In recent years, violations
of overtime laws toward salespeople have become
commonplace. Both inside and outside sales positions
are frequently paid either a flat salary, or
a salary plus commission without any regard for
the lawfulness of denying them overtime pay
for overtime hours worked. Many employers that
ignore their obligation to pay overtime wages
to their sales force now face lawsuits seeking
substantial damages. In these cases, salespeople
may recover many years of overtime pay, plus penalties
against their current or former employers.
Know Your Rights. There are only
two situations in which employers
may deny overtime pay to Salespeople:
- Outside salespeople who spend over half of their typical work day outside actually making sales or performing tasks “closely related” to those sales. Tasks such as delivering product and merchandising generally do not qualify as sales tasks;
- Inside salespeople receiving more commission pay than their base salary each pay period (i.e., their commissions routinely constitute 51+% of their paycheck).
These are the only legal situations
in which California salespeople may be legally
denied overtime pay for hours of work beyond
8 per day or 40 per week.
The legal system is set up to “level
the playing field” and give workers
the power to correct workplace abuses. Scott
Cole & Associates has served California’s
workforce for many years as one of
the state’s most respected workers’
rights law firms and has recovered massive and record-setting
settlements for employees for workplace abuses.
For
a confidential discussion of your rights against
a former or current employer and/or to submit
a claim, contact
us for more information.
