How is it working at Massage Envy?

Question

I am a licensed Massage Therapist, and find myself in a pickle with the economic status I am in. I need a job fast and came across this company and was curious on how good it is to work here. Employees of Massage Envy please help....Do you get paid hourly even if your client doesnt show??? :-(

Answer 1

I own a Massage School and we have a Massage Envy in our town. They hire some of our graduates and we get feed back from them. Since they are a franchise operation, which means that each center is privately owned, there is some difference in how each one is ran. The people that work at ours stay very busy, but their pay is somewhat lower than other venues. For example, we have a professional clinic as well as the school and our therapists earn about $32 per one hour massage while Massage Envy pays $15 for a 50 minute session. The tips are pretty steady though and the manager here says their therapists earn an average of $23 per massage including tips. The atmosphere is more Spartan than some, and the same music goes to all the rooms. They do furnish linens and laundry so it's really not a bad set up. It's a good place to build experience and begin earning quickly. As for being paid when not working, the laws vary state to state. Good luck.  

Answer 2

I currently work at a Massage Envy and I have to tell you, I'm not too fond of it.  But considering I'm a recent grad I feel as though I should stick with it because maybe this is what they mean by "working at the bottom and then making your way up".  In order to make a decent living you have to stay booked, at least 5-6 days a week, 6-7 massages a day (lucky for me I have a second job so this isn't my only income).  

Here's the deal, you get paid $15 for every 50 min. massage and $22.50 for every 80 min. massage (and I'm assuming $30 for 110 min. massage but since I don't do 2 hour massages I'm not exactly sure).  So if you've made more doing massages this will seem like insult to your skills and experience.  

But wait, it gets better.  Any and every type of massage is priced the same.  So it doesn't matter if you're doing deep tissue, neuromuscular or reflexology or just a simple Swedish, you will still only get the $15.  Yay!!!......  :-(

Now don't get me wrong, you do receive gratuity.  Sometimes not by much.  And lots of people will you only use credit cards (and this place will NOT cash out) so you'll have to wait for your paycheck to see any of that.  Which is a shame because a lot of people live off their tips.

You do receive bonuses for requests and memberships but for about $2-$5.

Now about the hourly.  This seems to be the biggest misconception nationwide.  Lots of therapists are under the impression that you receive hourly plus commission, because frankly, that's what they tell you.  NOPE, that's not what they MEAN.  It's either or.  

I was told by the administrator that you make your commission for every massage OR minimum wage for every hour that you're not massaging, depending on whichever dollar amount is higher. Sounds fair enough, right?  WRONG!!  Come to find out, that's NOT what they're doing.  They multiply the minimum wage by the TOTAL number of hours that you've worked vs. the commission you've made massaging.  So in order to receive your commission you need to stay booked because the minimum wage will always be the higher dollar amount.  

Which sounds good to some, but not for a Massage Therapist. You massage for two weeks and only have $7 an hour to show for it.  I feel as though I'm being taken advantage of, because whether I do 18 massages or 6 massages, I still want to get paid for all of my massages.

But hey, it's corporate America at its best.

I don't know how long you've been a LMT and if you're into spas or not, but they would be the way to go.  Just type in Massage Envy in a search engine and you will see the numerous complaints from consumers and employees alike.  I thought all the complaints were through jealousy of a new franchise (kind of like Wal-Mart vs. 'mom and pop' stores).  Come to find out, these complaints are coming from anything but a jealous disposition.