Labor dep’t: Bellmore salon to pay almost $30K in back wages, damages

Business also faces $8.3K in penalties

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A Bellmore spa is among a half-dozen Long Island nail salons that must pay a total of $203,000 in back wages, damages and penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

To date, the labor department has recovered $178,000 in wages and damages, according to an Aug. 24 release.

Department records indicate that Nails & Relaxation Spa III, on Sunrise Highway in Bellmore, has agreed to pay 27 employees close to $30,000 in back wages and damages, and it must pay $8,3016 in penalties.

“Nail salon workers cannot afford to be underpaid,” said Irv Miljoner, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Long Island District Office. “The industry employs vulnerable workers less likely to complain about unfair labor practices because of language barriers and fear of losing their jobs.”

Other salons cited in a labor department release include: Nails & Relaxation Spa I in Copiague, M B Relaxation Spa in Massapequa, Nails & Relaxation Spa IV in Ronkonkoma, Nails and Relaxation V in Farmingville and Aegean Spa & Nails in Babylon.

When called by the Herald Life, a man answered the phone at the Bellmore Nails & Relaxation Spa III. He did not identify himself and spoke broken English. He said he was neither the manager nor the owner, but said that the labor department report was erroneous. “I don’t owe people money,” he said. “I don’t owe. Everybody’s happy here.”

Nail salon workers are often paid in cash at the end of a business day, making it hard for labor department officials to track wage violations.

The department’s wage helpline can be reached at (866) 487-9243.