The professional beauty industry can expect politics to play an increasingly important role in how the industry conducts business and moves forward over the next several years.
As the voice of the professional beauty industry, PBA aims to keep its members and the entire beauty industry abreast of legislation that has the potential to affect their businesses, as well as provide a collective viewpoint to Congress and other government officials on the ramifications legislation could have on the industry.
Negative Impact: It is important to understand the proposed "card check" law, known as the Employee Free Choice Act. This law could have a significant effect on the beauty industry and many other "Main Street" businesses. Card check would make it cost-effective for unions to target such businesses as beauty and nail salons, spas, restaurants and other retail establishments, which have never experienced unionization before.
The law also would eliminate the secret ballot process currently used for unionization in the workplace and replace it with a card check system. Once a union persuades more than half of workers to sign membership cards, simply having that percentage of signed cards would automatically certify the union.
Without the secret ballot process, card check would expose employees to intimidation and bullying tactics from union organizers. Ultimately, it would deprive them of their right to vote in private. From large-scale beauty manufacturers to individual beauty professionals, this is a law that could have serious consequences for the beauty industry.
Positive Impact: On a happier note is the FICA Tax Credit for salons and spas. PBA has actively supported this legislation for the last several years. The bill's principal sponsor, Rep. Shelley Berkeley of Nevada, has retained her seat in the U.S. House and is poised to keep this issue a priority. Additionally, 2009 and 2010 are likely to be years in which we will see a flurry of tax legislation in Congress – giving our industry newfound opportunities to advocate for the FICA Tax Credit.
The FICA Tax Credit would give salon and spa owners a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on the FICA taxes paid on an employee's tip-income – employers currently do not share that income but are taxed on it – putting the professional beauty industry on equal footing with the restaurant industry. This legislation would significantly help the industry lower its tax liability and allow owners to further invest in their businesses and employees.
Positive Impact: Credit card interchange fees may be decreasing. For years, small businesses like salons, spas, restaurants and other merchants have been waging a quiet war with credit card companies over interchange fees – the hidden costs of processing credit and debit card transactions that can gobble up a store's profits while earning banks a pretty penny. With a new Congress now in power, we're likely to see the resurrection of the Credit Card Fair Fee Act.
This federal legislation would require credit card companies with substantial market power to negotiate with merchants and retailers on terms for fees paid when processing card transactions. Interchange is a percentage of each transaction that credit card companies collect from merchants on every purchase. The fee varies with type of card, size of merchant and other factors, but as much as $2 of every $100 consumers spend goes to card processors.
Positive Impact: At the state level, PBA is working on raising awareness with state legislatures about license mobility. Salon professionals can sometimes face state regulations that limit their ability to practice their craft and conduct business when moving across state lines. License mobility allows a licensed professional in good standing to qualify for licensure from one state to another without further examination.
To sign the petition and support other stylists across the nation, visit probeauty.org/licensemobility.
To learn more about other issues that have the potential to influence our industry or to get involved with PBA's government affairs efforts visit probeauty.org/advocacy or contact Sam Leyvas at sam@probeauty.org (800.468.2274 x3437).