3 Greenwich Nail Salons Shut Down By State

GREENWICH, CT — Three Greenwich-based nail salons were issued stop work orders this week by the state Department of Labor, officials announced Friday. In all, 24 nail salons throughout Connecticut were shutdown under the stop work orders.

The closures, which are not necessarily permanent, were the result of investigations into various labor violations at the facilities. Those violations included "no worker’s compensation coverage, cash payments without maintaining required payroll records, and misclassifying employees as independent contractors."

The three shutdown Greenwich salons are:

• QQ Nail Spa, 522 E. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich
• La Bella Spa, dba Bonnie’s Foot Reflexology, 522 E. Putnam Avenue, Greenwich
• Rose Nail Salon, 253 E. Putnam Avenue, Cos Cob

In addition to Greenwich, five other Connecticut communities had nail salons in violation of state laws, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Hamden, Meriden and Milford.

"We appreciate the support of the community and thank the Department of Revenue Services and the Fairfield, Greenwich, Hamden and Milford police departments for their partnership and assistance in this day-long effort," said Wage and Workplace Standards Director Tom Wydra in a statement. "When employers play by the rules, appropriate taxes are paid to our state, unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation coverage is in place to protect workers, and taxpayers are not burdened by costs incurred when a business does not follow the law."

The stop work orders are not necessarily a death knell to the businesses. In such situations, "a business is unable to reopen until it provides proof that all deficiencies have been corrected," according to officials. Additionally, the state can fine a business for

those days it operated in violation, which amounts to $300 per worker per day of the
violations.

"Although we recognize the importance of keeping businesses open and employees on the job, our first responsibility is to ensure that workers are being paid correctly for the jobs that they do, and proper protections are in place should they get injured while on the job," said State Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby, adding that state officials are working with the closed businesses to get them into compliance, possibly as early as this weekend. "In promoting
workplace compliance, we help create a level playing field so employers doing the right thing can remain competitive."

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