Bill requires hourly wages for garment workers, makes brands liable.
S. 5393 — FABRIC Act · Filed by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 14, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill stops garment shops from paying workers by the piece. Workers must get hourly pay at least equal to the national minimum wage. Brands like Nike and Gap become responsible if their shops break wage rules. Garment makers and shops must sign up each year with the Department of Labor. They must share facts about who owns the shop and how many workers they have. They must also share if they follow the rules. The bill sets up a new office to help garment makers in the U.S. It also gives money to train workers.
Who it affects
Garment workers would earn hourly wages instead of pay per item sewn. Brands would face legal responsibility for wage theft by shops. Garment makers and shops would have to sign up and report to the Department of Labor.
One thing to notice
The bill requires detailed personal facts from makers and shops. It does not say how the Department of Labor will keep that data safe.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Sep 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- minimum wage — The lowest hourly pay an employer must give workers.
- Department of Labor — The federal office that enforces rules about worker pay and safety.
- liable — Legally responsible for harm or rule-breaking.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (21,280 characters) on Sep 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-22.
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