The countless nail salons in New York City and surrounding areas, as documented by a recent NY Times article, have recently been placed under the microscope in regards to wage and hour violations and hazardous working conditions. Several violations have become apparent such as these salons paying its workers way below the minimum hourly wage rate, no overtime pay, not being paid for all hours worked, and often not being paid at all. Last year, the Department of Labor launched its first ever investigative nail salon sweep and found almost 120 violations in just 29 salons that were surveyed.
As noted by the NY Times, these primarily undocumented workers flock to these positions in hopes of landing a stable enough position to support themselves or families back home and almost always never know that they are being paid incorrectly. New workers to salons will sometimes work up to three months as trial period without pay. Only when the owner deems they are ready, they are finally paid. Payment is usually processed at a day rate of around $20 – $30 dollars, amounting to $2.50 per hour or less when working their usual 12 hour work days. Even veterans to the profession confirm that these are industry wide violations that they have been facing for over 20 years.
Some salon owners in general have not denied these allegations of wage issues either and often try to excuse them by claiming that they have to pay workers this way in order to keep their businesses afloat. Governor Cuomo, however, is not sympathizing with the employer’s woes as he institutes emergency measures to protect nail salon workers effective immediately. Teams will be deployed to conduct inspections on nail salons in order to implement new rules to ensure correct payment of wages as well as protective measures requiring wearing the appropriate gear and ventilating salons in order to reduce the chemical fumes in the air. Signs will be posted, in several different languages, with the intent to help workers inform themselves of their rights. It is important to note that regardless of a worker’s immigration status, they are entitled to be paid correctly for all hours worked. Unfortunately this is another important piece of information widely unknown by immigrant workers which has ultimately led to the fear of speaking up against their place of work. This emergency plan will be in effect permanently for the months to come in hopes of turning the much ingrained wage issues and hazardous work conditions around.
The employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees. We frequently represent workers who are denied full compensation for their labor. Please contact us at (212) 300-0375 to schedule a free consultation to further discuss your rights. For more information, please visit our website at www.fslawfirm.com.