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The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that five
recent enforcement sweeps in the nation's major garment centers have identified
more than 500 employees who are owed more than $320,500 in back wages and
overtime.
"These sweeps are one more example of our determination to
protect the rights and wages of garment workers," said Labor Secretary Alexis
M. Herman. "We will keep applying the pressure, but I also will continue to
call on the industry to take a leadership role in protecting these
workers."
Beginning in February, investigators from the department's
Wage and Hour Division targeted five cities for enforcement: New York, Chicago,
Dallas, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, Cal.
New York
The March sweep of New York contractor shops found three
shops in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA). One of the shops
investigated, L&M, had monetary violations totaling $6,500, which prompted
the department to invoke the "hot goods" provisions of the FLSA. This prevented
the shipment of garments made in violation by two manufacturers, Why Not and
Carol Wren, Inc., until the violations were resolved. Carol Wren subsequently
agreed to sign the department's compliance monitoring agreement.
Investigations were conducted jointly with the State of
New York's Apparel Industry Task Force in the Williamsburg and Sunset Park
sections of Brooklyn. This sweep marked the first occasion where the Federal
and State Departments of Labor joined forces to conduct garment
investigations.
Dallas
Nearly $50,000 in back wages were found due 81 garment
employees in three contractor shops. Four investigations discovered employees
illegally sewing women's apparel in their homes. One contractor paid $8,960 in
civil money penalties for repeat and willful violations. The department
obtained an administrative subpoena in one investigation, which required the
contractor to provide business records. As a result of the investigations in
this enforcement sweep, 11 manufacturers were contacted regarding the
violations and the potential for "hot goods" violations.
Chicago
All eight contractor shops investigated in Chicago were in
violation of the FLSA; they owed 83 employees more than $12,000 in back wages.
The majority of the back wages are from failure to pay overtime. One of the
more significant cases involved A&H Apparel Contractors, which manufactures
clothing for its catalog sales division under the Scorpio label. The shop
underpaid 26 workers $4,853. A&H employees did not receive the appropriate
overtime premium and employees who were paid by the piece did not earn minimum
wage.
The State of Illinois Department of Labor joined with Wage
and Hour investigators in four of these eight first-time investigations.
Los Angeles
An enforcement sweep during the first week of April found
nine contractor shops owing 300 employees more than $235,000 in back wages. The
majority of the back wages are for failure to pay overtime. Civil money
penalties of $35,050 were assessed against two contractor shops, Chiu Heng
Fashion and Vincent Garment, for repeat violations of the FLSA.
One significant case involved Vincent Garment of South El
Monte, which underpaid 86 employees by $100,000. The shop manipulated its
computerized time-keeping system to show payment of overtime when, in fact, no
overtime was paid to the employees. The manufacturer, Balkster's Inc., which is
signatory to the department's compliance monitoring agreement, cooperated fully
with the investigation, promptly paying the $100,000 in back wages to the
employees.
Santa Ana
The most recent strike force, conducted with the State of
California under the Targeted Industries Partnership Program (TIPP) in the
Santa Ana area, found 10 contract shops in violation. Five of the shops
investigated were found illegally employing homeworkers to sew women's apparel,
an occupation prohibited in the home. Back wage estimates for five of the ten
shops found in violation thus far total $17,000.
_________________________________________________________________
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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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