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June 21
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16
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JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS
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Department exempted the knitted outerwear industry from the
industrial homework ban but expressly declined to remove
restrictions in other industries. 46 Fed.Red. 50348 (Oct. 9,
1981). 3 / Following hard on the heels of the lifting of the
industrial homework ban in the knitted outerwear industry, a
number of states imposed their own ban. This was the original
purpose of Senate Bill 199.
As introduced, the bill imposed a State ban (with minor
exceptions conforming to those in federal law) on "garment
manufacturing" industrial homework -- a prohibition that appears
to cut across several of the industries covered by the federal
regulations, including the knitted outerwear industries and
women's apparel. However, the bill was amended to define a
"garment manufacturing employer" as a person who engages, as an
owner or manager, in the business of garment manufacturing:
"AND WHO EMPLOYS MORE THAN 4 INDIVIDUALS. HOWEVER, AS
TO ANY GARMENT MANUFACTURING EMPLOYER WHO EMPLOYS 4 OR
FEWER INDIVIDUALS, THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION AND
SECTIONS 328(B) AND 328A OF THIS ARTICLE DO NOT APPLY,
BUT ONLY IF THE GARMENT MANUFACTURING EMPLOYER DOES NOT
SUBCONTRACT ANY WORK TO OTHER THAN THE 4 OR FEWER
INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED BY THE EMPLOYER. A 'GARMENT
MANUFACTURING EMPLOYER' DOES NOT INCLUDE A PERSON WHO
SELLS AT RETAIL, BY MAIL ORDER OR OTHERWISE, OVER 35
PERCENT OF THE ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL WHICH IT
CUTS, SEWS, PROCESSES, REPAIRS, FINISHES, ASSEMBLES, OR
OTHERWISE MAKES OR PREPARES FOR SALE ON AN ANNUAL
BASIS. A 'GARMENT MANUFACTURING EMPLOYER' DOES NOT
INCLUDE A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WHICH MANUFACTURES THE
ENTIRE GARMENT FROM BEGINNING TO END BY MEANS OF
CUTTING, SEWING, PROCESSING, FINISHING, ASSEMBLING, OR
OTHERWISE MAKING THE ENTIRE GARMENT, OTHER THAN THE
MATERIALS, FOR SALE OR RESALE AT WHOLESALE OR RETAIL."
It is apparent that the purpose of this change was to
sanction industrial homework in Maryland in these exempted areas.
However, the federal regulations banning industrial homework in
the covered industries contain no exemption for employers of four
or fewer employees and apply to employees regardless of whether
they might technically be considered "subcontractors". See n.
2, supra. Moreover, the regulations do not exempt "cottage
industries," viz. employers who sell over 35 percent of the
wearing apparel they make, nor do they contain any sort of
blanket exemption for non-profit organizations. Thus, despite
their apparent intention to do so, these provisions of Senate
Bill 199 cannot be read to permit or sanction what federal law
expressly prohibits in the garment industries still subject to
the industrial homework ban. 4 /
Aside from what the amendments to Senate Bill 199 were
intended to accomplish, and whether or not the bill can be read
consistently with federal law, we think the existence of such
provisions in Maryland law could result in confusion among
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