Salon Standards Matrix Template

Use it before a new location opens, after a policy changes, or when clients notice that two of your salons handle the same thing differently. It fits nail salon, lash studio, hair salon and spa chains with two or more locations, and any group that lets location managers set some rules. The handbook and the front desk scripts can point to it.

Write one standard per row, named the way your team says it. In the shared rule column, write the rule every location follows. Add a location exception only when a location has a real reason to differ, and name that location and the reason. Every row needs an owner and the date the owner last approved it; a row without a date is not a standard yet. The rows below are examples, not your policy.

Download the blank template: CSV · Markdown (.md) · Word (.docx)

Read the exception column first. Each exception should name its location and a reason a client would understand; an exception nobody can explain is usually drift, and the owner decides whether to keep it or return to the shared rule. Then sort the rows by the last approved date:

• Rows older than your review cycle go back to their owner
• Rows that name a designated reviewer, such as cleaning, are checked against state and local rules before any lesson uses them
• The same exception at every location is really a new shared rule
• A standard with no owner waits, because nobody has approved it for training

This matrix is an outline for your own rules, not legal advice or a compliance review. The owner approves the shared rules, a named person approves each exception, and a designated reviewer checks cleaning and safety rows against the requirements where each location operates. For a chain across several states this matters: OSHA notes that states with their own OSHA-approved plans may set different or more stringent requirements. Once rows are approved in Company Knowledge, Elvina drafts lessons and job aids that show each location its shared rule and its own exceptions, available now, and your manager assigns them by role and location on the Learning Platform.

• Licensing, cleaning and safety requirements stay with your designated reviewers and licensed professionals.
• A location manager may propose an exception; only its named owner approves it.

Public sources, checked on the date shown.

• OSHA says federal OSHA standards apply to many of the potential hazards found in nail salons, and that OSHA-approved State Plans may have different or more stringent requirements. Source: https://www.osha.gov/nail-salons/standards (checked 2026-10-13).