After Governor Cuomo of New York created a task force last year to address wage suppression and unethical practices at nail salons across the city, the task force has ordered a number of salons to pay back wages to workers who were either given less than minimum wage or who did not receive other pay that they legally deserved. Last year the New York Times ran a serious expose on nail salon workers who were being taken advantage of at work, and the task force was created soon after that.

The New York State Nail Salon Industry Enforcement Task Force was created last May. So far they have ordered 143 salons to pay over $2 million in damages and back wages to the 652 workers who were victims of these unethical payment practices. They have completed 383 of their planned 450 inspections and found 143 salons to be in violation of the laws. Some shops would pay workers a $4 or $5 an hour wage, or refuse to pay new technicians until they had finished their “training” periods which could last weeks into the jobs. The state minimum wage is $9 an hour. Employers were also found to have taken the cost of protective equipment like gloves and masks out of the employee’s paychecks, even though employers are responsible for providing protective equipment to workers.

As part of the task force’s crack down, they are also requiring salons to post a list of worksite safety requirements and wage expectations in view so employees know their rights. In order to be licensed salons will also have to ensure a bond or insurance policy that will cover business liabilities or back wages should an owner be asked to pay out wages that workers are owed. The governor also enacted laws last year that required licensing exams for technicians to be available in languages like Tibetan, Nepali, Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and English.

Cuomo said, “This administration is committed to stopping employers who exploit workers and deny them what they are rightfully owed.”

Salon owners think the measures are unfair. Some have said the premiums for bonds have been too high or that they have been generally difficult to obtain. A spokesman for the Department of Financial Services, Matt Anderson, said that may be because owners are trying to secure bonds through outside companies rather than through agents the task force has recommended.