“When we work with live animals, continuing education should not be treated as a bonus or a pat on the back good for you. It should be part of the professional hiring standard to be considered as an applicant to work for you.”
My husband works for the electric company in the stock room and he has been with the same company for 25 years. He is required to maintain his CDL to keep his position, and every year he completes OSHA and workforce-safety education as well to maintain his position. Some of that training is provided by the company. Some of it is his responsibility to complete and submit.
It is simply understood that safety, compliance, and continued skill-building are part of the job. And this bring up a good point in grooming: why is that we still do not set a strong standard like this in our business? Why do we accept ongoing training as normal in so many professions, but still treat it as optional or even think that it is unfair to ask this of our team in grooming?
I would like to set this to rest. Plain and simple, if you do not think you should or could require your team to meet the standards you set for yourself, or view this as a punishment. It is part of being prepared to work in an environment where safety, equipment, systems, and responsibility of a living breathing creature on our table.
So why are grooming businesses often hesitant to create similar expectations?
We are working with live animals. We are working around sharp tools, high-velocity dryers, water, lifting, chemicals, unfamiliar behavior, and pets who may be stressed, painful, fearful, elderly, or medically fragile. A groomer can be talented, caring, and experienced, and still benefit from regular education that keeps daily salon practices safer and more current. This is about recognizing that professional pet care deserves the same respect we give to other skilled fields and one of the many reasons we are not given the respect we deserve. A healthy salon culture should make continued learning normal.
In the United States, employers can generally set job-performance expectations and require training that is connected to the role. But salon owners need to be thoughtful about how those requirements are structured. Under federal wage-and-hour guidance, required training for nonexempt employees will commonly count as paid working time, particularly when it is job-related, mandatory, or takes place during regular work hours. Training may be unpaid only when all four conditions are met: it happens outside regular hours, attendance is truly voluntary, it is not directly related to the employee’s job, and no productive work is performed. State and local rules can provide greater employee protections, so owners should confirm requirements with a qualified employment professional in their own area.
If a business owner says training is required, that owner should be prepared to treat the training as part of the work. That means setting aside paid learning time, tracking completion, giving the team access to worthwhile education, and being realistic about what can be expected during a full salon schedule.
Too many teams are asked to stay fully booked, maintain a fast pace, handle every client issue, keep the salon clean, answer messages, and then somehow complete education after hours. That approach may technically check a box, but it does not build a professional standard. It creates pressure around something that should support the team.
A better question is not, “Can I require my groomers to train?”
The better question is, “What does my team need to know in order to do safer, more effective work with the animals entrusted to us?”
Start with the everyday things that are easy to overlook because they happen so often. Where did every member of your team learn how to use a blow-dryer nozzle correctly? Was that instruction demonstrated, practiced, and observed? Do they understand airflow direction, safe distance, heat awareness, the risk of concentrated air around sensitive areas, and how to read the dog in front of them when the dryer is becoming too much?
Where did they learn how to use belly bands? Do they understand when a belly band can provide helpful support, when it can create discomfort, and when it should not be used at all? Do they know how to assess an older dog, a dog with mobility concerns, a dog recovering from injury, or a dog who becomes more unstable when restrained in a way that does not match its physical needs?
These are not small questions and yet they are daily grooming questions we need answers for.
The same is true for safe lifting, loop placement, table safety, kennel and tub procedures, clipper handling, sanitation, skin and coat concerns, tool maintenance, communication with pet parents, and recognizing when behavior may be signaling pain, fear, or a need for a different approach. OSHA’s general guidance recognizes that employers have a responsibility to provide a workplace free of recognized serious hazards, maintain safe equipment, and train workers who face job hazards. Effective safety training does not have to happen only in a formal classroom; demonstrations, peer-to-peer instruction, and on-the-job learning can all be effective when they are structured and understood.
