Occasionally we answer the phone and it is a wonderful member of the grooming industry known for lecturing on grooming business topics at leading trade shows. They know we have a lot grooming business experience offering year round management training and we make a good sounding board to discuss ideas for their next lecture topic. Usually with great angst they come to a point to take on commission and salary wages. We enjoy humoring them by saying, "Why would you ever do that to your speaking career?" Or, "Great! Did you just graduate from a conflict management class and want to get your feet wet addressing this subject in public with a room filled with groomers?"

Beneath the humor we really mean it. Lecturers speaking on groomer commissions and salaries are guaranteed only one thing, no one will be snoring in the back row. There's always been 2 topics that are a surefire way to get a room of quiet groomers fired up, cage drying pro and con, and commission wages versus salary wages.

As we discovered on Page 4 of this Main Menu, it's not true that groomers paid by salary always earn less when compared to being by commission for the same work performance. For most but not all employed groomers the common point of view is that you make better wages with commission, but common points of view are filled with common misconceptions. Here we want to address another common misconception about commission wages. Again we offer this information to set the stage for an open discussion about commissions and salaries. By open discussion we mean that no one has to throw rotten tomatoes at the discussion leader introducing many points of view on this volatile subject.

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Where you have people on different sides of a topic there must be a valid basis for their points of view. Everyone in grooming has points of view on commission and salary wages, and usually strong ones indeed. As consultants we have found a lack of numerical evidence for any point of view and that leads us to label them as "opinions without proof." At our workshops we open the floor to discussion asking employed groomers paid by commission how much is your take home pay for a day's work compared to the owner's take home pay earned by their hiring you? It's a good question, and NEVER has an answer come really close the reality of the answer we prove here. Again, we're not proving our point of view but saying, "Look at how little most owners and employees know their financial working relationship." A lack of knowledge usually leads to misconceptions, so let's get our minds open by analyzing some financial facts so we can truly go into discovery and find workable solutions to a more profitable industry for both owners and employees.

50/50 Commission Grooming Fee Analysis $35 Service Fee for Miniature Schnauzer Groomed Start to Finish by Groomer
50% Commission Employed Groomer		Employer
50% Share as Wage	$17.50	50% Share for Owner	$17.50
Payroll Deductions (average)		Federal & State Payroll Contributions Paid Out of Employer's Pocket
Federal Income Tax (15%)	-$2.63	FICA etc (Social Sec & Medicare)	-$1.34
FICA etc (Social Sec & Medicare)	-$1.34	FUTA (prior cap)	-$0.12
Adjusted Net Payroll	$13.53*	State Unemployment (3.5% average)	-$0.61
* State level payroll deductions not included here due to state variations.		Business Overhead Allocation*	-$7.00
		Owner's Adjusted Prior Taxes	$8.43
		Owner's Personal Payroll Deductions (average)	for $8.43 share
		Federal Income Tax (15%)	-$1.27
		FICA etc (Social Sec & Medicare)	-$0.65
		FICA etc (Social Sec & Medicare) (employers pay twice on their wages)	-$0.65
		Adjusted Net Payroll Owner's Share	$5.86**
		* Rent, utilities, supplies etc. costs averaged for one year per pet groomed ** State level payroll deductions not included here due to state variations.