I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 23
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for legal account-
ability for sweatshop conditions in the garment industry, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. CLAY 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Stop Sweatshops Act of 1997’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The production of garments in violation of
minimum labor standards burdens commerce and
the free flow of goods in commerce by spreading and
perpetuating labor conditions that undermine mini-
mum living standards and by providing an unfair
means of competition to the detriment of employers
who comply with the law.
(2) The existence of working conditions det-
rimental to fair competition and the maintenance of
minimum standards of living necessary for health,
efficiency, and general well-being of workers are a
continuing and growing problem in the domestic gar-
ment industry.
(3) The Congress concurs in the findings of the
Comptroller General that most sweatshop employers
violate the recordkeeping requirements of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 and that the failure
of such employers to maintain adequate records has
and continues to adversely affect the ability of the
Department of Labor to collect wages due to work-
ers.
(4) The amendment of the Fair Labor Stand-
ards Act of 1938 to provide for legal responsibility
on the part of manufacturers for compliance with
such Act’s wage and hour, child labor, and industrial
homework provisions by contractors in the garment
industry and to provide civil penalties for violations
of that Act’s recordkeeping requirements is nec-
essary to promote fair competition and working con-
ditions that are not detrimental to the maintenance
of health, efficiency, and general well-being of work-
ers in the garment industry.
SEC. 3. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH
WAGE AND HOUR PROVISIONS IN THE GAR-
MENT INDUSTRY.
(a) AMENDMENT.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 is amended by adding after section 14 the following:
‘‘LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE IN THE
GARMENT INDUSTRY WITH SECTIONS 6 AND 7
‘‘SEC. 14A. (a) Every manufacturer engaged in the
garment industry who contracts to have garment manu-
facturing operations performed by another person as a
contractor—
‘‘(1) shall be civilly liable, with respect to those
garment manufacturing operations, to the same ex-
tent as the contractor for any violation by the con-
tractor of section 6 (except for violations of sub-
section (d)) or 7, for any violation by the contractor
of the provisions of section 11 regulating, restrict-
ing, or prohibiting industrial homework, and for vio-
lation by the contractor of section 12; and
‘‘(2) shall be subject to the same civil penalties
assessed against the contractor for violations of such
sections.
‘‘(b) For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘garment industry’ means the
designing, cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish-
ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing
men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel, in-
cluding clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, handbags,
hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or com-
ponent of apparel, except for pre-manufactured
items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de-
signed or intended to be worn by any individual
which is to be sold or offered for sale.
‘‘(2) The term ‘manufacturer’ means any per-
son who (A) contracts, directly or indirectly through
an intermediary or otherwise, with a contractor to
perform the cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish-
ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing
any men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel,
including clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, hand-
bags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or
component of apparel, except for pre-manufactured
items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de-
signed or intended to be worn by any individual
which is to be sold or offered for sale, including a
retailer engaged in such activities, or (B) designs,
cuts, sews, dyes, washes, finishes, assembles, press-
es, or otherwise produces or is responsible for the
production of any men’s, women’s, children’s, or in-
fants’ apparel, including clothing, knit goods, hats,
gloves, handbags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or
a section or component of apparel, except for pre-
manufactured items such as buttons, zippers, snaps,
and studs, designed or intended to be worn by any
individual which is to be sold or offered for sale.
‘‘(3) The term ‘contractor’ means any person
who contracts, directly or indirectly through an
intermediary or otherwise, with a manufacturer to
perform the cutting, sewing, dyeing, washing, finish-
ing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing
any men’s, women’s, children’s, or infants’ apparel,
including clothing, knit goods, hats, gloves, hand-
bags, hosiery, ties, scarves, and belts, or a section or
component of apparel, except for pre-manufactured
items such as buttons, zippers, snaps, and studs, de-
signed or intended to be worn by any individual
which is to be sold or offered for sale.
‘‘(4) The term ‘retailer’ means any person en-
gaged in the sale of apparel to the ultimate
consumer for personal use.’’.
(b) LIABILITY
TO EMPLOYEES.—Section 16 (29
U.S.C. 216) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by adding after the first
sentence the following: ‘‘A manufacturer in the gar-
ment industry (as defined in section 14A(b)(2)) shall
also be jointly and severally liable to such an em-
ployee to the same extent as the contractor in the
garment industry (as defined in section 14A(b)(3))
who employed such employee if the contractor vio-
lated section 6 (other than subsection (d)) or 7 in
the production of apparel or components of apparel
for such manufacturer.’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting in the last
sentence ‘‘or by a manufacturer in the garment in-
dustry’’ after ‘‘by an employer’’; and
(3) in subsection (c)—
(A) by striking ‘‘first sentence’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘first or second sentences’’; and
(B) by inserting ‘‘or by a manufacturer in
the garment industry’’ after ‘‘liable’’.
SEC. 4. RECORDKEEPING.
Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended by add-
ing after the first sentence the following: ‘‘Any person who
fails to establish, maintain, and preserve payroll records
as required under section 11(c) shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not to exceed $1000 for each employee who was
the subject of such a violation. The Secretary may, in the
Secretary’s discretion, compute civil penalties under this
subsection for each pay period for willful violations. Any
person who submits fraudulent payroll records to the
agencies enforcing this Act in any of its investigations or
hearings or as evidence in a court action, which records
conceal the actual hours of labor worked by employees or
the violation of section 6, 7, 11(d), or 12 shall be subject
to a civil penalty of $10,000 per act of fraud and $15,000
per act of fraud for a second offense.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect
upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of its enact-
ment.
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