Queens Clothing Manufacturer Under Labor Investigation

New York -- The New York State Department of Labor announced on July 23, 2008 in a press release that a local Queens, New York, clothing manufacturer has been cited for multiple violations of New York State Labor Laws.

The company, Jin Shun, Inc. is located in Long Island City, just outside of Manhattan. They manufacture clothing for many famous brands, such as Macy's, Gap, Banana Republic, Express, Victoria's Secret, Limited and Coldwater Creek. The owners of the company are listed as Jikai Lin and Zhang Yun Chen.

The violations are not numerous, but they are big ones. Jin Shun, Inc. is accused of violating New York State's minimum wage and overtime laws, falsifying employee time records, and not paying overtime wages. Employees were coached to lie to the Labor Department during the investigation.

Employees were forced to work 12 hour shifts, 6 to 7 days a week. Hours were falsified by making employees use different time cards for different days of the week. When investigators asked to see time cards, they were given only one set and not the complete week's worth of hours. Investigators only saw what would appear to be a normal amount of work hours for the employees, not the actual amount.

Jin Shun, Inc. has a history of hurting its employees. Before 2005, they operated under a different name, Venture 47 and had cheated employees out of over 2.5 million dollars in wages. This time, the number has increased, totaling over 3 million in wages.

While citing the company for its violations, the Department of Labor also tagged numerous articles of clothing with a tag stating that the garment had been "illegally made".

The DOL's task force works diligently to close up shops such as this. Garment manufacturers in NY are required to register with the DOL. Companies are then inspected to ensure they are following the laws. If a company does not register, they are labeled as a sweat shop and can be fined and prosecuted immediately.