Some local cosmetologists, barbers and other salon technicians are saying their case is cut and dried - they did not know the rules of their profession had changed at the state level and as a result they were fined for things they had been doing for years.
But the Texas Cosmetology Commission said the rules were accessible if they would have just looked at them.
This difference of opinion resulted in a sometimes terse meeting between the technicians and the TCC at Green Acres Baptist Church a couple of weeks ago.
On Monday, local barbers, beauticians, nail technicians and others are scheduled to vote on officers for a new entity to represent them in Austin - the East Texas Association of Salon Service Professionals. The meeting is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Appearances by Richard & Lisa in Tyler.
Andrew Hall, an independent contractor cosmetologist at Mirror Mirror Salon in Tyler, said the association is for cosmetologists, barbers, estheticians, nail technicians, massage therapists and "basically anybody who can work in a salon setting."
Hall said the association's main grievance is the Texas Cosmetology Commission did not publish a new rule book for 2005 until two weeks ago, yet it inspected East Texas shops in February under the new rules and issued fines for violations to the new rules.
A common fine was for shops not posting their business hours, Hall said.
TCC Executive Director Antoinette Humphrey said the commission did not make any new rules, but it changed the fine amounts. Some violations that used to be a warning on first offense are now a fine.
She said the Texas Legislature mandates new rules be posted in the Texas Register, but it does not require a new book to be printed. Ms. Humphrey said the expense would prohibit contact by the commission to let the technicians know about rule changes anyway.
Fines and fees collected total $9.4 million per year, but the legislature appropriates $2.4 million for its actual spending budget, Ms. Humphrey said.
Hall, however, countered that the TCC "can afford to hire a legal person to write all these fines up, because it is a legal contract."
He also said the Texas Register is accessible online, but many people do not use computers.
"A lot of these people were born in the '30s and the '40s and they are not of the computer generation," Hall said. "They have no way of keeping up with the changes unless someone in the shop keeps them up on it. This would not happen in any other line of work."
He said restaurants found to have rats in the kitchen get a recheck.
"We get a fine because our hours aren't posted? We can't help but think this is a personal vendetta," Hall said. "All of these people who received fines have never received fines, and some of these people have worked 40 years and never received a fine. But the state is having troubles with their budget and now they're out fining everyone."
Tyler barber Frank "Gene" Tannery, owner of Tannery's Haircuts Etc., said he and others hope the association will spread across the state. It should be started, he said, "to make sure that we're not going to be abused by any state agency."
Barbers and beauticians have never had any problems with the rules, Tannery said.
"Even the toughest inspectors that we have ever had would work with us," he said.
But Tannery said he and others at his shop started receiving fines in the mail for violations found in a February inspection.
"The fines in my shop right now, including me and the others, total $975," he said. "I've been in the business now over 40 years and have never been fined."
Glenn Parker, executive director of the Texas State Board of Barber Examiners, said the TCC and TSBBE in December 2004 entered into an interagency contract that allows inspectors with either entity to inspect all shops. Previously the TSBBE inspected both barber and cosmetology shops and the TCC inspected only cosmetology shops.
Parker said a TCC inspector is assigned to inspect all of the shops in East Texas.
Previously a sunset commission studied the TSBBE and TCC and determined the barbering and cosmetology industry still needed regulation, but the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation could perform it more effectively. The department will take over regulation of these businesses in September.
Ms. Humphrey and Parker said this was probably in the best interest of all parties.
The TDLR brings in more than $10 million per year and can spend all $10 million, "so imagine who's in a better position to oversee the cosmetology and barber industry," Ms. Humphrey said.
Source from http://www.zwire.com
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