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Labor

department, massage
therapists square off

State doesn’t like
freelancers, says they should be employees

By John Waters Jr.

EDITOR

Although local massage therapists say they pay all taxes due the state from their labors, the state
doesn’t like it, and are taking employers of independent massage ther­apists to task.

That has at least one resort, Indian Springs Resort, going head-to-head against the state over the right to hire inde­pendent massage therapists.

According to Indian Springs’ general manager Erik Fair, the state Depart­ment of Labor Standards and Enforcement cited the resort nearly two years ago for per­mitting nearly 40 freelance massage therapists to work as independent contractors. Each of the violations comes with a $1,000 fine, leaving the resort facing nearly $40,000 in fines.   

Indian Springs owners John and Pat Merchant recently filed a writ of man­date in San Francisco Superi­or Court which will permit them to argue their case against the state’s ruling, a ruling which was upheld following an appeal by the resort in August, Fair said.

“The state says it’s about workers compensation employee and employee rights, like they say, but it’s really about so much more,” Fair said.

Not so, according to labor department rules, which generally state that to be an independent con­tractor, a massage therapist must be operating his or her own business. In this case, the labor depart­ment’s position is that Indi­an Springs was running the business, and then calling in massage therapists as scheduled.

Massage therapist Ann Renard, who works at Indi­an Springs, and her co-workers, have written let­ters to state representatives citing the benefits and neg­ative impacts of the labor department’s rules on their lives.

“I’m free to set my own schedule and work when I need to, and as much as I want to,” Renard said. “Being forced to work as an employee will take away that freedom, cost me more since we won’t likely be full-time employees … it will make our lives very complicated and we won’t be able to earn enough as regular employees. We will lose a lot of freedom. “Renard said the Indian Springs massage therapists have formed a coalition with the hope to begin to lobby the state regarding their position.

Indian Springs is not the first spa business that has gone head-to-headwith the state over its independent contractor rules.

The Calistoga Massage Center, once owned by Sab-rina Bounsall, came up against the labor depart­ment when an inspector filed a similar case on behalf of a former inde­pendent contractor. Boun­sall, too, was found in vio­lation and had to pay thou­sands of dollars in fines that eventually prompted her to sell the business, she said recently.

Article from:  The Weekly Calistogan, Calistoga, California, 10/29/09

See:   http://www.cacoinco.org