Fashionable Crackdown

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shut down 10 factories in Southern California earlier this month and issued $617,800 in fines for violations of state and federal workplace rules.

The companies either didn’t produce mandatory garment registration licenses or provide workers compensation insurance coverage. The fines included $343,500 for 14 cases of failing to provide wage statements and $25,000 for 20 instances of faulty time cards or none issued.

Along with shop closures, the agency confiscated counterfeit garments labeled as Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Diesel, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Nike and
Nautica worth $279,000.

The crackdown was done with the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Employment Development Department, the U.S. Department of Labor and the California Conservation Corp.