The past two weeks have brought a number of important updates for those watching the Christopher v. SmithKline case, in which the Supreme Court will determine whether pharmaceutical sales representatives are properly classified as exempt from overtime as outside salespersons under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and whether to defer to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) position expressed in amicus briefs that they are not.
Tags: pharmaceutical sales representatives, HR Allen Consulting Services, Department of Labor, exemptions, FLSA
For the past two years or so, perhaps the most anticipated rulemaking in the wage and hour world has been what has been described at various times as the "FLSA Recordkeeping" or "Right-to-Know" rulemaking. As we have discussed previously on the blog, this expected regulation immediately drew the concern of the employer community when it was reported that it would require employers to prepare a written analysis of an employee’s exempt status under the FLSA, provide a copy of that analysis to the employee, and maintain a copy of that analysis for review by a Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division investigator. More recent descriptions call that initial report into question, but the concern remained.
Tags: misclassification, Department of Labor, exemptions, FLSA, wage and hour
Commissioned sales is one of the few areas in which California law is arguably more favorable to employers than the FLSA or laws of other states. Specifically, California law recognizes an exemption from overtime for sales employees in many industries, provided they are primarily engaged in sales, earn at least one and one half times the minimum wage, and more than half of their income comes from commission earnings.
Tags: California Court of Appeals, Overtime, commissioned sales, exemptions