For grooming businesses, mandatory professional development should not mean sending everyone a random video and asking them to sign a form. It should mean building a simple, repeatable education policy that reflects the actual work taking place in the salon.
A team might have a yearly requirement that includes paid in-salon safety education over a lunch break, a required refresher on humane handling and equipment use, and an individual development component selected from approved options. The salon could set a reasonable number of annual hours, then identify which courses, workshops, demonstrations, or formal assessments count toward that requirement.
The owner’s responsibility is to make the policy realistic. Cover the cost of business-required education whenever possible. Give employees paid time to complete required modules. Keep records. Make expectations clear in the employee handbook. Offer different learning formats for different roles. A bather does not need the same educational requirements as a lead stylist, and a front-desk team member may need focused education on client communication, intake questions, and recognizing when concerns need to be escalated.
There is also room for employees to invest in their own career-level development, just as my husband maintains his CDL. A salon can distinguish between what is required for the position and what supports a professional’s individual advancement. A basic annual safety and handling standard may be employer-funded and completed on paid time. A groomer pursuing a larger credential, diploma, or advanced certification pathway may choose to make a personal investment as part of their career growth, with the salon offering reimbursement, bonuses, scheduling flexibility, or recognition as support.
That balance is important. Mandatory education should protect the work. Voluntary advanced education should help professionals build their future.
The strongest salon owners understand that staff development is not only about avoiding mistakes. It is also about retention. People are more likely to stay in workplaces where expectations are there and in writing with follow-through, where their growth is taken seriously, and where they are given training instead of being told to “figure it out.” For business owners, that can mean fewer preventable problems, more consistent service, stronger client trust, and a team that understands what the salon stands for.
For groomers, it can mean a workplace that respects their role as a profession. It means being supported with the tools, knowledge, and direction needed for everyday salon work. It means knowing that safer handling, skin and coat education, and proper equipment use are not extras. They are part of professional pet care.
Mandatory professional development does not have to feel rigid or corporate. Done well, it becomes part of the culture. It says: We care enough about our people, our clients, and the animals in our care to keep learning.
That is the standard worth building toward.
What a Five-Hour Annual Training Standard Could Look Like on Paper
A five-hour annual professional development requirement is not an overwhelming program. It is one hour every other month, or a single paid learning day spread across the year. For a grooming salon, that can be enough to create a baseline expectation around safer handling, better equipment use, skin and coat knowledge, sanitation, and professional decision-making.
The goal is not to turn every team member into a student every weekend, it is to make continued learning part of the job, just like cleaning, client communication, safety checks, and proper tool care.
| Annual Requirement | Example of What Could Count | Estimated Time | Cost to Employee | Cost to Salon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch a short approved training lesson | Dryer-nozzle use, safe restraint, clipper safety, sanitation, handling a senior dog | 30–60 minutes | $0 | Paid work time |
| Read an approved industry book or article | Skin and coat care, behavior, salon safety, customer communication | 30–60 minutes | $0 if salon provides it | Book/resource cost + paid work time |
| Attend a free webinar | State association webinar, humane handling webinar, safety or salon-management training | 1 hour | $0 | Paid work time |
| Attend a local seminar or demonstration | Association event, trade-show class, supplier training, guest educator session | 1–3 hours | May be free or low-cost | Registration + paid work time |
| Complete a WPGA short course | Handling, grooming science, professional standards, business or skill-building topic | Varies | Included for qualifying students | Paid work time |
| Watch and discuss an approved documentary | Canine/feline behavior, welfare, breed history, animal-care topic | 1–2 hours | $0 with existing subscription | Paid work time |
| Participate in a salon training meeting | Hands-on dryer practice, belly-band use, senior-pet handling, emergency procedures | 30–60 minutes | $0 | Paid work time |
| Submit a short reflection or skills checklist | “What did I learn and how will I use it in the salon?” | 10–15 minutes | $0 | Paid work time |
A salon could keep this simple by requiring five documented hours per year. Each employee would choose from an approved menu of learning options, while the owner or manager keeps a basic record of date, topic, provider, time completed, and one takeaway.
