Salary costs remain the biggest opportunity and challenge for US spas with tight salary control often making the difference between operating in the red or the black, according to a new report from the US Day Spa Association (DSA).

The 2014 Day Spa Association Spa & Wellness Compensation Trends Survey said one of the main issues is salary confusion, which remains a problem due to the multiple and varied payment and salary plan in the country.

In almost every country barring the US, salary makes up the majority of monthly income, with commissions earned through services or retail comprising the rest.

The US model however differs in that it’s fairly common for therapists working in spas to receive no base salary, earning all of their income as a commision on treatments given.

What’s more, there is no standard way of paying therapists. Methods vary from higher commissions upon reaching targets to varying the compensation based on the service performed – meaning therapists would earn more for higher costing treatments they deliver.

The lack of a defined model of pay leads to confusion as to whether therapists are classified as employees or independent contractors, something which according to the study remains “fuzzy”, further adding to salary confusion.

The study looked at 1,103 spas in the US across 870 different zip codes. Respondents ranged from employees in destination and resort spas to solo practitioners summarising that salary was the largest slice of the expense pie.