News Release

New York, NY

NY206 / October 16, 2000
Wage and Hour Division
Contact: Chester J. Fultz
212-337-2319 For Release: Immediately

NEW JERSEY GARMENT-SEWING SHOPS RE-INSPECTED BY U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT; MORE THAN HALF STILL VIOLATING MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME LAW

The U.S. Labor Department has conducted follow-up investigations of garment-sewing shops that had previously been found violating federal minimum-wage and overtime laws in three Northern New Jersey counties and found more than half of them still violating the law.

The inspections were conducted from July to October to follow up investigations carried out between October, 1997 and September, 1999.

According to Thomas Davine, district director of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, eight of 14 previously inspected garment shops in Essex, Hudson, and Passaic Counties were found to be committing repeat violations of the minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, while two other shops were found in violation of record-keeping provisions alone.

As a result of these findings, back wages totaling $25,000 have been paid to 180 employees, and the five most serious violators were also assessed civil penalties.  These establishments and the penalties they paid were:

Davine noted that the enforcement effort was coordinated with both the New Jersey State Department of Labor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  "We shared our findings regarding record-keeping violations with our counterparts at the State of New Jersey, which has provisions for fines for record-keeping violations.  And where we observed working conditions that presented danger to the health or safety of employees, we contacted OSHA, which dispatched compliance officers the following day."

Davine added that all of the shops have agreed to comply in the future.  "In addition," he pointed out, "The manufacturers who supply work to these shops and own the goods being worked on have been contacted and have agreed to monitor the compliance of their contractors in the future."

The investigations were conducted by the Wage and Hour Division's Northern New Jersey District Office, 200 Sheffield Street, Suite 102, Mountainside, New Jersey, telephone (973) 645-2279.