Employees in this industry have little to no rights and chop shops get away with everything.

There is a big problem with how employees are being treated by chop shops in the grooming industry, and I wanted to share my experience.

As an employee, I have to find employment with reputable shops and make sure I’m being treated well and within my rights. The state of Tennessee is absolutely terrible in providing support to employees who feel like their health and safety are being violated. Especially for grooming salons. On the TOSHA website, if you want to file a complaint with a business as an employee, their guides on what you want to file a complaint for pretty much all say for all circumstances “currently there is no rule or standard that requires employers to X”.. And these are for all major issues that come up in the working environment, things like mold, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, no air conditioning or heat, breaks/lunch breaks, pregnant employees, food safety, bystander safety, dumping chemicals, drug/alcohol abuse, discrimination of age, sex, sexual orientation, religion and race, etc.

I just left a toxic chop shop that I worked at for 4 non consecutive years for A LOT of reasons. (If I listed everything I’d be writing a novel.) Major reasons include: owner not following established company polices like PTO and no call/no shows, AC constantly going out during warmer months, pet waste buildup throughout the salon, moldy tubs, cage dryers hooked up to extension cords tripping the breaker almost daily, racist clients and verbally abusive clients were not ever fired, dogs were accepted without records for rabies vaccines, dog bites went unreported and employees were never instructed to seek medical attention, and verbal abuse directly from the owner of the business who also validated the lead bather to verbally and physically abuse other employees.

I just have one question for these chop shop owners, how the fuck do you sleep at night? Shame on all chop shop owners who treat their employees like absolute slaves. And shame on the state of Tennessee for zero regulation for this fuckery.

I’m an extremely passionate dog groomer, I go above and beyond for the dogs and for the dog’s owner. But I do not have the means to just up and start my own business. Reputable shops always have a full and happy staff and are never hiring. Chop shop owners know this about most groomers they hire and take advantage of them, and it’s too much of a norm in this industry. They know that we simply cannot just quit a job and afford to still pay our bills and eat. Or they know that by leaving one chop shop, we’ll just end up at another one because the reputable shops are few and far between and they’re never in need of people, because the lucky groomers who end up there STAY THERE.

I’m so disappointed that after 10 years in the grooming industry, I see it flooded way too much with corruption. I hate that chop shop owners can get away with so much. I hate that this industry is not regulated like it should be. And I hate how high up the corruption goes. I even asked my boss directly why he was not following established company policies for PTO (fellow coworker was not given her legally deserved PTO) and he screamed in my face, SCREAMED that it was his company and he could do whatever he wanted. He even fidgeted in his chair like he was about to stand up and hit me. That was my final straw, I packed up my shit and walked out. Since that incident in late February, 5 other groomers left after me for similar reasons. The rest are still searching for jobs to secure before they quit.

Just fucking do better shop owners. Please.