Latest crackdown on local sweatshops

State and federal investigators are looking for Southern California garment factories that don't pay minimum wage or overtime and that don't register their businesses. Typically, Investigators find that garment workers are paid not by the hour but by the piece. That can mean pay as low as $6 an hour instead of the $8 state minimum. So far, more than $200,000 in citations have been issued for failure to carry workers' compensation and failure to obtain a garment license, From California Apparel News:

The U.S Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said it will announce the results of its investigations at the end of this year but will keep up its inspections of garment contractors in Los Angeles and Orange counties for several years. Over the past five years, the federal Wage and Hour Division offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, and West Covina, Calif., have conducted more than 1,500 investigations of Southern California garment factories. According to the division, 93 percent of those investigations uncovered violations, finding more than $11 million in back wages owed to approximately 11,000 workers.