If you’re a California nail tech, we have some news that you’ll be very happy about: a new legislative deal is in the works that will restore California nail pros rights to work independently as booth renters.
In an exciting move, the Professional Beauty Federation has teamed up with the California Labor Federation to reverse the sunset provision of California Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) that has stripped nail techs of their right to booth rent. When their new legislative deal—soon to be amended into Assembly Bill 1514—is signed into law, nail techs and manicurists will regain their rights to work independently as booth renters, as currently enjoyed by other beauty pros in the hair, barbering, and skin segments.
“For over a year, we’ve worked alongside policymakers and stakeholders to address this inequity that unfairly targeted California manicurists,” said Fred Jones, Legal Counsel, and registered lobbyist for the PBF. “This legislative breakthrough will restore fairness to a vital segment of the beauty industry that has long been marginalized. But we know our work is done—true justice means permanent protections, which we will continue to advocate for notwithstanding this temporary victory.”
Assembly Bill 5’s Impact on California Nail Techs
For those unaware, AB 5 was originally signed into law in September 2019 with the goal of addressing the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, especially in the gig economy, and put in place the use of the “ABC test” to determine whether a person is an independent contractor or an employee. While AB 5 was first aimed at preventing the exploitation of drivers working for ridesharing and food delivery apps,the law has since come to impact other professions, such as nail techs, as certain exemptions have expired.
Back in 2019, the PBF successfully lobbied for an industry-wide exemption from AB 5, as the law would have wiped out all forms of booth rental in the professional beauty industry. However, a last-minute amendment added a sunset clause specifically targeting the nail segment. This exemption for nail salons and their techs expired on December 31, 2024. As a result, as of January 1st of this year, thousands of nail pros have not been able to operate independently without a salon and many nail salons have been put at risk of incurring severe fines.
How the PBF is Helping California Nail Techs Regain Their Rights
Thanks to strategic collaboration and persistent advocacy, the PBF is well on their way to restoring these rights for California nail pros through their new legislative deal. The PBF has forged an alliance with key Sacramento stakeholders to restore nail techs’ rights to work as independent contractors in nail salons. The result of this alliance will soon be seen in AB 1514, which will extend that sunset to give nail techs the same legal rights to operate as independent booth renters as all other barbering and beauty segments currently enjoy under the AB 5 exemption.
However, it should be noted that the bill will require state regulators to study the extent of any labor code violations in nail salons as a condition for any further sunset extensions or the possibility of a permanent removal of such ongoing sunsets, altogether—with the latter being the PBF’s strong preference. While this legislative compromise deal will have to be passed through the California Legislature and be signed into law by Governor Newsom, thanks to the coalition established by the PBF, its passing looks likely. In fact, the author of AB 1514 is the Assembly Labor Committee, all but assuring its passage. AB 1514 passed with unanimous, bipartisan support from that Committee on April 23, 205, and is now headed to the full Assembly
While some efforts to amend AB 5’s sunset on nail techs have been attempted in recent years without any success, AB 1514 stands set to deliver real, meaningful change for pros in the state of California.
For further details on AB 5 and the PBF’s ongoing efforts, be sure to visit www.beautyfederation.org/hottopics or follow @probeautyfederation on Instagram.
