Incident Reports, Safety and Commissions

This page explains how to file an incident report, what a report triggers, the safety rules that carry the most serious consequences, and how commission terms are set. This page summarizes the Incident & Injury Reporting Policy (Incident and Injury Reporting), which governs.

When to file an incident report

File a report the same day when something goes wrong: a bite, a clipper injury, a dog that collapses during handling, or a confrontation with a customer that crossed a line. File promptly. Memory fades quickly and detail is the purpose of the report. A report filed days later reads as an after-the-fact account even when it is honest.

If you are unsure whether an event counts as an incident, file it at Low severity. Reporting an event that turns out to be minor costs nothing. Failing to report a real incident costs a great deal: an unreported bite makes the next bite look like a first occurrence, and the salon's record is weakened.

Requirements for the report

File through the Add Incident Report action in the employee portal. The report requires

• Severity, from a fixed list only: Low, Medium, High, or Critical. Choose honestly. As a guide: a minor clipper injury that drew a small amount of blood and was cleaned is Low; a bite that broke skin is at least Medium; breathing difficulty, collapse, or uncontrolled bleeding is High or Critical.
• Description, required, up to 4,000 characters. Write what happened, in order, with times where you know them. State what was happening, what the dog did, what you did, and what the outcome was. A single sentence such as "dog snapped during nail trim" is not a sufficient report.
• Action taken, up to 2,000 characters. Record the response: work stopped, manager notified, customer called, veterinarian contacted, first aid applied.
• Appointment link, where applicable. If you name an appointment, it must be an appointment assigned to you; a link to another groomer's appointment is refused. The pet defaults to the appointment's pet, or you may name a pet directly.

To file

1. Open Add Incident Report in the employee portal.
2. Select the severity.
3. Write the full description in order.
4. Record the action taken.
5. Link the appointment or name the pet, where applicable.
6. Submit the report the same day.

What the report triggers

Incident reports form part of the salon's safety record, governed by the Incident & Injury Reporting Policy (Incident and Injury Reporting), which governs. Patterns across reports: the same groomer, the same breed, the same service: are how recurring problems are found.

Safety rules are governed by the Pet Safety and Handling, which governs. The most serious violations include striking a pet, leaving a pet unattended on a table or in a heated dryer, working while impaired, and concealing an injury. Concealing an injury is itself in that category. Filing an honest report about your own mistake is how you stay on the right side of that line: the report protects the person who reports honestly.

A medical-distress event also updates the dog's handling profile and its handling notes, so the next groomer knows what happened before handling the dog again. See Intake and Handling Profiles.

Conduct consequences are governed by the Groomer Conduct & Enforcement Policy (Groomer Conduct and Enforcement Policy), which governs.

Commissions

Commission terms: rates, any division between services and retail, tip handling, and any minimum guarantees: are commercial terms stated in the commission arrangement that applies to you. Commission terms are governed by the Groomer Compensation & Commission Terms (Groomer Compensation and Commission Terms), which governs.

Until a commission arrangement is recorded for your role

1. Do not quote commission terms to new hires.
2. Do not promise a split percentage to any person.
3. Do not assume a default rate exists, because none applies unless it is recorded.

When an arrangement is recorded, payroll calculations follow it. Keep any pay arrangement agreed at hiring in writing.