We have probably forgotten the times when manicure was meant only for special occasions. Today, it has become a grooming staple for almost all women, especially in the countries that can be considered not underdeveloped economically. Looking at nice nails, one could hardly think about the exploitation, underpayment, and various types of abuse that manicurists endure.
The data show that there are more than 17,000 nail salons all over the United States. But it is not what surprises; what really fascinates is that the number of nail salons, for example, in New York has grown in more than three times since 2002 (Nir par. 6). What is even more astonishing is the conditions the manicurists work in not to mention how they get the job.
Once a woman decided to fill the vacancy of the manicurist in any nail salon, she, first of all, should make sure that she has the set of necessary manicure tools required for getting the position. In addition to it, she should bring $100 to $200 as the so-called training fee (Nir par. 36). It may sound bizarre, but the fact of the matter is that the owners of nails salons charge potential manicurists with this sum for offering them the position. Nevertheless, it does not mean that a woman can now start working and get the fair wage.
What she pays for is some kind of trial period that usually lasts for three months during which the boss will decide whether she can have the job. In fact, the manicurist will not be paid for these three months; all she will receive is meager tips. When the boss decides that a woman has enough skills to fill the position, she will get the job. What she receives is $30 a day with some possible tips and 10- to 12-hour shifts (Nir par. 2, 4-5). When speaking of the working conditions of the manicurists of the New York nail salons, there is the following general trend:
A vast majority of workers are paid below minimum wage; sometimes they are not even paid. Workers endure all manner of humiliation, including having their tips docked as punishment for minor transgressions, constant video monitoring by owners, even physical abuse. (Nir par. 7)
In fact, $30 a day may sound like a dream wage because in most cases the starting wage of the manicurist is $10 a day. With a workweek of 66 hours, they are usually paid less than $1.5 per hour not to mention charges for drinking water, verbal and physical abuse, and being left without wage at all on days when there were no customers. Moreover, manicurists are often given fake names chosen by their bosses, so that it is impossible to know who they really are. Bearing in mind that most workers are illegal immigrants and have very poor English, this step is just a matter of guaranteeing the safety and prosperity of the business. In fact, who would care about some “Sherry” if she does her work right?
These abysmal low wages can be easily explained by the low price of the service. Keeping in mind that the price for the manicure is around $10, and most manicurists serve 5 to 15 customers per week (“Nails Magazine: Industry Statistics” 78), this wage seems to be fair even though it is far beyond the minimum hourly rate. In most cases, nail salon owners acknowledge that they pay too little, but they claim that it is the only way for making their businesses last because they are small and cannot make it otherwise. What is interesting is that, for example, in New York, the state authorities permit the employers to pay low wages to the manicurists because the latter are considered to be tipped employees. However, the issue here is that the rate can be just slightly less than $8.75 established by the state (Nir par. 42). It is far from $1.5 to 3 offered by the nail salons owners.
In addition to that, there is the ranking of workers in the salons based on which they get paid. For example, “big job” employees are those who practice the most complicated nail techniques. Respectively, they are the luckiest because they can get up to $80 a day. The next rank is “medium job” employees who do regular manicures and receive around $35 to $40 a day. Finally, there are “little job” workers who are the beginner manicurists usually involved in cleaning and bringing towels and making pedicure. Their wages are the lowest (Nir par. 43).
The underlying reason for such low prices and, respectively, wages is the number of the nail salons that open nearly every week. This business is attractive because it is inexpensive when it comes to investments. What is more important, only several licenses are required to open the salon that can be easily received if not ignored at all. Pedicure chair, manicure table, a few bottles of nail polish and nail polish remover, and some illegal immigrants happy to work for peanuts – here is the recipe for entering the business (Nir par. 30).
What is also curious about the manicure business is that there is some kind of established ethnic caste system with most manicurists being Spanish and Chinese. Together with that, most owners of small nail salons are not Americans; they are Koreans. In fact, seventy to eighty percent of salons in New York belong to them. You might be questioning why Koreans open businesses, but do not hire other Koreans. The answer is simple – they easily find positions that are highly paid. Even if they work as the manicurists, they usually get up to 30 percent more than the representatives of other ethnic minorities. So, ethnicity is another criterion for inequality and discrimination. Except for that, there are other sources of bias, for example, looks of the manicurists, as many customers, especially male, want to be served by well-looking women.
So, what can be said about the New York nail business is that, first of all, the number of nail salons continually grows because it is easy to get into the business. As well grows the number of non-employers (U.S. Census par. 1). Second, it is the area of work where the employees are constantly underpaid and verbally, morally, and physically abused. Earning from $10 to $80 a day, their wages are far from the minimum rate, especially bearing in mind that the manicurists usually work 10 to 12 hours a day. What is even more crucial, this injustice goes far beyond the working places where they are also given fake names because, with such wages, they cannot afford normal living conditions. That said, there is a lot of ugliness behind nice nails, and the price for them is really high.
Works Cited
Nails Magazine: Industry Statistics. 2015. Web.
Nir, Sarah Maslin. “The Price of Nice Nails.” The New York Times. 2015. Web.
U.S. Census. Nonemployer Statistics. 2013.