A new survey conducted by the US Department of Labor has revealed sweatshop workers in southern California are being paid as little as $1.58 cents an hour far below us minimum wage standards.
The survey which included 50 contractors and manufacturers found that more than 45 thousand garment manufacturing industry workers were working an average of 55 hours a week without receiving overtime pay clear violation of fair labor standards act regulations. Investigators also discovered even worse violations such as employers deliberately paying their employees part or all of their wages off the books, with forged payroll records and no records provided at all.
They also learned that 32 percent of contractors were still paying rates based on the number of items produced, despite that wage system being prohibited by the state of California since last year.
According to Ruben Rosalez, wage and hour regional administrator in San Francisco quote “many people shopping for clothes in stores and online are likely unaware that the ‘made in the USA merchandise they’re buying was made by people earning far less than what US law requires.”
