NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF COSMETIC ART EXAMINERS Recommendation Follow-Up REQUIRED LEGISLATIVE CHANGE

Transcription

1 NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF COSMETIC ART EXAMINERS Recommendation Follow-Up RECOMMENDATION The Board should develop specific procedures for its operations which clearly indicate its role as industry leader, define its fiduciary responsibilities of consumer protection, and outline specific actions which should be taken by Board members. The procedures should contain a clear definition of the role of the Board in developing policy for operations. Additionally, the procedures should address the Board s role in oversight of the Executive Secretary and staff in the operations of the Board. Procedures should address all current Board functions necessary to complete its responsibilities and should be available for each member s use. Once the procedures are in place, the Board should require strict adherence to the procedures in all areas. Finally, the Board should establish an orientation program for new Board members. The Board should immediately develop a long-range plan for operations. This plan should contain clear statements of policy and direction for the Board and staff. The plan should provide specific goals and objectives to be achieved by the Board, as well as specific steps to take to achieve its objectives. The plan should also detail the ways technology can be used to enhance Board operations. Yes Yes A complete set of Board Operating Instructions (BOI) was developed in Spring They address the role of the Board, operations policy, and orientation. Each Board member was issued a copy of the BOIs. They are reviewed on an annual basis. A Cosmetic Arts Board Action Plan was initiated in January 1997 and in each year thereafter, outlining goals for the following year. The goals made were specific and realistic. Technology has been a prime part of agency operations with continuous improvements made to the data processing system throughout the past three years. Efficiency of operations continues to be emphasized. 1

2 The Board should request a revision to the General Statutes to allow for annual renewal of cosmetologist licenses. Annual renewals should be staggered throughout the year to even out the workload over the year. This revision should enable management to better structure the operational workload of the office staff and provide efficient service to the cosmetic art community. Additionally, changing the revenue flow to a more consistent one will enhance the Board s ability to effectively manage its operations. The Board should perform an analysis of its entire fee structure. This analysis should include the costs associated with providing each service supported by these fees. Once the analysis has been completed, the Board should develop a fee schedule which will adequately support its operations and request the General Assembly to adopt the new fee schedule. Specifically, examination fees should be increased to a level that will cover the cost of the examination. The Board should examine ways to strengthen its enforcement options and seek authority from the General Assembly to assess fines for certain types of violations. In our opinion, the Board should develop a system of citations and graduated fines for non-compliance with its standards and regulations. License renewals and grades for salons should be directly tied to conditions observed during inspections. When unacceptable conditions are found, a citation should be issued by the inspector and a fine imposed. License renewal should be made contingent upon payment of the fine and correction of the unacceptable conditions. Citations associated with graduated fines would provide an extra incentive to the salon owners to serve clientele in the proper environment. Yes 88B-21b November 1, 1998 No Yes 88B-20(a) September 1, 1999 No Yes November 1, 1998 No Authorization to implement a staggered renewal of cosmetologist licenses was enacted via legislative change. Implementation of a staggered renewal will begin in October An analysis of the fee structure was conducted and it was determined that the examination fees needed to be increased to meet the costs of the Board. The General Assembly agreed and allowed the Board to set exam fees to meet their costs (Senate Bill 29). The Board received authorization for license suspension or revocation along with the authority to assess civil penalties via Senate Bill

3 Management should immediately train staff on the proper method for analyzing the information provided by the contracted service organization. Step-by-step procedures for use by the Board s staff in certifying candidates for professional registration should be developed. These procedures should be formalized as soon as possible and distributed to all staff. Inspections of all cosmetology salons and schools should be conducted on a timely basis, as required by regulations. Management should immediately identify all cosmetology salons which have not had an inspection within the last year, especially newly opened cosmetology salons, and all schools which have not been inspected within the required time frame. The Executive Secretary and the Inspections Officer should devise work schedules with each inspector which will allow the Board to comply with the inspection requirements as codified in the North Carolina Administrative Code. The schedules should be closely monitored by the Inspections Officer, with periodic reports to the Executive Secretary. Board members should be apprised at least annually of the status of inspections. If inspections are not being conducted timely, then the Board and the Executive Secretary should determine the cause and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation. Yes Yes Operating Instruction 300-3, Grade Reporting, was developed for employee use in reporting correct grades as received from our testing service, Schroeder Measurement Technologies. The agency has been focused on the timely completion of all inspections since this discrepancy was first identified. In 1997 and 1998, all salons were inspected in a one year period. Our goal was to increase inspection frequency, especially after the General Assembly required all manicuring and esthetics salons to be licensed. Consequently, the Board hired three additional inspectors in July 1999, enabling all salons to be inspected once in a seven month period. Finally, this month we hired one more employee to conduct inspections. As a result, we can now inspect all salons twice each year, a huge accomplishment for our enforcement program. 3

