California Garment License Requirements, Fees, and Renewal

A California garment license is technically a registration issued by the Labor Commissioner, and every business that sews, cuts, assembles, dyes, finishes, alters, or labels clothing for sale in the state has to hold one. You apply through the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement using Form 810, post a surety bond sized to your payroll, pass an examination on garment labor law, and pay an annual fee between $250 and $2,500 depending on whether you’re a contractor or a manufacturer and how much you gross. The registration is good for one year and must be renewed before it expires.

Who Has to Register

The statute reaches anyone “engaged in the business of garment manufacturing,” and California defines that activity broadly. It covers sewing, cutting, assembling, dyeing, finishing, repairing, altering a design, affixing a label, or otherwise preparing any clothing, accessories, or wearing apparel for sale or resale.¹ Manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors, jobbers, and wholesalers all fall inside the definition, and so do individuals, partnerships, corporations, LLCs, and associations.² Size doesn’t matter. A one-person alteration shop and a fifty-worker factory both need to register.

Two situations trip businesses up. If you run a temp agency or employee leasing company that supplies workers to garment manufacturers for production tasks, California treats you as engaged in garment manufacturing yourself, and you need your own contractor registration.² If you’re a retailer that has moved beyond simple resale into designing, sourcing, or arranging private-label production, you’re either a manufacturer who must register or a brand guarantor with separate liability obligations.

How to Apply

Registration starts with the Application for Registration Garment Manufacturing Industry, DLSE Form 810. The same form works for a new application or a renewal.³ You’ll need to submit:

Ownership details, including entity type, names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and home addresses of all owners, partners, or corporate officers.⁴
Your main business address and every location where employees will do garment work.
Your State Employment Tax ID from the EDD and your Federal Employer Identification Number, or proof you’ve applied for them.⁵
Proof of workers’ compensation insurance if you have employees.⁶
Your most recent EDD quarterly report (DE-9 or DE-9C).⁵

Surety Bond

You have to post a bond from a California-licensed surety. There’s no fixed amount. The bond must cover up to four calendar weeks of wages and benefits for all employees, calculated on the highest headcount in any pay period during the previous twelve months.⁷ A small shop needs a small bond; a large operation needs a larger one. The purpose is to give workers a source of recovery if the business fails to pay them.

Examination and Inspection

Every applicant has to demonstrate knowledge of garment labor laws through an oral or written examination, or both.⁸ The DLSE may also inspect your premises before issuing the registration. Processing typically runs several weeks.

Annual Fees

Fees depend on whether you’re a contractor or a manufacturer and on your gross sales.⁹

Contractors:

$250 for gross sales of $100,000 or less
$350 for gross sales from $100,001 to $500,000
$500 for gross sales from $500,001 to $1,000,000
$1,000 for gross sales over $1,000,000

Manufacturers:

$750 for gross sales of $500,000 or less
$1,000 for gross sales from $500,001 to $3,000,000
$1,500 for gross sales from $3,000,001 to $7,000,000
$2,500 for gross sales over $7,000,000

If your registration was denied, revoked, or suspended at any point in the three years before you apply, you pay the top rate: $1,000 for contractors with any gross sales in that period and $2,500 for manufacturers with any gross sales.⁹

Renewal

Registration lasts one year. The DLSE emails a notice 90 days before your certificate expires and recommends filing the renewal package as early in that window as you can.¹⁰ A lapse matters more than it looks. The statute’s protection against garment confiscation for a contractor doesn’t apply when nonregistration was “due to delayed renewal.”¹¹

Renewal requires current workers’ compensation coverage, an active bond, your latest EDD quarterly report, and proof that you’re in good standing with the Franchise Tax Board and EDD. Payroll or tax discrepancies stall the renewal until they’re cleared, and the DLSE may inspect during the process.

Operating Without a Registration

The penalties are layered. Operating an unregistered garment business is a misdemeanor. The exception: if the unregistered person has no employees, a civil penalty applies instead of criminal charges.¹²

Civil penalties run $100 per affected employee for a first violation and $200 per affected employee after that. For an unregistered person with no employees, the flat penalty is $500.¹³

The DLSE can also seize any clothing or apparel assembled by or on behalf of an unregistered person. Confiscated goods are destroyed or disposed of and don’t return to commerce.¹⁴ If a contractor has had garments confiscated within the previous five years, the Labor Commissioner can seize all manufacturing equipment and the property where the unregistered work happened. Proceeds from selling seized equipment go into a state Back Wages and Taxes Account used to pay wages owed to garment workers.¹¹

Suspension and Revocation

Even after you’re registered, violations can cost you the license. After any violation, the Labor Commissioner can require an additional bond of up to $10,000 as a condition of keeping your registration. After a second violation within any two-year period, that additional bond is mandatory.¹⁵

A third violation within any two-year period can trigger revocation for anywhere from 30 days to one year. If the violations involve minimum wage, child labor, or maximum hours, the Labor Commissioner can also confiscate garments being assembled.¹⁵ Appeals run through administrative hearings, and the business must show compliance before registration is restored. The DLSE can deny an application outright based on outstanding labor violations, unpaid wage claims, or false information on the form.

If You Hire a Garment Contractor

One boundary is worth flagging, because it’s a common way businesses get pulled into liability without realizing they needed their own license or should have checked someone else’s. If you contract with a garment business that isn’t registered or doesn’t have a valid bond on file, California treats you as that contractor’s employer and makes you jointly liable for all resulting wage and labor violations.¹⁶ Workers can then file wage claims or sue you directly. Verify registration before signing a production agreement, and keep a copy of the contractor’s current certificate on file.

Records You Must Keep

Registered garment employers have to maintain records for at least four years: employee names and addresses, daily hours with start and end times, daily production sheets with piece rates, wage rates for each pay period, contract worksheets showing price per unit, and all contracts, invoices, purchase orders, and style sheets identifying the contracting parties.¹⁶ You also have to keep a copy of the registration certificate for every registered contractor or manufacturer you work with. These are the same records the DLSE reviews during inspections, so gaps invite deeper scrutiny.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2671
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Department of Industrial Relations. Important Information and Instructions for New and Renewal Applicants for Registration Garment Manufacturers and Contractors
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Department of Industrial Relations. Application for Registration – Garment Manufacturing Industry
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Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 8 13634 – Requirements for Registration
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Department of Industrial Relations. Garment Registration Document Requirements
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California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 3700
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Department of Industrial Relations. California Code of Regulations Title 8 13641 – Bonds for Continued Registration
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California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 2675
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Department of Industrial Relations. California Code of Regulations Title 8 13635 – Registration and Examination Fees
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Department of Industrial Relations. Apply for a New or Renew Garment Registration Certificate
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2680
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2676
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Justia. California Code Labor Code 2678
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California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 2680
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2679
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 2677