Booth Rental: Chair Rental and the Agreement

You have five chairs in the barbershop and three of them are in use. Bartek gets in touch — a good barber with his own client base, who wants to work at your place "for himself". Not employed, not on a contract of mandate. He wants to rent a chair and settle up with you for the space. It sounds great: fewer employer obligations, steady rental income. Right up until Bartek's client comes back with a grievance about an infection — and asks you, the premises owner, about compensation.

Booth rental (chair rental) is a popular model in Polish barbershops. But without a good agreement it turns into a liability trap. Let's break it down.

What booth rental is

Booth rental is a model in which an independent barber (running their own business) rents a workspace from the salon owner — a chair, part of the premises, access to the infrastructure. They pay rent (fixed or a percentage of turnover) and serve clients on their own account.

• The barber is an entrepreneur, not your employee.
• They issue their own invoices to their clients.
• They are responsible for their own taxes and social security (ZUS).

Rental is not employment — why this matters

The key difference: with booth rental you are not the employer. This changes your obligations, but it creates the risk of "sham rental".

Issue	Employment / mandate	Booth rental
Schedule and subordination	You set it	The barber decides for themselves
Social security and taxes	On your side	On the barber's side
Clients and payments	Yours	The barber's
Liability for the service	Yours	The barber's (if written that way)

Watch out for sham rental. If the "tenant" works to your schedule, under your supervision and exclusively for you, the authorities may treat it as a disguised employment relationship — with consequences for social security and taxes.

What the workspace rental agreement must contain

• Subject of the rental — the specific workstation, access to shared areas, hours.
• Rent and the settlement method — a fixed amount or a percentage, the payment deadline.
• The tenant's independence — they set their own schedule and prices and serve their own clients.
• Hygiene and sterilisation — an undertaking to apply the premises' sanitary procedures.
• Liability and insurance — who is liable for damage to a client, the obligation to hold liability insurance.
• GDPR — whose clients the people served are and who administers their data.
• Termination rules — the notice period, the state of the workstation on leaving.

Hygiene with several independent barbers

The biggest risk of booth rental: everyone "does it their own way". One disinfects impeccably, another cuts corners — and Sanepid (the sanitary inspectorate) assesses the whole premises. That is why the agreement has to impose a shared sanitary standard:

• Uniform disinfection and sterilisation procedures binding on every tenant.
• A shared sterilisation register or an obligation to keep one's own.
• The owner's right to check compliance with the rules.

Even if the barber is independent, during an inspection it's your premises that is assessed. More on standards in sanitary training for the team and on typical slip-ups in the most common sanitary mistakes.

Taxes and settlements — whose is the revenue

In booth rental the line is clear: revenue from the services belongs to the tenant, while you have revenue from the rent. This separation must be visible not only on paper but also in practice:

• The tenant takes payments from their own clients themselves — ideally to their own card terminal or account, not through your till.
• You issue them a document for the rental — a fixed amount or a percentage, in line with the agreement.
• Separated finances — if all payments go through your till and you "hand back" the barber their share, it starts to look like employment, not rental.

The more clearly the money is separated, the stronger the rental construction is before the tax office and social security.

Shared space — reception, waiting area, back room

The tenant rents a chair, but also uses the shared areas. The agreement should order this, to avoid conflicts:

• Scope of use — reception, waiting area, back room, shared equipment (e.g. the autoclave).
• Keeping it clean — who cleans the shared areas and to what standard.
• Rules towards clients — a consistent image of the premises, even if the barbers are independent.

Liability and insurance — who pays for damage

In pure booth rental the tenant is liable for their own services. But in practice an injured client may direct a claim at the premises owner too. That is why:

• State in the agreement that the tenant is liable for damage caused to their clients.
• Require the tenant to hold their own business liability insurance.
• Have your own premises liability insurance in case of shared damage (e.g. a slip at reception).

More on policies in the piece on liability insurance for a barbershop.

Advantages and traps of the model — a short balance sheet

Booth rental can be beneficial for both sides, but it has two faces. It's worth knowing both before you sit a tenant down at the chair.

• A plus for the owner — steady rental income, fewer employer obligations (social security, holidays, schedule).
• A plus for the barber — they work "for themselves", keep the revenue from the services, have independence.
• The liability trap — with damage, the client may direct a claim at the premises.
• The sham-rental trap — too much control over the tenant risks the relationship being treated as employment.
• The hygiene trap — a different standard at different barbers ruins the assessment of the whole premises.

A good agreement and a shared sanitary standard neutralise the traps, leaving the advantages. A bad agreement, or the lack of one, turns a beneficial model into a source of tax and sanitary problems.

What to put in writing before the tenant starts

1. A workspace rental agreement with a clear subject and rent.
2. Hygiene and sterilisation rules binding on the tenant.
3. A division of liability and the requirement to hold liability insurance.
4. Arrangements on GDPR and clients.
5. Rules for using the shared areas and ending the rental.

Frequently asked questions

With booth rental, do I have to pay social security for the barber?

No, if it's a genuine rental and the barber runs their own business — they are responsible for their own social security and taxes. The risk arises with sham rental, where the relationship actually has the features of employment; then the authorities may challenge the construction.

Who is liable when the tenant's client suffers damage?

As a rule the service provider is liable, i.e. the tenant — which is why it's worth stating this clearly in the agreement and requiring them to hold liability insurance. In practice the injured party may try to direct a claim at the premises owner too, so your own premises liability insurance also comes in handy.

Can I impose hygiene rules on the tenant?

Yes, and you should. The rental agreement can oblige the tenant to apply the sanitary procedures in force on the premises and give you the right to check. During a Sanepid inspection the whole premises is assessed, so a shared standard is in your interest.

How does booth rental differ from a contract of mandate?

With a contract of mandate the barber works for you, to your schedule, and you are responsible for the settlements and the service. With booth rental the barber is an independent entrepreneur who rents a space, serves their own clients and settles up themselves. Confusing these models creates tax and legal risk.