I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4166

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

SEPTEMBER 25, 1996

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Ms. Vela ́zquez, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE of New

Jersey, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. SCOTT,

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.

DIXON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. HINCHEY,

Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. LANTOS,

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MANTON, Mr. MASCARA,

Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MORAN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Ms.

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. TORRES, Mr.

VENTO, Mr. WISE, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. YATES) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational

Opportunities

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.

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

3 ‘‘Stop Sweatshops Act of 1996’’.

4 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend5 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

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

7 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi8 sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

9 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

10 The Congress makes the following findings:

11 (1) The production of garments in violation of

12 minimum labor standards burdens commerce and

13 the free flow of goods in commerce by spreading and

14 perpetuating labor conditions that undermine mini15 mum living standards and by providing an unfair

16 means of competition to the detriment of employers

17 who comply with the law.

18 (2) The existence of working conditions det19 rimental to fair competition and the maintenance of

20 minimum standards of living necessary for health,

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

22 continuing and growing problem in the domestic gar23 ment industry.

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

25 Comptroller General that most sweatshop employers

26 violate the recordkeeping requirements of the Fair
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1 Labor Standards Act of 1938 and that the failure

2 of such employers to maintain adequate records has

3 and continues to adversely affect the ability of the

4 Department of Labor to collect wages due to work5 ers.

6 (4) The amendment of the Fair Labor Stand7 ards Act of 1938 to provide for legal responsibility

8 on the part of manufacturers for compliance with

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

10 homework provisions by contractors in the garment

11 industry and to provide civil penalties for violations

12 of that Act’s recordkeeping requirements is nec13 essary to promote fair competition and working con14 ditions that are not detrimental to the maintenance

15 of health, efficiency, and general well-being of work16 ers in the garment industry.

17 SEC. 3. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH

18 WAGE AND HOUR PROVISIONS IN THE GAR19 MENT INDUSTRY.

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

21 1938 is amended by adding after section 14 the following:

22 ‘‘LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE IN THE

23 GARMENT INDUSTRY WITH SECTIONS 6 AND 7

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

25 garment industry who contracts to have garment manu-
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1 facturing operations performed by another person as a

2 contractor—

3 ‘‘(1) shall be civilly liable, with respect to those

4 garment manufacturing operations, to the same ex5 tent as the contractor for any violation by the con6 tractor of section 6 (except for violations of sub7 section (d)) or 7, for any violation by the contractor

8 of the provisions of section 11 regulating, restrict9 ing, or prohibiting industrial homework, and for vio10 lation by the contractor of section 12; and

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

12 assessed against the contractor for violations of such

13 sections.

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

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

16 designing, cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish17 ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing

18 men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel, in19 cluding clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, handbags,

20 hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or com21 ponent of apparel, except for pre-manufactured

22 items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de23 signed or intended to be worn by any individual

24 which is to be sold or offered for sale.
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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘manufacturer’ means any per2 son who (A) contracts, directly or indirectly through

3 an intermediary or otherwise, with a contractor to

4 perform the cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish5 ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing

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

7 including clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, hand8 bags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or

9 component of apparel, except for pre-manufactured

10 items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de11 signed or intended to be worn by any individual

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

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

14 cuts, sews, dyes, washes, finishes, assembles, press15 es, or otherwise produces or is responsible for the

16 production of any men’s, women’s, children’s, or in17 fants’ apparel, including clothing, knit goods, hats,

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

19 a section or component of apparel, except for pre20 manufactured items such as buttons, zippers, snaps,

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

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

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

24 who contracts, directly or indirectly through an

25 intermediary or otherwise, with a manufacturer 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.

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘retailer’ means any person en11 gaged in the sale of apparel to the ultimate

12 consumer for personal use.’’.

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

14 U.S.C. 216) is amended—

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

16 sentence the following: ‘‘A manufacturer in the gar17 ment industry (as defined in section 14A(b)(2)) shall

18 also be jointly and severally liable to such an em19 ployee to the same extent as the contractor in the

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

21 who employed such employee if the contractor vio22 lated section 6 (other than subsection (d)) or 7 in

23 the production of apparel or components of apparel

24 for such manufacturer.’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting in the last

2 sentence ‘‘or by a manufacturer in the garment in3 dustry’’ after ‘‘by an employer’’; and

4 (3) in subsection (c)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘first sentence’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘first or second sentences’’; and

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

8 the garment industry’’ after ‘‘liable’’

9 SEC. 4. RECORDKEEPING.

10 Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended by add11 ing after the first sentence the following: ‘‘Any person who

12 fails to establish, maintain, and preserve payroll records

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

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

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

16 Secretary’s discretion, compute civil penalties under this

17 subsection for each pay period for willful violations. Any

18 person who submits fraudulent payroll records to the

19 agencies enforcing this Act in any of its investigations or

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

21 conceal the actual hours of labor worked by employees or

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

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

24 per act of fraud for a second offense.
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

3 upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of its enact4 ment.

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