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South Jordan • What should massage therapists wear?
In South Jordan, the city's recently amended ordinance regulating the licensing of such businesses mandates coverage of employees from neck to knee.
That requirement holds such establishments to a higher standard than those around them, argued City Councilman Chuck Newton.
"So are we suggesting that our officers go in there with a tape measure of some type?" Newton quipped. "Are we going to have to have a physician determine where's the middle of the knee?"
Paul Cunningham, the city's government services director, said such rules are common in municipal regulations, and the massage-therapy industry is heavily regulated due to past problems. Having a dress code simplifies the enforcement process, he added.
"If you go in to do a business inspection, it's readily apparent whether they're complying with this," Cunningham said. "If they're in a state of undress, there would be an argument about whether that state of undress is what they normally wear."
On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously approved the dress code as well as making changes to the ordinance to conform to state code, such as adopting the state definition of massage. The South Jordan ordinance also requires that owners of massage shops undergo background checks.
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