The Professional Beauty Federation (PBF), a nonprofit trade association that was formed in 1999 to give voice to the over 600,000-licensed barbering/beauty professionals in California, issued an alert and an offer to self-employed beauty and barber professionals: there is COVID relief aid that is unclaimed and PBF is making it easy to apply for these funds. 

The PBF created a self-guided, online portal to assist self-employed individuals recover income disrupted by the pandemic through FFCRA tax credits. Whether these disruptions happened in 2020 or 2021 or both, then they may be eligible for up to $32,220 under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. And, the PBF says, FFCRA money can be used without restrictions, unlike prior PPP funds or other federal loans.

“All of our beauty and barber professionals felt the financial pinch during the pandemic, and this is our chance as an association to help the industry get some much needed relief," says Fred Jones, PBF Legal Counsel and Advocate. "We’ve been helping employee-based salon owners for the past year apply and receive millions of dollars with ERC, and now we have an opportunity to help the self-employed — the true heart and soul of our beloved industry. Even if an independent beauty or barber worker received PPP, they still likely qualify. And if a self-employed professional qualifies, the money is theirs, free and clear with no need to apply for forgiveness.”

How to Apply 

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is a federal law passed in the US in 2020 to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and businesses. According to the alert from the PBF, qualified self-employed beauty and barbering taxpayers could receive sick leave credits up to $5,110 in each 2020 and 2021 if they were sick for any reason during the pandemic eligibility periods.

• Self-employed pros could also receive family leave credits worth up to $10,000 in both 2020 and 2021 if they had to care for someone, like a child stuck at home during those dreaded days of online schooling. This is a 100% refundable credit, which the vast majority of hair, skin and nails professionals are not even aware they are legally entitled.

• The PBF has invested in the launch of a completely automated, self-guided online submission process. Their goal is to make sure every self-employed professional maximizes their  share before the program ends. And to go the extra mile for beauty and barbering families, the PBF will allow the self-employed/1099 spouse or significant other of beauty and barbering pros to use the portal, even if they don’t work in the industry.

• PBF has partnered once again with Adesso Capital, a successful partnership that helped over 10,000 beauty professionals receive PPP forgivable relief funds and thousands of employee-based salon owners received ERC credits. Together, the PBF has injected over $30 million dollars back into the beauty industry in the past two years, successfully guiding beauty professionals through the sometimes complicated government applications.

For more information on how to apply, please go to www.ProBeautyRelief.com/ffcra.

About PBF

The PBFC is a nonprofit trade association that was formed in 1999 to give voice to the over 600,000-licensed barbering/beauty professionals in California to raise the professionalism of the beauty and barbering industry. While their mission has never changed, their scope of representation has expanded in recent years, as they blazed the reopening trail for all Personal Care professionals through two successive federal lawsuits against the California Governor, a coordinated, statewide #OpenSalonsNow grassroots campaign and most recently with their nationwide PPP and ERC assistance programs.

Earlier this year PBF launched a new credit card merchant services solution called ProBeautyPay that offers the lowest credit card processing fees along with free equipment. Last month PBF rolled out its healthcare solution for professionals called ProBeautyHealth, a free tele-health membership that allows professionals to receive immediate access to doctors on their phone for most ailments and avoid costly urgent care co-pays.