posted on: 03/19/2020
We’ve been carefully watching the wave of coronavirus sweeping the United States. As of today, we’re contacting our legislators in Colorado to strongly encourage them to create a national financial package that would assist you—independent businesspeople and contractors—through this pandemic.It is not possible for us to email each of the 535 Senators and Congresspeople from one zip code location, so we encourage you to contact them.
ACTION: You can help in our efforts by contacting your local US legislators directly. Please follow the steps below—you can use the letter we suggest below or use your own words.
Every one of you has two Senators and one Representative. You can find your Senators here and your Representative here.
Once you locate your Senators and Representative, go to “Contact Me.” Pick “email about legislation” or something similar (individual states may differ on language). You will need to put in your zip code. That will take you to a new page where you will be required to enter your contact information. The next link usually provides scroll-down options for issues. Pick the issue closest to “economy” or “labor and employment.” We suggest using a subject line that describes what you would like to see in legislation. For example, “Support Independent Contractors in COVID-19 Relief Legislation.”
In your correspondence, explain to them how this pandemic negatively affects your income and livelihood. The more voices they hear and the louder we are collectively, the more impact we can have.
Here is the letter we suggest you use:
March 19, 2020
Dear Congressperson or Senator:
I’m writing to you today as a member of a trio of professional associations serving the cosmetology industry—Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP), Associated Hair Professional (AHP), and Associated Nail Professionals (ANP), representing more than 25,000 members practicing in each of our 50 United States. We are the heart and soul of the beauty industry—part of a larger community of more than 1 million professionals and businesspeople whose livelihoods are suspended right now due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
We’ve carefully watched the wave of coronavirus sweeping the United States. This week we have received warnings to temporarily shutter our practices in an effort to help combat the spread. Doing so cuts off our livelihood, but we understand the importance.
I am writing to strongly encourage you to create a financial package that would assist independent business people and contractors through this pandemic.
The reality is most of us practitioners are independent contractors, not employees, and are therefore not entitled to unemployment benefits. Most of us are sole proprietors and don’t operate in a formal small business framework, so we fall outside the parameters of emergency small business loans.
Consider, for instance, the average professional is an independent business person or contractor. The median annual income a our profession can anticipate is less than $35,000. This averages out to $600 per week. From this income, we must allocate funds to pay our rented workspace, supplies, and other work-related expenses, along with the basic requirements all of us have—shelter, food, support for our families.
We strongly encourage you to consider including those who work as independent contractors when drafting COVID-19 related financial assistance. Providing cash benefits to these individuals impacts them, their businesses, their families, and their communities.
We thank you for your consideration and welcome further conversation. When this pandemic clears, our country will need our therapeutic services more than ever. We appreciate you helping our practitioners now and moving forward.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Member
Associated Skin Care Professionals
Associated Hair Professionals
Associated Nail Professionals
Thank you for using your voice and supporting our professions. Be safe. For reference, here is the letter sent by AHP:
March 19, 2020
Dear Congressperson or Senator:
I’m writing to you today as a member of a trio of professional associations serving the cosmetology industry—Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP), Associated Hair Professional (AHP), and Associated Nail Professionals (ANP), representing more than 25,000 members practicing in each of our 50 United States. We are the heart and soul of the beauty industry—part of a larger community of more than 1 million professionals and businesspeople whose livelihoods are suspended right now due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
We’ve carefully watched the wave of coronavirus sweeping the United States. This week we have received warnings to temporarily shutter our practices in an effort to help combat the spread. Doing so cuts off our livelihood, but we understand the importance.
I am writing to strongly encourage you to create a financial package that would assist independent business people and contractors through this pandemic.
The reality is most of us practitioners are independent contractors, not employees, and are therefore not entitled to unemployment benefits. Most of us are sole proprietors and don’t operate in a formal small business framework, so we fall outside the parameters of emergency small business loans.
Consider, for instance, the average professional is an independent business person or contractor. The median annual income a our profession can anticipate is less than $35,000. This averages out to $600 per week. From this income, we must allocate funds to pay our rented workspace, supplies, and other work-related expenses, along with the basic requirements all of us have—shelter, food, support for our families.
We strongly encourage you to consider including those who work as independent contractors when drafting COVID-19 related financial assistance. Providing cash benefits to these individuals impacts them, their businesses, their families, and their communities.
We thank you for your consideration and welcome further conversation. When this pandemic clears, our country will need our therapeutic services more than ever. We appreciate you helping our practitioners now and moving forward.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Member
Associated Skin Care Professionals
Associated Hair Professionals
Associated Nail Professionals
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES, PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR UPDATES PAGE, "BACK TO PRACTICE GUIDE FOR HAIR PROFESSIONALS" TO LEARN MORE.