Los Angeles Apparel Contractors Forced to Pay Back Wages
Following an investigation by federal labor officials, five Los Angeles–area garment contractors have paid $142,000 in overtime and back wages to 122 workers.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the contractors were not paying their employees required overtime and failed to keep complete records of hours worked, which is mandatory under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The back wages were for work done between April 2005 and June 2007.
Federal law mandates that workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage and time and a half for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week. Also, employers must keep accurate time and payroll records.
In California, workers must be paid the state minimum wage of $7.50 an hour. The contractors were convinced to pay the wages after the Labor Department invoked the “hot goods” provision. The provision makes it illegal to ship goods in interstate commerce that have been made in violation of minimum-wage or overtime requirements.
The five contractors that made backwage payments to their employees were:bull; J.K., Sence Fashion, owned by Chae Ok Chong of Los Angeles, for $14,319 owed to 22 workers bull; MoaMoa Productions, owned by Myung Chun of Burbank, Calif., for $20,000 owed to 18 workers bull; Won’s Fashions, owned by Hyungwon Park of Los Angeles, for $18,993 owed to 18 workers bull; YSL Apparel, owned by Yong Sook Lee of Glendale, Calif., for $45,264 owed to 26 workersbull; Vanilla Trim, owned by Hae Young Chung of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., for $42,968 owed to 38 workers.
—Deborah Belgum
