Contractor agreement for a self-employed hairdresser

A self-employed hairdresser renting a chair runs a business inside someone else's salon, and the agreement has to make that real: a licence to use the chair and the salon's facilities, the stylist's own clients, prices, products and takings, a rent or a percentage that the salon charges for the space, and rules that protect the salon's premises and reputation without turning the stylist into a member of staff. Where the salon sets the hours, the prices and the clients, the stylist is likely to be a worker or an employee whatever the agreement is called. I draft the agreement, for the salon or for the stylist, for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days. Status turns on the facts, is checked with HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool for each engagement, and cannot be guaranteed by any agreement.

Who this is for

Salon owners in England and Wales renting chairs or rooms to self-employed stylists, barbers and colourists, and hairdressers going self-employed who want an agreement that protects their clients and their takings.

What matters in a self-employed hairdresser's agreement

The licence to use the chair and what it includes

The agreement should grant the stylist a licence, not a lease, to use a chair or station and the salon's shared facilities (basins, reception, waiting area, utilities, products stock at cost where agreed) on stated days or at all times the salon is open, with the salon retaining control of the premises so that no tenancy arises under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954; it should say whether the chair is exclusive to the stylist or shared, and what the salon provides (towels, laundry, consumables, card terminal) and what the stylist brings.

The stylist's own clients, prices and takings

A self-employed stylist sets their own prices, books their own clients, takes their own payments or receives them from the salon's till without deduction beyond the agreed rent or percentage, keeps their own records and accounts for their own tax; the agreement should say all of that, because a stylist whose prices are set by the salon and whose clients are allocated by the salon's reception is being treated as staff. Walk-in clients the salon passes to the stylist can be shared on stated terms.

Rent, percentage splits and VAT

The agreement should state the rent as a fixed weekly or monthly sum, a percentage of the stylist's takings, or a combination, how and when it is paid, what it covers, and how it is reviewed; the supply of a chair to a self-employed stylist is a standard-rated supply for VAT, so a VAT-registered salon charges VAT on the rent, and the agreement should say whether the stated figure includes it. The stylist's own services to clients are the stylist's supplies, and the stylist registers for VAT if their own turnover requires it. Late payment of rent by a business stylist attracts interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

The control that turns a stylist into a worker

Employment status depends on how the arrangement works: a stylist who chooses their own hours, can decline clients, can send another qualified stylist to cover their chair, bears the risk of quiet weeks and keeps the reward of busy ones is in business on their own account; a stylist rostered by the salon, paid an hourly rate, told what to charge and required to work when the salon says is a worker under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or an employee, with rights under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998. The agreement reflects the first arrangement and should not be used to disguise the second; HMRC's guidance on hairdressers applies the same tests.

Insurance, hygiene and the salon's rules

The stylist should hold their own public liability and treatment insurance, hold the qualifications and certificates (including for colour and chemical services) the salon requires, comply with the salon's hygiene standards and local authority requirements, patch test as the product manufacturers require, and comply with reasonable rules on conduct, dress and use of the premises that protect the salon's reputation; the salon, as occupier, owes the stylist's clients the duty under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and should hold its own cover. Rules that go beyond protecting the premises and reputation, into how the stylist works, are the rules that create control.

Notice, leaving and the client list

The agreement should run on a rolling basis with mutual notice, allow the salon to end the licence for breach of its rules or non-payment of rent, and say what happens to clients when the stylist leaves: the stylist's own clients are the stylist's, with their contact details held by the stylist as controller under the UK GDPR, and the salon may not use them; clients the salon introduced may be subject to a non-solicitation for a reasonable period, but a non-compete that stops the stylist working nearby is rarely enforceable against a self-employed stylist and the agreement should not pretend otherwise.

What it costs

Consultancy or contractor agreement, £595. Drafted for your business. Five working days.

Template set for repeat use, £895. One master agreement plus a short-form schedule you can reuse for every engagement. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the consultancy and contractor agreements page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A clear, express assignment of intellectual property to your business
• Confidentiality provisions that protect your business information
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Clear treatment of status, so the arrangement is not accidentally something else
• Payment, deliverables and termination provisions that match how you work
• A reusable structure, so the next engagement costs you nothing

What is not included

• Employment status determinations and off-payroll working assessments, which need your accountant
• Tax advice
• Disputes with a contractor you have already engaged
• Immigration and right to work compliance

Questions I am often asked

Can the salon tell a self-employed stylist what to charge?

Not if the stylist is to remain self-employed. Prices, hours and clients are the stylist's; the salon charges for the chair. A salon that wants control over prices wants employees, and the agreement for that is an employment contract.

Do we charge VAT on chair rent?

A VAT-registered salon does, as the supply of a chair with facilities is standard-rated. The agreement states whether the rent figure includes VAT, and the stylist's own takings are the stylist's supplies.

Can we stop a stylist who leaves taking clients with them?

Clients who were the stylist's own go with the stylist. Clients the salon introduced can be protected by a non-solicitation for a reasonable period, and the agreement says which are which. A ban on working nearby is unlikely to hold.

Related guidance and services

• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Contractor agreement for a self-employed beauty therapist

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.