The city's nail salon industry remains rife with wage violations, a workers' advocacy group said in a report issued Tuesday.
The New York Nail Salon Workers Association conducted 98 surveys with women who worked at salons in all five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam counties.
"Our report finds widespread violations of both the subminimum base rate, as well as the tip credit. We found that four out of five surveyed nail salon workers experienced wage theft – and the amounts are staggering. The average loss of wages due to wage theft amounts to $181 per week, or $9,412 per year, a significant amount for a labor force of majority immigrant women low-wage workers, many of whom are the sole providers for their children," the report said.
The Nail Salon Workers Association was founded in 2016 after a lengthy investigation by the New York Times in 2015 found reports of exploitation, discrimination, abuse and wage theft were common in the industry. There are about 4,000 nail salons in New York City, the association estimates.
At a press conference Tuesday to announce the report, Sonia Morales spoke about her experiences working at a Bronx nail salon where the salon owner denied her and the other workers breaks to eat meals.
When Morales spoke up, the owner threatened to fire her without paying her. "Oftentimes there's fear speaking out and speaking up, when your rights aren't being respected. Oftentimes that's because we aren't aware of the rights that we do have," Morales said in Spanish through an interpreter at the press conference. "Day after day, these are injustices that we're having to face that we're having to work under."
Miriam Reyes said the salon she worked at closed abruptly January 8th without warning. She went to get her last paycheck and "they have an envelope waiting for me. For the last week I worked 25 hours and they only pay me $3," she said at the press conference. "It's clear to me that they don't care about the workers. It's all about their business and making a profit for themselves."
The report also found a "strong correlation" between increase in service price and decrease in wage theft.
"Cheap manicures dominate NYC's industry – 25 percent of salons charge less than $9 for a manicure, and 70 percent charge less than $12. Low prices translate into illegal poverty wages. At salons where manicures are $15 or less, workers experience an average of $123 in wage theft per week. At salons where manicures are $16 and higher, workers are paid an average of $58 more than the required minimum wage," the report said.
By the end of 2020, all nail salons in the state are required to pay employees minimum wage and overtime (tips can be part of the calculations). But advocates and some officials are calling for new legislation to prevent abuse and wage theft. The Nail Salon Accountability Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, would cost nail salons their licenses if they violate labor law. It is expected to be introduced this legislative session.
"New York State must pass the Nail Salon Accountability Act which would link business licensing and license renewal procedures with labor law compliance," the Nail Salon Workers Association said in their report. Compliance with the law must become part of the cost of doing business."
State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal said the salon patrons can also choose to make better choices. "The customers themselves should know that the people who are working on their hands and feet are people who suffer," she said at the press conference. "They are trying to make an honest living and yet they are deprived of their dignity, their health, and their wages."
