Forever 21 In Hot Water With U.S. Department of Labor

It's possible that an entire blog can be dedicated to Forever 21's legal troubles. The Los Angeles based fast-fashion retailer has certainly given fashion lawyers plenty of material to analyze with their knock-off practices. Now it seams their labor practices are under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly working with suppliers that don’t pay workers minimum wage or overtime.

Apparently, the retailer has failed to comply with a subpoena issued by the Department for documents about its apparel contractors and manufacturers and now the government attorneys have filed an action with the U.S. District Court of Central California, which will allow a judge to hold a hearing on the matter. Forever 21's labor practices have been under scrutiny since 2008, after the department discovered that about a dozen manufacturers that work with the retailer have “sweatshop-like conditions.”

 

For a little labor law brush-up, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and employees that work more than 40 hours during a work week should receive overtime. The Department of Labor vehemently enforces these basic standards. "When companies like Forever 21 refuse to comply with subpoenas, they demonstrate a clear disregard for the law, and the Labor Department will use all enforcement tools available to recover workers' wages and hold employers accountable," stated the department's Ruben Rosalez to WWD. It will be interesting to see how far the case will go. In the meantime, you may want to think about hitting up other retailers to find good deals. Saving money should not be at the cost of good business practices.