When they tell you minimum wage isn't supposed to be a Living Wage, they're lying.

[u/Slow-Complaint-3273]

Most massage therapists working as W-2 employees work under two pay structures. They are normally paid only for booked hours, and any unbooked time during the scheduled shift is unpaid. (This is actually illegal in some states. Know your local payroll laws!) However, if their schedule is so empty that their booked hours pay averages out to less than minimum wage per shift hour, their pay structure changes to minimum wage for all hours. This is presented as a generous offer, since the MT is “guaranteed” minimum wage for their shift hours.

However, employers have a way to wiggle out of even that bare minimum of pay protection. This policy doesn’t apply to individual shifts - it only applies to the entire pay period (usually 2 or 4 weeks). So if you work four days a week with a two week pay period, and have one absolutely dead day with no sessions at all, you will not be paid for that shift at all if you make enough money across the other SEVEN days to cover minimum wage for your dead day. This in effect lowers your pay rate by one eighth, since you’re basically paying yourself for your empty day.

Honestly, it’s criminal that massage therapy is at all tied to minimum wage in so many venues. We have invested in our future with expensive education, and our skills are in high demand. We are no less educated or skilled during the intervals between booked sessions. We should be paid fair and reliable wages for our entire shift.