Halifax-based Cribcut, which helps companies provide hair and nail services to employees as perks, is responding to the Covid-19 outbreak by offering interim financial support to its stylists.

Last week, CEO David Howe posted on LinkedIn that the company has decided to suspend 400 office visits and cancel about 3,500 appointments because of the pandemic.

The company then announced on Monday that it would help out its service providers, more than 85 percent of whom are contracted part-time and earn an hourly wage. With all of these cancellations, they will lose their wages and tips, amounting to thousands of dollars in most cases.

To help them financially, Cribcut will provide each stylist with a monthly stipend.

“We know our corporate responsibility is to contribute to flattening the curve, but it’s not lost on us that we’ve made a decision that deeply impacts our stylists’ ability to make a living,” said Howe in the statement. “At Cribcut, we value self-care above all else, and – simply put – there is no way we can simply send our dedicated service providers on their way to fend for themselves while we wait this virus out.”

Cribcut has developed an online platform that provides onsite haircuts, styling and nail services at offices across North America. It is now operating in Halifax, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Phoenix, Miami, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Even though Cribcut is a technology-enabled company, the stylists are a key part of its business so all social-distancing requirements in place across the continent apply to its operations. The company encourages all businesses in the personal care market to consider similar responsible actions.

“Sure, there are real tangible costs to a suspension of business such as this,” said Howe. “For us, that number will exceed $100,000 in revenue, but at the end of the day, the cost to our communities, and those at risk, is much greater if we don’t step away from business as usual.”

Over the next 30 days, Cribcut said its executive team will plan for the next phase of growth in anticipation of post-pandemic client service needs.

A year ago this month, Cribcut released far happier news. It announced it had raised $1.06 million in equity funding from angel investors and a few venture capital funds.