4 The Executive Secretary, with approval by the Board, should develop a specific training program for the inspectors. The training should include detailed procedures on the conduct of an inspection, periodic continuing education sessions, and direct involvement and monitoring of the implementation of the procedures by the Inspections Officer. Periodic meetings for the inspectors should be scheduled to provide updates on procedural changes and to promote constructive dialogue on the appropriate procedures for handling circumstances encountered during inspections. Yes Yes Our top inspector was assigned to be the agency Training Officer in late The purpose of this position was to provide one-on-one training for all inspectors covering the essential aspects of cosmetic art inspection. This training is provided to each of 14 inspectors once annually. The Training Officer actually rides with the inspector to observe and provide assistance with proper inspection procedures. Working closely with the Inspections Officer, the Training Officer has achieved fair and consistent inspections throughout the State. Following a training session, the Training Officer provides the Director with an inspector performance evaluation and recommendations for performance improvement. Operating Instructions were also developed to cover inspection procedures. Semi-annual meetings are scheduled for the inspection section to discuss performance, procedures, and sanitation. They have been very helpful and have improved section morale. 4

5 The Executive Secretary, with approval by the Board, should develop a new format for the weekly inspections reports required from the inspectors. The report should include information on all shops inspected such as date, amount of time required, grade given, amount of fees and penalties collected. Comments on any situation which needs to be followed up and a specific date set for follow up should be noted on the report. Yes A determination should be made as to whether a weekly itinerary is necessary. If the Executive Secretary deems it necessary, then the policy should be enforced. Yes Both the salon inspection report and the inspector's weekly report have been revamped to include places for useful information. This information is then used to develop a Weekly Field Staff Report, which is, in turn, submitted to the Director. Both the Salon Inspections Officer and the School Inspections Officer feel the weekly itinerary is essential. As such, the Director has allowed the supervisors to continue requesting this report from their inspectors. 5

6 Procedures should be developed which will allow inspectors to obtain information on normal operating hours from each cosmetology salon in the region. The Board should also require cosmetology salon owners to notify it if they move or permanently close their salons. Management should clearly define the standard work schedule for inspectors and their time should be closely monitored by the Inspections Officer. Home office hours should not be allowed on days reported as sick leave or vacation, unless prior approval have been received from the Inspections Officer. Compensatory time should be approved in advance to the extent possible and should be applied consistently for all inspection duties. Management should immediately enforce compliance with state budget regulations regarding commuting time and reimbursement for expenses. Yes Yes Fully implemented Partially implemented 75% complete (Explain below) As a routine, inspectors are trained to obtain days and hours of salon operation. This information is documented on salon index cards along with directions to the salon location. The Training Officer and the Salon Inspections Officer ensure inspectors follow this procedure by reviewing the index cards of each inspector during training visits. The Board does not require salons to notify us of closure. Our frequency of inspection will not allow us to promptly identify any closed salons. The Board's law does require a salon to reapply for a license when a licensed salon changes locations. Soon after time discrepancies were noted, new operation instructions were developed to address inspector work time and overtime situations. Worker time is now closely monitored and documented. 6

7 The Board should direct the Executive Secretary to immediately develop specific procedures for handling and investigating complaints. A computer database should be developed which tracks all complaints. The Board should periodically review the status of complaints. Complaints which involve injury to a client by a licensee regulated by the Board should be reviewed by the Board for possible disciplinary action. The Board, in conjunction with its attorney, should clearly identify what legal actions it can now take. If the current legal remedies are not adequate in the opinion of the Board, then it should propose, for consideration by the General Assembly, necessary legislative changes to strengthen sanctions. Yes Yes 88B-24 November 1, 1998 No An operating instruction addressing investigations and complaints was developed in October Since then, our Enforcement Officer has handled complaints very well. A computer data base was set up to track complaints through their resolution. Furthermore, agency inspectors receive training on investigation procedures. Senate Bill 916 authorized the Board to restrict, suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue, renew, or reinstate any license for a variety of violations. 7

