May 19, 2015
The details sparked an outrage.
Workers had to pay for their own training. Minimum wage and overtime were a fantasy – employees were systematically underpaid. Business owners were often racist. All of this happened in a work environment where chemicals flooded nasal passages, possibly causing sore throats, asthma and miscarriages.
That sad story was revealed in a New York Times series on the working conditions in nail salons in New York City published earlier this month. Readers began to ask whether it was ethical to have their nails done at all.
While the series detailed conditions in New York City, what about practices in the more than 2,000 nail salons in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania?
“Gov. [Tom] Wolf is aware of recent reports surrounding nail salon workers in New York and he believes that what has been reported is very concerning,” Jeff Sheridan, his spokesman, said in an email. “The governor will review current regulations and practices and will make changes as necessary.”
There's been no surge of complaints by nail salon workers in Pennsylvania, according to officials at several government agencies. They added, however, that they largely enforced regulations by reacting to complaints - if complaints aren’t made, they likely wouldn’t investigate. The agencies that responded to PhillyVoice comprise some, but not all, of the departments that oversee aspects of nail salon operations in the state.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, which regulates the state minimum wage and overtime rules, is set up to receive complaints from workers who believe an employer is breaking the rules. The department has not received any recent complaints from nail workers regarding labor law violations, according to department spokesman David Eckelmann.
“What I can tell you, we haven’t had any, there really haven’t been any complaints by any workers in the industry to our labor compliance line,” Eckelmann said. “We just haven’t received them.”
Under state law, nail technicians are considered tipped employees. This means they must be paid a base wage of $2.83 an hour. If their tips don’t elevate their wage up to the regular minimum of $7.25 an hour, the employer is supposed to make up the difference. The New York Times investigation said this rarely happened in that city’s salons.
“We really don’t have the ability to do much proactively,” Eckelmann said about his department's capability of investigating problems in the industry. “We don’t have personnel and resources to go to all these businesses.”
Eckelmann said additional federal labor laws would fall under enforcement by the U.S. Department of Labor. That agency did not answer questions by deadline.
“Our responsibilities are to issue and renew licenses to salons as well as nail technicians, to investigate complaints and to take disciplinary action if necessary,” said Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
She said the department’s Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation issues about 35 citations per year to licensed nail salons and around 20 per year to licensed nail technicians – mostly for operating or working without a license.
Chemical and health safety issues are handled by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, according to the city’s Department of Public Health. OSHA did not respond to questions by deadline.
“We respond to complaints,” said Jeff Moran, a spokesman with the city's health department. The agency deals with odor complaints – one report in 2015 and six last year. Of a total of 11 complaints received in the last five years, two resulted in violations.
Readers of The Times series wanted to know how they could patronize nail salons that followed the law. Its author, Sarah Maslin Nir, gave a few tips, which included asking your manicurist about conditions and being willing to pay more - if it feels cheap, workers are probably being exploited, she said. Some in Philadelphia are unsure whether they should patronize the industry anymore.
“I hope that I’m not going to go back again,” said Theresa Conroy, who owns a yoga studio in the city and had visited nail salons for regular pedicures. “I think what I’m going to do is be the yoga teacher with calloused feet.”
Conroy said she was embarrassed that the possibility of workers being abused had never crossed her mind before.
“I’m embarrassed for every pedicure I’ve ever received,” she said, adding that if she gets one done in the future, she’ll likely do so at a more expensive spa.
One option for Pennsylvania may be to watch the actions of New York, whose officials enacted emergency measures after The New York Times series. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo set up a task force earlier this month to investigate practices at individual salons. Businesses that don’t comply with the law, or won’t provide back wages, may be shut down, The Times reported.
New York’s health department also will study how to better ensure that nail salon workers don’t face serious health risks.
Sheridan, Wolf's spokesman, said there was no timeline set for Pennsylvania’s review of current regulations.
