing industry. Some salons describe their hairdressers as self-employed, but the way they are expected to work may look more like employment.
This can leave hairdressers with very little independence while also missing out on the rights and protections they may be legally entitled to.
In May 2025, HMRC published specific guidance to help hair and beauty professionals understand the difference between employment and genuine self-employment. You can read the full guidance here: Check employment status if you work in hair and beauty.
It is important to understand that HMRC’s examples are indicators, not individual pass or fail rules. No single point determines somebody’s employment status. HMRC considers the written agreement alongside what happens in practice and looks at the overall working relationship.
Here is what those indicators can mean for hairdressers in everyday working life.
Hours of Work
What HMRC Says
Having your start and finish times or working days set by a salon can indicate employment. Choosing your own hours and deciding which days you work supports self-employment.
What This Means in Real Life
A co-working salon can make chairs available on particular days or during particular sessions. An independent hairdresser should be able to choose which of those days or sessions they want to rent.
The important difference is whether the hairdresser has chosen when to operate their business or whether the salon is imposing a shift.
A requirement to arrive at a set time, remain in the salon when there are no clients or ask permission to take time off could indicate that the salon is exercising the kind of control associated with employment.
Where You Work
What HMRC Says
If the salon decides where somebody must work, that can indicate employment. Having the freedom to decide where you operate your business supports self-employment.
What This Means in Real Life
A hairdresser renting a chair will naturally work from that salon when using the space they have booked. Working from a particular premises does not automatically make somebody employed.
However, an independent hairdresser should generally be free to offer their services elsewhere if they choose. They may work from more than one salon, provide mobile services or see clients from another suitable location.
A hairdresser may personally choose to work from only one salon, but that choice should be theirs. Whether they work in one location or several is only one part of the overall picture.
Clients
What HMRC Says
Being given clients and having bookings controlled by a salon can indicate employment. Providing your own clients and managing your own business relationships supports self-employment.
What This Means in Real Life
The client should be booking with the independent hairdresser’s business, not with the salon.
The hairdresser should normally:
- Manage their own diary and appointments
- Keep their own client records
- Decide which clients and services to accept
- Set the time allowed for appointments
- Handle their own complaints and client enquiries
- Market their own business
A salon can still promote the independent hairdressers working from its premises. For example, at Rebel Rebel Hair Studio, hairdressers can choose to be included on our stylist page so that potential clients can find them. However, enquiries and bookings go directly to the individual hairdresser and it is made clear that each stylist operates a separate business.
If clients believe they are booking with the salon rather than the independent hairdresser, it can undermine the separation between the two businesses. It should always be clear who is providing the service.
Products and Tools
What HMRC Says
If a salon decides which products and equipment must be used, that can indicate employment. Having the freedom to choose products and equipment supports self-employment.
What This Means in Real Life
Independent hairdressers should be able to choose the products, tools and colour brands they use in their own businesses.
This does not mean they must personally provide every chair, basin or piece of equipment. Renting an equipped workspace is a normal part of chair rental.
A co-working salon can also offer optional shared systems. For example, a hairdresser may choose to access shared colour stock, laundry services or styling products and be charged for what they use.
The important point is that these services are optional and the independent hairdresser remains free to choose the products and systems that suit their business.
Payment, payments and Commission
What HMRC Says
Being paid a fixed rate by the salon can indicate employment. Deciding what to charge clients and taking the financial risk associated with running a business support self-employment.
What This Means in Real Life
An independent hairdresser should decide their own prices. The money paid for their services should belong to their business.
Payments can be taken directly through the hairdresser’s own card machine, booking system or bank account. HMRC’s hairdressing guidance also allows money to be collected centrally, provided it is clear that the money belongs to the independent hairdresser and the salon properly accounts for and transfers those funds.
Commission is not automatically evidence of employment. HMRC gives an example of a salon charging a percentage of each appointment as rent for the chair. Both fixed rent and percentage-based rent can be compatible with self-employment, depending on how the complete arrangement works in practice.
At Rebel Rebel, we chose fixed chair rental rather than commission because it creates a particularly clear separation between the studio and each independent hairdresser’s income.
How You Run Your Day
What HMRC Says
If a salon sets somebody’s daily duties, controls how their work is performed or supervises them like a manager, that can indicate employment. An independent hairdresser should control how they organise and provide their services.
What This Means in Real Life
An independent hairdresser should decide:
- How their appointments are organised
- How long their services take
- Which services they offer
- How they perform those services
- When they take breaks
- How they communicate with their clients
Nobody should be managing their performance or directing their working day as though they were a member of staff.
A shared salon can still have reasonable rules relating to health and safety, fire safety, insurance, cleanliness and the use of communal areas. Asking everybody to clean their workspace and leave shared areas tidy does not by itself indicate employment.
These rules should protect the shared environment without controlling how independent hairdressers run their businesses or perform their services.
Tax and Responsibilities
What HMRC Says
A genuinely self-employed person is responsible for reporting their income and paying their own tax and National Insurance.
What This Means in Real Life
A self-employed hairdresser will normally need to:
- Register for Self Assessment
- Report their business income to HMRC
- Keep appropriate business and accounting records
- Pay their own tax and National Insurance
- Arrange their own insurance
- Register for VAT if their taxable turnover exceeds the applicable threshold
If a hairdresser trades through a limited company, the company will have its own accounting and Corporation Tax responsibilities.
An accountant can help manage these obligations, but responsibility remains with the hairdresser and their business. The salon should invoice the hairdresser for chair rent and any optional services rather than treating payments as wages and making PAYE deductions.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a self-employed hairdresser can feel daunting, particularly when the difference between genuine independence and hidden employment is not always explained clearly.
If you are working as a freelance hairdresser, look at how the arrangement operates in practice.
Do you control your working days, prices, clients, bookings, products, payments and business decisions? Are you taking the financial risks and receiving the rewards of running your own business? Or is the salon controlling how, when and for whom you work?
No individual answer determines your status, but together they help show the true nature of the working relationship.
At Rebel Rebel Hair Studio in Watford, our co-working model is designed to support independent hairdressers running genuinely separate businesses. Each hairdresser controls their own clients, bookings, prices, payments, products, hours and business decisions while working alongside other independent professionals.
We believe chair rental should give hairdressers real independence, not simply the label of self-employment.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information and reflects our understanding of HMRC’s published guidance for the hair and beauty industry. At Rebel Rebel, we have taken legal advice about how our own studio operates, but I am not a lawyer or tax adviser.
Employment status depends on the complete facts and working practices of each individual arrangement. This article should not be treated as formal legal or tax advice.
If you are unsure about your own circumstances, you can use HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool, contact HMRC or seek advice from a qualified accountant or employment lawyer.