I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 90

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for legal accountability for sweatshop conditions in the garment industry, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. OWENS, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii,

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr.

FORD, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BROWN of

Ohio, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DIXON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY,

Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. LEE, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr.

OLVER, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RAHALL, Mr.

ROTHMAN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WISE, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide

for legal accountability for sweatshop conditions in the

garment industry, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Stop Sweatshops Act’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

3 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

4 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi5 sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) The production of garments in violation of

9 minimum labor standards burdens commerce and

10 the free flow of goods in commerce by spreading and

11 perpetuating labor conditions that undermine mini12 mum living standards and by providing an unfair

13 means of competition to the detriment of employers

14 who comply with the law.

15 (2) The existence of working conditions det16 rimental to fair competition and the maintenance of

17 minimum standards of living necessary for health,

18 efficiency, and general well-being of workers are a

19 continuing and growing problem in the domestic gar20 ment industry.

21 (3) The Congress concurs in the findings of the

22 Comptroller General that most sweatshop employers

23 violate the recordkeeping requirements of the Fair

24 Labor Standards Act of 1938 and that the failure

25 of such employers to maintain adequate records has
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1 and continues to adversely affect the ability of the

2 Department of Labor to collect wages due to work3 ers.

4 (4) The amendment of the Fair Labor Stand5 ards Act of 1938 to provide for legal responsibility

6 on the part of manufacturers for compliance with

7 such Act’s wage and hour, child labor, and industrial

8 homework provisions by contractors in the garment

9 industry and to provide civil penalties for violations

10 of that Act’s recordkeeping requirements is nec11 essary to promote fair competition and working con12 ditions that are not detrimental to the maintenance

13 of health, efficiency, and general well-being of work14 ers in the garment industry.

15 SEC. 3. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH

16 WAGE AND HOUR PROVISIONS IN THE GAR17 MENT INDUSTRY.

18 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of

19 1938 is amended by adding after section 14 the following:

20 ‘‘LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE IN THE

21 GARMENT INDUSTRY WITH SECTIONS 6 AND 7

22 ‘‘SEC. 14A. (a) Every manufacturer engaged in the

23 garment industry who contracts to have garment manu24 facturing operations performed by another person as a

25 contractor—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall be civilly liable, with respect to those

2 garment manufacturing operations, to the same ex3 tent as the contractor for any violation by the con4 tractor of section 6 (except for violations of sub5 section (d)) or 7, for any violation by the contractor

6 of the provisions of section 11 regulating, restrict7 ing, or prohibiting industrial homework, and for vio8 lation by the contractor of section 12; and

9 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to the same civil penalties

10 assessed against the contractor for violations of such

11 sections.

12 ‘‘(b) For purposes of this section:

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘garment industry’ means the

14 designing, cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish15 ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing

16 men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel, in17 cluding clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, handbags,

18 hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or com19 ponent of apparel, except for pre-manufactured

20 items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de21 signed or intended to be worn by any individual

22 which is to be sold or offered for sale.

23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘manufacturer’ means any per24 son who (A) contracts, directly or indirectly through

25 an intermediary or otherwise, with a contractor to
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1 perform the cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish2 ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing

3 any men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel,

4 including clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, hand5 bags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or

6 component of apparel, except for pre-manufactured

7 items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de8 signed or intended to be worn by any individual

9 which is to be sold or offered for sale, including a

10 retailer engaged in such activities, or (B) designs,

11 cuts, sews, dyes, washes, finishes, assembles, press12 es, or otherwise produces or is responsible for the

13 production of any men’s, women’s, children’s, or in14 fants’ apparel, including clothing, knit goods, hats,

15 gloves, handbags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or

16 a section or component of apparel, except for pre17 manufactured items such as buttons, zippers, snaps,

18 and studs, designed or intended to be worn by any

19 individual which is to be sold or offered for sale.

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘contractor’ means any person

21 who contracts, directly or indirectly through an

22 intermediary or otherwise, with a manufacturer to

23 perform the cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish24 ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing

25 any men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel,
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1 including clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, hand2 bags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or

3 component of apparel, except for pre-manufactured

4 items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de5 signed or intended to be worn by any individual

6 which is to be sold or offered for sale.

7 ‘‘(4) The term ‘retailer’ means any person en8 gaged in the sale of apparel to the ultimate con9 sumer for personal use.’’.

10 (b) LIABILITY TO EMPLOYEES.—Section 16 (29

11 U.S.C. 216) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (b), by adding after the first

13 sentence the following: ‘‘A manufacturer in the gar14 ment industry (as defined in section 14A(b)(2)) shall

15 also be jointly and severally liable to such an em16 ployee to the same extent as the contractor in the

17 garment industry (as defined in section 14A(b)(3))

18 who employed such employee if the contractor vio19 lated section 6 (other than subsection (d)) or 7 in

20 the production of apparel or components of apparel

21 for such manufacturer.’’;

22 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting in the last

23 sentence ‘‘or by a manufacturer in the garment in24 dustry’’ after ‘‘by an employer’’; and

25 (3) in subsection (c)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘first sentence’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘first or second sentences’’; and

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘or by a manufacturer in

4 the garment industry’’ after ‘‘liable’’.

5 SEC. 4. RECORDKEEPING.

6 Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended by add7 ing after the first sentence the following: ‘‘Any person who

8 fails to establish, maintain, and preserve payroll records

9 as required under section 11(c) shall be subject to a civil

10 penalty of not to exceed $1000 for each employee who was

11 the subject of such a violation. The Secretary may, in the

12 Secretary’s discretion, compute civil penalties under this

13 subsection for each pay period for willful violations. Any

14 person who submits fraudulent payroll records to the

15 agencies enforcing this Act in any of its investigations or

16 hearings or as evidence in a court action, which records

17 conceal the actual hours of labor worked by employees or

18 the violation of section 6, 7, 11(d), or 12 shall be subject

19 to a civil penalty of $10,000 per act of fraud and $15,000

20 per act of fraud for a second offense.

21 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

22 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

23 upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of its enact24 ment.

Æ