Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. 

“Made in America.” That’s supposed to be a good label, something to see on a shirt or hat that gives you a positive feeling about buying it.

But that’s not always the case. Investigations by the California state labor department found that sewers in garment factories in the Los Angeles area were making as little as $4 an hour, and working up to 11 hours a day.

And a federal Department of Labor investigation turned up this example: Forever 21 sold a certain dress for $24. But if the sewer had been paid federal minimum wage, the labor alone should have cost the manufacturer $30.

Many of these manufacturers have had to pay back wages or settle with workers after complaints or investigations by the state and federal labor departments turned up violations. But the companies who sell the clothes, like Forever 21 and TJ Maxx, don’t face any penalties, because they are designated as “retailers” and therefore not responsible.

David Weil served as administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division under the Obama administration, where he helped investigate some of these cases. He is now dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, and joins The Takeaway to provide details on these investigations. 

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear our full conversation with David Weil. The Takeaway reached out to Forever 21 and TJX, the company that owns Marshalls and TJ Maxx for comment. 

TJX wrote: 

"We take social compliance very seriously at TJX. On a worldwide basis, we have over 1,000 associates in our buying organization who source from a universe of over 18,000 vendors and more than 100+ countries. We operate our business with high standards of ethics, which are reflected within our Vendor Code of Conduct. As part of TJX’s purchase order terms, we require that each of our vendors comply with our Vendor Code of Conduct and act in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations when manufacturing products to be sold to TJX. Our Vendor Code of Conduct also expressly requires our vendors to pay the legally prescribed minimum wage and our vendors must ensure that all subcontractors they use comply with these same requirements.

"We have an ongoing social compliance program that, in part, includes third-party assessment of manufacturers’ factories. If at any time we become aware of a factory’s failure to produce product in accordance with these standards, we promptly take appropriate steps. Depending on the nature of the violation, we take a variety of steps and may cancel pending orders.

"We have been troubled by allegations of wage violation issues occurring in Los Angeles factories and are taking steps to counteract the issue. Members of TJX management have met with the Department of Labor to learn more about the situation. We consider the steps our Company has taken in Los Angeles meaningful, including:

• Sending a letter from our Chief Compliance Officer to our California vendors reiterating our expectations of full compliance with our Vendor Code of Conduct;
• Having buyers from our California buying office hand deliver these letters directly to our vendors which emphasized the importance of proper wage payments both by our vendors and by their subcontractors;
• Conducting meetings with our buyers and some of our largest vendors producing goods in Los Angeles reinforcing our social compliance practices and expectations; and
• Instituting factory inspections for our largest vendors producing goods in Los Angeles for current and future TJX merchandise orders.
• Further, if we identify wage violations in a factory during the audits, we reserve the right to take appropriate steps, up to and including cancelling the purchase order and prohibiting vendors from using that factory." 

And Forever 21 emailed us this statement: 

“Forever 21 takes these issues very seriously and requires all of our vendors to comply with federal and local minimum wage and record-keeping laws.  At Forever 21, we do not manufacture the goods sold in our stores; rather, we enter into purchase agreements with independent third party vendors who manufacture clothing and charge Forever 21 full price for the finished goods at prices set by the third party vendors.  While Forever 21 does not own or operate any of the third party vendors or contractors involved, it is our policy and practice to not purchase merchandise from any companies who violate the law. Forever 21 condemns any third party vendor that violates these laws, and takes appropriate action to encourage these independent vendors to improve compliance, in order to promote appropriate working conditions for their employees. We remain committed to our policy and practice not to purchase merchandise from any companies who violate the law.

“We have met with the Department of Labor (DOL) and fully support their efforts to enforce these laws in California. It is the DOL’s job to enforce the worker wage and safety laws, and they do it well.  Importantly, Forever 21 applauds the DOL’s survey targeting the alleged business practices of third party vendors, and their selected independent contractors, as well as the order that provides restitution to the affected workers.”

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.