I
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Sweatshops Prevention Act of 1993’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act (other than
section 7) an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
section or other provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).
SEC. 2. VIOLATIONS.
(a) SECTION
16(b).—Section 16(b) (29 U.S.C.
216(b)) is amended—
(1) by amending the first sentence to read as
follows:
‘‘(b)(1) Any employer who violates section 6 or 7 of
this Act shall be liable—
‘‘(A) in the case of a first violation, to each em-
ployee affected (i) in the amount of their unpaid
minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation,
as the case may be, (ii) for liquidated damages in an
amount equal to the amount described in clause (i),
and (iii) for interest on the amount described in
clause (i) computed, at the time of payment, at the
rate of interest determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury for interest payments under section 12 of
the Contracts Dispute Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 611),
and
‘‘(B) for a second or subsequent violation, to
each employee affected in the amount of three times
their unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime
compensation, as the case may be.’’,
(2) in the third sentence by striking out ‘‘An
action to recover the liability prescribed in either of
the preceding sentences’’ and inserting in lieu there-
of the following:
‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability prescribed in
paragraph (1)’’, and
(3) in the sixth sentence by striking out ‘‘un-
paid minimum wages, or the amount of unpaid over-
time compensation, as the case may be, owing to
such employee under section 6 or section 7 of this
Act by an employer liable therefor under the provi-
sions of this subsection’’ and inserting in lieu thereof
‘‘the liability prescribed in paragraph (1)’’.
(b) SECTION
16(c).—Section 16(c) (29 U.S.C.
216(c)) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence by striking out ‘‘under
subsection (b) of this section to such unpaid mini-
mum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and
an additional equal amount as liquidated damages’’
and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘to the amount pre-
scribed by subsection (b)(1)’’,
(2) in the second sentence by striking out ‘‘the
amount of the unpaid minimum wages or overtime
compensation and equal amount as liquidated dam-
ages’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the amount pre-
scribed by subsection (b)(1).’’,
(3) in the third sentence, (A) by striking out
‘‘(b)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘(b)(2)’’, (B) by
striking out ‘‘the first sentence of such subsection’’
and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’,
and (C) by striking out ‘‘unpaid minimum wages or
unpaid overtime compensation under sections 6 and
7 or liquidated or other damages provided by this
subsection’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the
amounts’’.
SEC. 3. SEIZURES.
Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
‘‘(f)(1)(A)(i) If an employer engaged in garment
manufacturing violates section 6, 7, or 12 more than 2
times in a 3-year period, the Secretary may seize garments
from the premises of the employer in a value not to exceed
the liability of the employer under subsection (b) or (e)
for the last such violation.
‘‘(ii) If garments are produced by homeworkers in
violation of section 11(d), the Secretary may seize all the
garments so produced, except that if the employer of the
homeworker obtained a certificate to employ homeworkers
pursuant to section 11(d) and the employer violated the
terms of the certificate, the Secretary may seize garments
so produced in a value not to exceed the liability of the
employer under this Act.
‘‘(B) If the Secretary seizes garments under subpara-
graph (A), the Secretary shall notify the owner of such
garments of the seizure and shall provide for the return
of the garments to the owner if the liability of such em-
ployer for such violation is met.
‘‘(2) The owner of garments seized under paragraph
(1) may have review of the authority of the Secretary to
make the seizure. Such review shall be made in an admin-
istrative proceeding after opportunity for a hearing in ac-
cordance with section 554 of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall issue regulations governing
the destruction or disposal of garments seized under para-
graph (1). Such garments may not be disposed of by sale.
‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘gar-
ment manufacturing’ means the sewing, knitting, cutting,
making, processing, repairing, finishing, assembling, or
otherwise preparing any garment or any article of wearing
apparel or accessories designed or intended to be worn by
an individual, including clothing, hats, gloves, handbags,
hosiery, ties, scarfs, and belts to be sold or resold by any
person contracting to have such operations performed.’’.
SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 16(e)
(29 U.S.C. 216(e) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(e)(1) Any person—
‘‘(A) who violates section 12 or any regulation
issued under that section shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each such viola-
tion,
‘‘(B) who violates section 6 or 7 two or more
times shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to ex-
ceed $10,000 for each such violation, or
‘‘(C) who violates section 15(a)(5)—
‘‘(i) shall be subject to a civil penalty of
not to exceed $1,000 for the first violation, and
‘‘(ii) shall be subject to a civil penalty of
not to exceed $10,000 for each violation after
the first violation.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL.—The second sentence of section
16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended—
(1)
by
striking
out
‘‘In
determining
the
amount of such penalty’’ and inserting in lieu there-
of the following:
‘‘(2) In determining the amount of the penalty au-
thorized by paragraph (1)’’, and
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively.
SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
Section 16(a) (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is amended by
striking out ‘‘a fine of not more than $10,000 or to impris-
onment for not more than six months’’ and inserting in
lieu thereof ‘‘a fine in accordance with title 18, United
States Code, or to imprisonment for at least six months
and not more than one year’’.
SEC. 6. SETTLEMENTS.
The first sentence of section 16(c) (29 U.S.C. 216(c)
is amended by striking out ‘‘unpaid minimum wages or
the unpaid overtime compensation owing to any employee
or employees under section 6 or 7 of this Act’’ and insert-
ing in lieu thereof ‘‘amount prescribed by subsection
(b)(1) to any employee or employees’’.
SEC. 7. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
Section 6(a) of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29
U.S.C. 255(a)) is amended by striking out ‘‘two years’’
each place it occurs and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘three
years’’ and by striking out ‘‘, except that’’ and all that
follows in that section and inserting in lieu thereof a semi-
colon.
SEC. 8. COORDINATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es-
tablish and encourage closer working relationships among
Federal and State agencies having responsibility for en-
forcing labor, safety and health, and immigration laws.
(b) REFERRALS.—
(1) The Secretary of Labor shall establish a re-
ferral system under which employees engaged in the
enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970 shall—
(A) exchange information about suspected
violators of the Acts and monitor the results of
referrals to each other, and
(B) provide basic training to each other’s
staffs concerning the requirements of such Acts.
(2) The Secretary of Labor shall require em-
ployees engaged in the enforcement of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 to establish a refer-
ral system with—
(A) employees of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service engaged in the enforce-
ment of the Immigration and Nationality Act,
and
(B) employees of Departments of Labor of
the States engaged in the enforcement of State
minimum wage and occupational safety and
health laws.
The Service and the State Departments of Labor
shall each be encouraged by the Secretary of
Labor to establish information exchanges and, to
the extent practicable, provided training to each
other’s staffs concerning the requirements of the
Acts enforced by the respective agencies.
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