A sweeping new U.S. Department of Labor enforcement initiative targeting California’s apparel industry may highlight wage and hour compliance issues for retailers and manufacturers.
The companies that make, ship, market and sell clothing have long faced scrutiny over labor practices but industry proponents argue that they have made great strides. DOL appears to disagree, launching a multiyear, targeted initiative to crack down on an industry it cites as historically problematic.
Manufacturers Under a Microscope
DOL announced its garment industry enforcement initiative on Aug. 8. This multiyear effort will focus on ending sweatshop conditions in the Los Angeles fashion district specifically and more broadly in the garment industry in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Southern California.
The agency has “historically found consistent and widespread violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions” in that regional industry, according to DOL’s Wage and Hour Division.
WHD said it has conducted more than 1,500 investigations over the last five years — 93 percent of which have uncovered violations — through its San Diego, Los Angeles and West Covina offices. In the same period WHD said it recovered more than $11 million in back wages for approximately 11,000 workers.
Some problems occurred because of how garment workers are paid — by the piece they cut or sew as opposed to an hourly wage. This can result in wages as low as $6 per hour.
WHD said it will use all its enforcement tools including litigation, liquidated damages, civil penalties and “hot goods” injunctions. The hot goods provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits interstate commerce in goods that were produced in violation of the act’s child labor, minimum wage or overtime provisions.
For more information about DOL initiatives and other legal actions in the apparel industry see Thompson’s FLSA library, including the Employer’s Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act.