Wage Theft in the Massage Industry
Wage theft occurs when employers deny workers the pay and benefits that they are legally entitled to. It is estimated that up to $50 billion a year is lost to wage theft, and little of that amount is ever recouped by employees. Those who work in low paying jobs, women, immigrants, and those who fear workplace retaliation are the most vulnerable.
The massage industry is no different than other sectors in this matter. And in some ways, it's even worse.
Some of the more common areas of wage theft in the massage industry are:
* Employee Misclassification - By offloading taxes for payroll, unemployment insurance, social security, and Medicare onto the employee, employers can reduce their payroll budget by anywhere from 20-40%.
* Unpaid Labor - Spas and studios that only pay massage therapists for booked massage hours typically expect therapists to do additional unpaid work like laundry, restocking, or other tasks as ordered by the manager. They are also expected to arrive at work 10-30 minutes before their shift to set up their room and review client notes, but they are not allowed to claim that time for payroll purposes.
* Lost Benefits - Some locations offer paid time off that accrues over the year. But when the PTO policies include a "use it or lose it" clause that expires unused hours at the end of the year, and sets blackout dates through November and December for the holidays, that results in two months of accrued PTO that is functionally unusable. Some states have laws that ensure that any unused PTO must be paid out through payroll, but not all have that protection.
* Pressure Not to Report Workplace Injuries - Most managers will recognize slipping and falling on a wet floor as a workplace injury that may require a workers' compensation report. But they are much less likely to acknowledge the repetitive use injuries that massage therapists develop when doing multiple deep tissue or sports massage sessions in rapid succession. Instead, they are instructed to ice at home and work through the pain, or are blamed for causing their own injuries by not doing proper self-care.
Massage therapists deserve better than exploitative payroll policies and inaccessible benefits.
I've written a Substack article with more in-depth information - and sources!
https://massageunion.substack.com/p/what-does-wage-theft-look-like-in