Workers In Los Angeles Factories Experience Sweatshop Conditions
It isn’t very common to find employees in the United States let alone in California working in sweatshop conditions, however this hit close to home. However, some employers will never learn and will continue to treat employees unlawfully. If you have experienced such instances, contact your California employment lawyer immediately.
One recent case takes place in Los Angeles. According to an article from Lawyers and Settlements, O & K Apparel Inc. has been ordered by California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su to pay its 110 employees $13,785 in California overtime wages plus penalties of $61,450 for failing to pay proper overtime, and $307,250 for issuing improper itemized/deduction statements.
The article continues to explain that, “O & K Apparel Inc., which is based in Los Angeles, makes women’s garments and has been paying its employees by the piece, or piecework.” The California labor code states that garment contractors are required to provide accurate itemized statements to employees showing total hours worked by the employees, and if paid by the piece, they must show the number of pieces produced for specific manufacturers and the rate of pay for each piece in addition to the total hours worked.
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The rest of the article explains a statement from Labor Commissioner Su, explaining that there is no place for sweatshop conditions in our 21st-century economy. Su explains, “piece-rate payment cannot be used as an end-run around the basic requirement that all workers in California receive a just day’s pay for a hard day’s work, including overtime pay for overtime hours worked. In addition, California law requires itemized wage statements so employees know how much they worked and what they earned. In this case, the pay stubs did not include any of that information, which makes it hard for workers to know when their wages are being stolen right out from under them.”