At an hourly wage of $18, five paid training hours costs about $90 per employee per year. At $22 per hour, it is about $110 per employee. At $28 per hour, it is about $140 per employee. For a 10-person team paid an average of $22 per hour, a five-hour annual learning requirement costs about $1,100 in paid time before any course or seminar fees.
That is worth putting beside the cost of one preventable injury, one serious client complaint, one team member leaving because they never felt supported, or one incident that could have been reduced through better handling knowledge and salon procedures.
A Simple Example for a Ten-Person Salon
| Learning Activity | Hours Per Employee | Format | Estimated Direct Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterly in-salon safety refreshers | 2 hours total | Four 30-minute team meetings | Paid payroll only |
| One approved webinar or association class | 1 hour | Live or recorded | Free to low-cost |
| One approved reading assignment with discussion | 1 hour | Book chapter, article, or course material | Free if using existing materials |
| One individual learning choice | 1 hour | Short course, seminar, video lesson, demonstration | Free to variable |
| Total annual requirement | 5 hours | Flexible, documented, salon-relevant | Manageable |
For a 10-person salon paying an average of $22 per hour, that annual paid-time investment is about $1,100. For 15 employees, it is about $1,650. For 20 employees, it is about $2,200.
The important part is that owners do not need to create a complicated curriculum from scratch. The salon can create a small approved list and refresh it every year.
What Could Count
A good policy can include both formal education and practical, salon-ready learning. It could include a lesson on safe dryer use, an article about skin and coat conditions, a webinar through a state grooming association, a seminar at a grooming event, or a guided discussion after watching a credible canine or feline documentary.
At WPGA, Scholar Lounge students and alumni already have access to 12 additional hours of seminars annually, beyond their regular student education. They also have access to more than 100 hours of complimentary short courses. That kind of resource library makes it easier for a salon owner to say, “Choose something relevant to your role and bring back one useful takeaway for the team.”
The standard does not have to be expensive. It does have to be intentional.
What Should Not Count as Required Professional Development
This is where salon owners need to be careful. Not every piece of content online is education.
YouTube can be useful. TikTok can introduce an idea, show a tool, or help someone discover a topic they want to learn more about. A Netflix documentary may open a thoughtful discussion about animal behavior, welfare, breed history, or the human-animal relationship.
But none of those should automatically count as professional development simply because someone watched them.
A stronger policy says that informal content can support learning, but required hours need a connection to salon work. The topic should be relevant to grooming, pet safety, handling, skin and coat knowledge, sanitation, tools, business operations, client communication, or professional standards. It should also come from a source the salon is willing to stand behind.
That means a random viral video showing a dramatic groom is not training. A clip that normalizes unsafe restraint is not training. A creator who gets attention through shock value is not training. A funny pet video may be entertaining, but it is not a substitute for understanding how to safely use a dryer nozzle around a sensitive dog or when a belly band is not appropriate for a particular pet.
The question should always be: Would I be comfortable saying this was part of our salon’s professional education policy if a client, employee, or insurance company asked?
That one question helps owners separate useful learning from noise.
Sample Policy Language
Each team member is expected to complete a minimum of five hours of approved professional development annually. Education may include paid in-salon training, approved webinars, state association education, professional seminars, assigned reading, WPGA short courses, or other approved learning related to grooming safety, humane handling, skin and coat knowledge, sanitation, equipment use, professional standards, client communication, or salon operations.
Required training time will be tracked by the salon. Team members should submit completion details and one practical takeaway that can be applied in everyday salon work.
Informal content such as social media, online videos, documentaries, or podcasts may be considered when it is relevant, credible, and approved in advance. Entertainment content, unverified advice, or material unrelated to professional pet care will not count toward required annual hours.
