KAMA, DOL Plan Compliance Partnership

The Korean Apparel Manufacturers Association in Los Angeles has entered a monitoring agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division.

KAMA President Yun Rhee signed a two-year agreement with the DOL that allows the government agency to work closely with 10 KAMA members to help keep wage and overtime violations at a minimum. The members, who will be selected by KAMA’s committee and the DOL, will receive regular inspections, monitoring and labor-law briefings.

The agreement will serve as a pilot program that, if effective, could become something that other companies would want to participate in, said George Friday, regional administrator for the DOL, after the signing of the agreement on July 17 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

There are no budgets or stipends in the program, Friday said, so the compliance assistance efforts will operate on the good intentions of those who participate.

“This is a volunteer agreement between the DOL and KAMA,” Friday said. “They’re willing to work with us, so we are willing to do everything we can to make the program work.”

In recent years, a number of Southern California apparel companies have been fined for violations that range from paying inadequate wages to employing underage garment workers, Friday said. About 40 percent of Southern California’s sewing contractors are in compliance with the state’s labor codes, according to a 2000 survey by the DOL.

Many local apparel companies have come under fire from workers’ rights advocates, unions and universities for employing contractors that do not comply with labor laws.

Friday, who will oversee the new program from his San Francisco office, said the monitoring plan can be applied to apparel companies nationwide.

“When a company monitors its working conditions and makes sure employees get paid, it cuts down the seriousness of violations,” he said.

Periodically, the DOL will issue a report of compliance rates among the participating companies, Friday said.

Friday said the program will allow participants to correct faults found by trained monitors, avoid costly fines and lower the frequency of litigation resulting from noncompliance. —Claudia Figueroa