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Stop Sweatshops Act of 1997 (Introduced in
the House)
HR 23 IH
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 23
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 7,
1997
Mr. CLAY introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
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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 Representatives
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 amendment
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 provision 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 minimum 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 detrimental
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
garment 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 workers.
(4) The amendment of the Fair Labor Standards
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 necessary to promote
fair competition and working conditions that are not detrimental
to the maintenance of health, efficiency, and general well-being
of workers in the garment industry.
SEC. 3. LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPLIANCE WITH WAGE AND HOUR PROVISIONS IN
THE GARMENT 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 manufacturing
operations performed by another person as a contractor
(1) shall be civilly liable, with respect
to those garment manufacturing operations, to the same extent
as the contractor for any violation by the contractor of section
6 (except for violations of subsection (d)) or 7, for any violation
by the contractor of the provisions of section 11 regulating,
restricting, or prohibiting industrial homework, and for violation
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, finishing,
assembling, pressing, or otherwise producing men's, women's, children's,
or infants' 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.
(2) The term "manufacturer" means
any person who (A) contracts, directly or indirectly through an
intermediary or otherwise, with a contractor to perform the cutting,
sewing, dyeing, washing, finishing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise
producing any men's, women's, children's, or infants' 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, including a retailer engaged
in such activities, or (B) designs, cuts, sews, dyes, washes,
finishes, assembles, presses, or otherwise produces or is responsible
for the production of any men's, women's, children's, or infants'
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, finishing, assembling, pressing, or otherwise
producing any men's, women's, children's, or infants' 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.
(4) The term "retailer" means any
person engaged 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 garment industry
(as defined in section 14A(b)(2)) shall also be jointly and severally
liable to such an employee 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 violated 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 industry' after
`by an employer'; and
(3) in subsection (c)
(A) by striking "first sentence"
and inserting "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 adding 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 enactment.
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