The beauty industry offers great opportunities for work and entrepreneurship. However, states erect roadblocks by requiring barbers, cosmetologists, estheticians and nail technicians to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to attend schools and gain occupational licenses.

The time and money spent getting an individual license comes at a great cost to aspiring beauty professionals, who often incur significant debt meeting excessive personal qualifications in occupational licensing laws.

Rather than blocking entry into the beauty industry, states should leave hiring and training decisions to salon owners. Governments should simply inspect salons to protect public health and safety. Inspecting facilities is the same tried and true approach that governments use to regulate restaurants to protect consumers without creating needless barriers to workers earning a living.

IJ’s model Salon Inspection Act regulates salons instead of people. It repeals individual occupational licenses and replaces them with salon facility licenses and inspections. It sets sanitation standards for governments to inspect facilities to ensure salons are safe and clean. And it exempts safe beauty services, like simple shampooing and styling, from regulations. Finally, it allows consumers to bring a civil action in court against a salon if injured and recover attorney’s fees.

By enacting IJ’s Salon Inspection Act, state legislators can remove needless obstacles to work and empower salon owners–including franchisors and franchisees–to set their own qualifications for employment and training. It is the best means for states to protect consumers and provide opportunities for workers and entrepreneurs.