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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 341

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the penalties

for employers who violate such Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase

the penalties for employers who violate such Act, 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; REFERENCE.

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

5 ‘‘Sweatshops Prevention Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act (other than

7 section 7) an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

8 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi9 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
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1 section or other provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act

2 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

3 SEC. 2. VIOLATIONS.

4 (a) SECTION 16(b).—Section 16(b) (29 U.S.C.

5 216(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by amending the first sentence to read as

7 follows:

8 ‘‘(b)(1) Any employer who violates section 6 or 7 of

9 this Act shall be liable—

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of a first violation, to each em11 ployee affected (i) in the amount of their unpaid

12 minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation,

13 as the case may be, (ii) for liquidated damages in an

14 amount equal to the amount described in clause (i),

15 and (iii) for interest on the amount described in

16 clause (i) computed, at the time of payment, at the

17 rate of interest determined by the Secretary of the

18 Treasury for interest payments under section 12 of

19 the Contracts Dispute Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 611),

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) for a second or subsequent violation, to

22 each employee affected in the amount of three times

23 their unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime

24 compensation, as the case may be.’’,
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1 (2) in the third sentence by striking out ‘‘An

2 action to recover the liability prescribed in either of

3 the preceding sentences’’ and inserting in lieu there4 of the following:

5 ‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability prescribed in

6 paragraph (1)’’, and

7 (3) in the sixth sentence by striking out ‘‘un8 paid minimum wages, or the amount of unpaid over9 time compensation, as the case may be, owing to

10 such employee under section 6 or section 7 of this

11 Act by an employer liable therefor under the provi12 sions of this subsection’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

13 ‘‘the liability prescribed in paragraph (1)’’.

14 (b) SECTION 16(c).—Section 16(c) (29 U.S.C.

15 216(c)) is amended—

16 (1) in the first sentence by striking out ‘‘under

17 subsection (b) of this section to such unpaid mini18 mum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and

19 an additional equal amount as liquidated damages’’

20 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘to the amount pre21 scribed by subsection (b)(1)’’,

22 (2) in the second sentence by striking out ‘‘the

23 amount of the unpaid minimum wages or overtime

24 compensation and equal amount as liquidated dam-
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1 ages’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the amount pre2 scribed by subsection (b)(1).’’,

3 (3) in the third sentence, (A) by striking out

4 ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘(b)(2)’’, (B) by

5 striking out ‘‘the first sentence of such subsection’’

6 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’,

7 and (C) by striking out ‘‘unpaid minimum wages or

8 unpaid overtime compensation under sections 6 and

9 7 or liquidated or other damages provided by this

10 subsection’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the

11 amounts’’.

12 SEC. 3. SEIZURES.

13 Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by adding

14 at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(f)(1)(A)(i) If an employer engaged in garment

16 manufacturing violates section 6, 7, or 12 more than 2

17 times in a 3-year period, the Secretary may seize garments

18 from the premises of the employer in a value not to exceed

19 the liability of the employer under subsection (b) or (e)

20 for the last such violation.

21 ‘‘(ii) If garments are produced by homeworkers in

22 violation of section 11(d), the Secretary may seize all the

23 garments so produced, except that if the employer of the

24 homeworker obtained a certificate to employ homeworkers

25 pursuant to section 11(d) and the employer violated the
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1 terms of the certificate, the Secretary may seize garments

2 so produced in a value not to exceed the liability of the

3 employer under this Act.

4 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary seizes garments under subpara5 graph (A), the Secretary shall notify the owner of such

6 garments of the seizure and shall provide for the return

7 of the garments to the owner if the liability of such em8 ployer for such violation is met.

9 ‘‘(2) The owner of garments seized under paragraph

10 (1) may have review of the authority of the Secretary to

11 make the seizure. Such review shall be made in an admin12 istrative proceeding after opportunity for a hearing in ac13 cordance with section 554 of title 5, United States Code.

14 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall issue regulations governing

15 the destruction or disposal of garments seized under para16 graph (1). Such garments may not be disposed of by sale.

17 ‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘gar18 ment manufacturing’ means the sewing, knitting, cutting,

19 making, processing, repairing, finishing, assembling, or

20 otherwise preparing any garment or any article of wearing

21 apparel or accessories designed or intended to be worn by

22 an individual, including clothing, hats, gloves, handbags,

23 hosiery, ties, scarfs, and belts to be sold or resold by any

24 person contracting to have such operations performed.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 16(e)

3 (29 U.S.C. 216(e) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(e)(1) Any person—

5 ‘‘(A) who violates section 12 or any regulation

6 issued under that section shall be subject to a civil

7 penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each such viola8 tion,

9 ‘‘(B) who violates section 6 or 7 two or more

10 times shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to ex11 ceed $10,000 for each such violation, or

12 ‘‘(C) who violates section 15(a)(5)—

13 ‘‘(i) shall be subject to a civil penalty of

14 not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation, and

15 ‘‘(ii) shall be subject to a civil penalty of

16 not to exceed $10,000 for each violation after

17 the first violation.’’.

18 (b) TECHNICAL.—The second sentence of section

19 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended—

20 (1) by striking out ‘‘In determining the

21 amount of such penalty’’ and inserting in lieu there22 of the following:

23 ‘‘(2) In determining the amount of the penalty au24 thorized by paragraph (1)’’, and

25 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and

26 (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively.
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1 SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

2 Section 16(a) (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is amended by

3 striking out ‘‘a fine of not more than $10,000 or to impris4 onment for not more than six months’’ and inserting in

5 lieu thereof ‘‘a fine in accordance with title 18, United

6 States Code, or to imprisonment for at least six months

7 and not more than one year’’.

8 SEC. 6. SETTLEMENTS.

9 The first sentence of section 16(c) (29 U.S.C. 216(c)

10 is amended by striking out ‘‘unpaid minimum wages or

11 the unpaid overtime compensation owing to any employee

12 or employees under section 6 or 7 of this Act’’ and insert13 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘amount prescribed by subsection

14 (b)(1) to any employee or employees’’.

15 SEC. 7. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

16 Section 6(a) of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29

17 U.S.C. 255(a)) is amended by striking out ‘‘two years’’

18 each place it occurs and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘three

19 years’’ and by striking out ‘‘, except that’’ and all that

20 follows in that section and inserting in lieu thereof a semi21 colon.

22 SEC. 8. COORDINATION.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es24 tablish and encourage closer working relationships among

25 Federal and State agencies having responsibility for en26 forcing labor, safety and health, and immigration laws.
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1 (b) REFERRALS.—

2 (1) The Secretary of Labor shall establish a re3 ferral system under which employees engaged in the

4 enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

5 1938 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act

6 of 1970 shall—

7 (A) exchange information about suspected

8 violators of the Acts and monitor the results of

9 referrals to each other, and

10 (B) provide basic training to each other’s

11 staffs concerning the requirements of such Acts.

12 (2) The Secretary of Labor shall require em13 ployees engaged in the enforcement of the Fair

14 Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Occupational

15 Safety and Health Act of 1970 to establish a refer16 ral system with—

17 (A) employees of the Immigration and

18 Naturalization Service engaged in the enforce19 ment of the Immigration and Nationality Act,

20 and

21 (B) employees of Departments of Labor of

22 the States engaged in the enforcement of State

23 minimum wage and occupational safety and

24 health laws.
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1 The Service and the State Departments of Labor

2 shall each be encouraged by the Secretary of

3 Labor to establish information exchanges and, to

4 the extent practicable, provided training to each

5 other’s staffs concerning the requirements of the

6 Acts enforced by the respective agencies.

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