Closed Salons and Lost Jobs: Unintended Consequences of the NYT Nail Salon Exposé

In more than a 100 interviews with nail salon workers and owners, the Epoch Times learned that it was common for immigrants with no education or skills to earn a $40,000 salary after two months of training at a nail salon. The caveat is that workers are paid in cash.

Jens Almroth/Epoch Times

NEW YORK—In May 2015, The New York Times published a harrowing investigative series documenting the exploitation of nail salon workers. On the surface, the story had the ideal muckraking impact. A journalist had shone a spotlight on injustice. New regulations ensued to protect the victims.

A day after the two-part series first appeared, Gov. Andrew Cuomo created a multiagency task force to inspect nail salons.

Three months later, the state mandated that salon owners must purchase wage bond insurance, which would allow workers to collect payment if owners failed to pay their employees at least minimum wage.

New York nail salon owners and workers protest at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y., on Feb. 29, 2016. AP Photo/Mike Groll