30/08/2020 SB 1399 makes retailers accountable for garment worker pay - Los Angeles Times The proposed reforms follow those enacted in 1999, four years after 72 undocumented Thai workers were found virtually enslaved in an El Monte apartment complex, stitching together clothing behind barbed wire. That legislation made garment manufacturers liable for wage violations by the contractors who cut, sew and otherwise produce their garments. ADVERTISEMENT But in the decades since, worker advocates say that some fashion brands and retailers that carry their own clothing lines have found ways to skirt the law by employing layers of subcontracting between them and the small factories that actually produce apparel. Random inspections of 77 garment shops conducted in 2015 and 2016 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found wage violations at 85% of them. Advocates say the situation hasn’t gotten any better, with many undocumented Latino immigrants afraid to file wage claims over fears of deportation. A 2016 state law, which applied to multiple fields, tightened up regulations on piece-rate compensation, which is traditional in the apparel industry and pays workers for every hem, seam and cuff they sew. That law mandated paid rest and recovery time and required more detailed payroll records. The piece rate can allow skilled workers to well exceed the minimum wage, but labor advocates say the rates are often set so low that apparel workers can make less than $5 an hour — even though employers are supposed to make up the difference and pay the legal minimum in such instances. SB 1399, which has passed the Senate and is expected to be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week, would require employers to pay an hourly wage and only allows piece-rate compensation as an incentive bonus, unless provided for in a collective bargaining agreement. The combination of creating more stringent liability for wage theft and banning the piece rate has opponents saying the reforms will finish off much of what is left of L.A.'s apparel industry, which once employed some 150,000 workers before liberalized trade with Mexico, Central America and Asia sent clothing assembly out of the country. ADVERTISEMENT “This is a huge overhaul of the entire industry,” said Jennifer Barrera, executive vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce, which has labeled the bill a “job killer,” though she acknowledged there was “no question” labor abuses occur in the industry. “You incentivize companies to basically say, ‘I am not going to contract anymore in California. I can go elsewhere and not be exposed to this type of litigation.’” https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-08-17/fashion-brands-garment-workers-sb1399-joint-liability-piece-rate 3/13