How Professional Are You?
By Fred Jones, PBFC Legal Counsel
The Professional Beauty Federation of
California (PBFC) is a state-based, non-
profit trade association with the singular goal
of raising professionalism in our industry.
PBFC represents California’s beauty product
manufacturers, distributors, students, schools,
independent and chain salon owners, and
individual licensees.
As Legal Counsel and registered Lobby-
ist for the PBFC for the last decade, I have
had the privilege of speaking for all of you to
those charged with governing our State and
industry. I am proud to have been your voice
through PBFC helping foment the dynamic
change that has come to the beauty industry in
Sacramento.
There is no doubt in my mind that beauty
and barbering is the most grassroots, entre-
preneurial industry in California, made up of
the women and men who perform personal
beauty services on trusting clientele; it is you,
the beauty professional, who are the heart and
soul of our industry.
In the hair salon world, most of our
licensees work in a booth rental setting. Those
in nails are primarily employer-employee or
independent contractor based. Many salons
have a mixture of commission, independent
contractor, rental and employment arrange-
ments. Regardless of the official category, we
are all in the same industry boat. When a single
licensee harms one of those trusting clients, the
sinking tide of bad PR and negativity toward
the beauty industry lowers us all. It is impor-
tant we all strive to maintain the very highest
ethical, professional and safety standards.
One of the first bills PBFC sponsored
eight years ago, now law, requires all State
Board licensees to identify themselves on their
license renewal form as either an employer,
employee, or booth renter/independent
contractor. The intent of this law was to
encourage all of our professional stylists to
consider exactly who they were within their
individual salons, so that all of us would be
reminded of our individual business roles and
health and safety responsibilities.
Booth rental has swept throughout the
country like wildfire and has provided unpar-
alleled opportunities for business ownership.
This entrepreneurial spirit helps drive our in-
dustry, but as with any business venture, there
are responsibilities that come with being your
own boss. As a booth renter, the law consid-
ers you a sole proprietorship (self-employed),
charged with all of the legal, tax and regulatory
obligations of any stand-alone business; this
is the law, even though you may be operating
within a separately licensed establishment.
The IRS, Franchise Tax Board, State
Legislature and State Board are grappling with
various approaches to driving this point home
and holding booth renters accountable for
their legal and financial obligations, but this
realization should really begin and end with
each of you, as licensed professionals. Take a
moment to consider:
• Are you an employee or a separately
contracted booth renter?
• Do you buy and maintain your own equip-
ment and products?
• Do you pay for and exercise control over
your workspace?
• Do you set your own hours and maintain
your own appointment and financial books?
• Do you pay for your own advertisement?
• Do you maintain and pay for your own
individual professional and general liability
insurance coverage or health care benefits?
These are all criteria used by regulators
to determine whether you are, in fact and by
law, an independent sole proprietor operating
within a licensed establishment (i.e., Booth
Renter), or an employee to the salon owner.
Depending on which they determine you
are, you or the establishment owner could be
saddled with severe financial penalties, fines,
and back-taxes, not to mention civil liabilities
from harmed clients if you are not correctly
abiding by applicable employment law.
For the past couple decades, many beauty
schools have not been able to spend much
time on legal and business realities with their
students, so it is not surprising that so many
licensees are not aware of these serious issues
and consequences. In defense of the schools,
out-dated and overly micromanaged State
Board curriculum mandates have inhibited
their ability to spend adequate time on this
instruction; however, the State Board has
re-examined the license curriculum require-
ments and are in the process of reforming
school curricula to offer schools more latitude
to teach more modern-day trends, techniques,
technologies and business to their students.
Whether you are a booth renter or em-
ployee, all licensees have a legal and moral
obligation to adhere to the health and safety
laws regulating our industry, for the benefit
and protection of our trusting clients. If
you have chosen the entrepreneurial and
self-determinative path of renting your
workspace, be cognizant of your additional
ethical, legal and tax responsibilities to
city/county officials (e.g., business permits
and/or licensing), State Board regulators,
and State and Federal taxing agencies. With
the opportunities and freedom afforded a
booth renter to be her/his own boss come
the responsibilities of all other legitimate
independent businesses; we must all live up
to these responsibilities to be able to truly
call ourselves professionals.
For information about the PBFC, visit www.beautyfederation.org. To learn more
about how today’s laws affect you and your business, visit www.kassidys.com.