The federal Fair Labor Standards Act's Section 13(b)(10)(A) provides an overtime exemption for "any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks, or farm implements, if he is employed by a nonmanufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling such vehicles or implements to ultimate purchasers."

This exemption was adopted in the mid-60s. DOL initially said that the exemption included a service manager who was primarily engaged in diagnosing the mechanical condition of cars brought in for repair, assigning the work to employees, directing and checking their work, and being responsible for the work performed. But soon thereafter, DOL reversed itself and began to say that dealership employees who primarily engaged in selling vehicle repairs and maintenance services and in related activities were not exempt. DOL adopted an interpretative provision saying, "Employees variously described as service manager, service writer, service advisor, or service salesman who are not themselves primarily engaged in the work of a salesman, partsman, or mechanic as described above are not exempt under section 13(b)(10)." 29 C.F.R. § 779.372(c)(4).

Following a series of DOL court losses and other adverse rulings, DOL's Wage and Hour Division threw in the towel. In 1987, the Division added this to its internal Field Operations Handbook...