text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.
  
      (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Sweatshops 
  Act''.
      (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.
target: Stop Sweatshops Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to make garment industry manufacturers civilly liable for sweatshop conditions maintained by their contractors.  Sets forth civil penalties for violation of recordkeeping and payroll accounting requirements.
feat_title: Stop Sweatshops Act