Last May, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo asked that labor investigators begin more serious investigations into the nail salons after the New York Times published an expose into the low wages and poor working conditions. The Labor Department found that nearly 40% of the salons were underpaying there employees adding up to $1.1 million in owed wages. Many of these employers reportedly were not trying to underpay their employees, but did just not understand all of the details within the state labor laws.
See "Nail Salon Sweeps in New York Reveal Abuses and Regulatory Challenges", KIM BARKER and RUSS BUETTNER, The New York Times, March 1, 2016