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www.dol.gov/esa
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| November 4, 2004 DOL Home > ESA > WHD > News Releases > San Francisco > USDL-141 |  |
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News Release San Francisco, CA
Garment Shops Fined $270,000 for Violating Federal Labor LawsU.S. Department of Labor demands Los Angeles shops pay penalties in addition to back wagesIn addition to back wages ordered last summer, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced penalties of more than $270,000 against 17 garment shops for repeat and willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. "These fines demonstrate the Department’s commitment to using all available enforcement tools, including fines, to improve compliance with labor laws in the garment manufacturing industry", said George Friday, regional administrator for the Department’s Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco. "The level of compliance in this industry is unacceptable. Contractors and manufacturers need to understand that there are consequences for violating the minimum wage and overtime requirements. The Department is serious about eliminating sweatshops in the U.S. – and especially in the Los Angeles area where the violations are so pervasive and persistent." The fines result from investigations conducted in February, March and April, 2000 as part of the Department’s compliance survey of Garment shops in the Los Angeles area. One component of the survey was the "reinvestigation" of 35 shops that had been previously found in violation during investigations conducted in 1998 and 1999. Of the 35 shops reinvestigated, 22 of them -- 63 percent -- were found to have repeat or willful violations of the minimum wage and/or overtime and record keeping provisions of the FLSA. These reinvestigations documented $627,663 due in back wages to 611 employees, and resulted in the assessment of $271,780 in civil money penalties against the contractor shops found in violation. The chart that follows shows the largest fines assessed and the manufacturers using those garment shops during the period of the violations:
The enforcement effort was conducted jointly with the California Department of Industrial Relations, Divisions of Labor Standards Enforcement and Occupational Safety and Health. Both State agencies also assessed penalties where they found violations of their respective codes and regulations. The activity was coordinated by the Wage Hour Division’s West Covina District Office. Information about the Department’s "No Sweat" program may be found at http://www.dol.gov/esa/nosweat/nosweat.htm. # # #
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