The massage parlors in Albuquerque seem to have bought their signs from the same sign company. Many of the signs are identical, the word \u201cMASSAGE\u201d in bright red letters against a white background.<\/p>\n
They are everywhere. I\u2019m beginning to think massage parlors have replaced payday lenders as the most common businesses in strip malls. There are websites where you can read reviews of the parlors in several New Mexico cities. To verify that, I googled an appropriate term (use your imagination), took a quick look, then clicked off within seconds and erased my browser history.\u00a0 I wanted to wash my computer.<\/p>\n
According to one recent news report, there are 849 massage businesses in Albuquerque.\u00a0 Some of them are quite legitimate, providing genuine health-related services.\u00a0 They identify themselves as therapeutic or medical and none have a big red sign out front.\u00a0 They also have a certificate of New Mexico licensure on the wall.<\/p>\n
Before I become too disgusted to continue, let me get to the point:\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet you dollars to donuts that these red-sign massage parlors don\u2019t have workers’ compensation insurance.<\/p>\n
The workers\u2019 compensation law requires that every business in New Mexico with three or more employees must have workers\u2019 comp insurance. There are a few narrow exemptions, but I assure you, no exemption applies to prostitution \u2013 or whatever these places are.<\/p>\n
If a business that comes under the coverage requirement doesn\u2019t have coverage and fails to obtain it, the Worker\u2019s Compensation Administration is empowered to take the business to court, obtain a court order and get a sheriff\u2019s deputy to padlock the doors.<\/p>\n
The WCA actually closed such a place once, quite a few years ago, when I worked there.\u00a0 In those days we didn\u2019t worry about what would happen to the young women who were put out of work.<\/p>\n
Today the situation would be different. Today there is a good chance that those young women are not there voluntarily but are human trafficking victims, possibly brought to the United States under false pretenses.<\/p>\n
Recently I\u2019ve been reminding my former colleagues at the WCA that they have the power to shut these businesses down and it\u2019s the work they ought to be doing. The public display of what appears to be prostitution upsets me a little bit; the likelihood that there are human slaves behind those doors upsets me much more.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another guess: I\u2019ll bet some of those businesses are not reporting wages and paying unemployment insurance tax to the Department of Workforce Solutions, using employees\u2019 real names. I\u2019ll bet they\u2019re not taking payroll deductions against employees\u2019 income tax and filing with the Taxation and Revenue Department.\u00a0 I seriously doubt they follow the laws regarding minimum wage and overtime, or OSHA safety rules.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t surprise me if they are violating local zoning laws, especially if the employees are living in the building.\u00a0 Zoning is a municipal issue.<\/p>\n
Finally, it\u2019s doubtful they have a New Mexico massage license.\u00a0 The state Massage Therapy Board, a division of the Regulation and Licensing Department, could probably close them down, if it had adequate staff.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that why that board exists?<\/p>\n
I started suggesting years ago, when I worked at the WCA, that it would make sense to have an inter-agency coordinating council for all the agencies that have a regulatory role in employment. I\u2019m suggesting it again.<\/p>\n
New Mexico has an interagency task force for human trafficking, as I wrote a few weeks ago. There is also an agency called Life Link, telephone 505-438-3733, that can coordinate services for the trafficked individuals, who will be greatly in need of help and support when they are freed from their captors.<\/p>\n
All those government agencies have enforcement capabilities. I don\u2019t know what their enforcement bureaus are doing, but those red signs tell me they are not doing enough.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2019<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The massage parlors in Albuquerque seem to have bought their signs from the same sign company. Many of the signs are identical, the word \u201cMASSAGE\u201d in bright red letters against a white background. They are everywhere. I\u2019m beginning to think … Continue reading