8 The Board should propose a change in legislation to the General Assembly that would give the Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners responsibility for all manicurists and nail stylists. The Board should develop programs for identifying all existing manicurists and nail stylists salons, determine what modifications may be needed to the current manicurists examination, and proceed to license them. Procedures should be developed for periodic monitoring of these types of salons similar to the health and sanitation inspections now conducted on cosmetology salons. The Board should authorize the Executive Secretary to obtain the services of a contracted computer programmer to help in the development and implementation of specialized programs for Board operations. Programs should address such issues as proper accounting for revenues, fines, and penalties. Additionally, programs should be developed to process and issue licenses and maintain a database on all licensees. Such steps would give the Board and the Executive Secretary more meaningful data on which to base operational decisions. By employing technology, the efficiency of overall operations should also be improved. Yes 88B November 1, 1998 No Yes Senate Bill 916 also required all manicurists and manicuring salons to be licensed no later than November 1, A grandfather clause allowed all participating manicurists to sit for the Board exam without having to produce proof of training. We have licensed many new manicurists via the grandfather route and are currently licensing nail salons that had not already applied for a license. It's a long process but we've had a good start in getting the task done. Upgrading technology in the Board's offices has been made a high priority. In fall 1996, the Board contracted with a computer programmer to develop and upgrade the licensee database. Additionally, a new accounting and licensing program was installed to enhance agency efficiency. Programs were put to the test during the triennial cosmetologist renewal of October 1998 resulting in a huge success. Continual improvements are now an ongoing process of our data system. 8

9 The Board should develop a method of issuing licenses which omits personal data on the license itself except for the name of the licensee. The license should contain a permanent license number. A computer database should be developed and maintained for license records which would allow information to be extracted as needed. The permanent number should identify the type of license, county location, and the assigned personal identification number. Further information, such as year of issuance, could be incorporated into the permanent number, perhaps at the end. This would allow for easier access to the relevant fields of information and allow staff to better track each licensee. Besides providing consistency in identifying that licensee over a period of time, a history would be created for that person under only one number. The Board should immediately review its guidelines for the recording of time and the administration of overtime pay/compensatory leave. The Executive Secretary should devise a time reporting system which captures the necessary level of detail to document hours worked and leave earned and taken. The time report should be signed and dated by both the individual employee and the supervisor. All time worked in excess of 40 hours per week should be approved in advance. Additionally, specific written procedures for recording time and requesting and approving overtime should be developed and distributed to all employees. Yes Yes The Board's computer licensing program was updated to eliminate personal data from the license form that is posted in the workplace. A permanent license number is assigned to each licensing applicant. This number and the applicant's name are the only items that appear on the license itself. Personal information is only printed on the licensee's wallet card. New procedures for recording time worked and for addressing the issue of overtime and compensatory leave have been in place since Fall Written instructions were developed and distributed, and all employees were briefed on this policy. 9

10 The Board should immediately modify its cash handling procedures to require each inspector to send all collections into the Raleigh office daily for deposit. Additionally, inspectors should be instructed to refrain from depositing any state funds into their personal checking accounts. The Executive Secretary should obtain pre-printed and pre-numbered receipt books for use by the inspectors. Procedures should be developed to account for the receipt books and to periodically conduct audits of the receipt books and collection records of each inspector to ensure all collections are remitted to the Raleigh office. The Board should establish agency referral procedures for the inspectors. The Executive Secretary should determine which agencies should be contacted for the different types of health and safety problems encountered during inspections and work cooperatively with the responsible agency to develop referral procedures. These procedures should be distributed to all staff and implemented as soon as possible. The procedures should also be incorporated in the training provided inspectors. Yes Yes Cash handling procedures were revised to require inspectors to send all collections to the office on a daily basis. Inspectors use pre-numbered receipt books and issue receipts for collections. However, we still discourage the collection of money by any inspector. The Operating Instruction addressing inspector standards was revised to include collection procedures. Should health and safety problems be encountered by Board inspectors, they are to identify those problems on their inspection reports and forward them to the Inspections Officer in Raleigh. The Inspections Officer will in-turn contact the appropriate agency to advise them of the observed problem. If there are any legal concerns involved, we will first advise the Board's attorney for an opinion and any recommendations. These procedures have been added to Operating Instruction 400-2, Inspector Work Procedures. 10

11 The Executive Secretary should immediately establish a single official personnel file for each Board employee. One person should be assigned the responsibility of maintaining the data in the personnel files. Existing files should be reviewed in detail to determine whether any required documentation is missing. The Office of State Personnel should be contacted for help in locating missing documentation. Yes Employee personnel files have been consolidated and maintained in a centralized location. Personnel files were reviewed ensuring only appropriate documentation is filed. One Board employee has been tasked to maintain the files. 11