Labor Department's Surprise Sweep Shutters Six Contractors
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement said it had shut down at least six garment shops and issued more than $76,000 in fines to Southern California garment shops violating state and federal workplace rules. The actions resulted from surprise inspections the agency started conducting on Nov. 30.
The DLSE said enforcement teams inspected garment manufacturers and contractors in Los Angeles and Orange County. King Cheung, senior deputy labor commissioner at the DLSE, declined to disclose the names of the companies violating the laws but said they each had fewer than 100 employees, with one using four workers. He said the companies have the right to appeal.
In addition to discovering six companies that were operating without the mandatory garment registration license, the agency confiscated garments from three shops. It also issued $50,000 in citations for failures to have workers’ compensation insurance, $6,300 in citations for seven instances of inaccurate time cards or no time cards and $19,800 in citations for a minimum- wage violation.
The DLSE conducted the sweeps in cooperation with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Employment Development Department, the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Conservation Corps.
Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association, said her organization fully supports the sweeps on illegal operators.
