AFSA Extra Credit Podcast: Auto Remote Sales Compliance
Representing Commission Salespeople
We frequently encounter situations where employers classify their salesforce that primarily sells through telephone and internet means as salaried exempt employees, primarily for purposes of overtime and minimum wage payment...more
The U.S. Supreme Court next term will address the standard of proof that employers must meet to show an employee is exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). E.M.D. Sales,...more
It is well-known that California law is often more strict than federal law. Just as California handles overtime differently than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law also treats aspects of overtime...more
A Federal Appeals Court recently ruled that marketers who hand out samples and promote products qualify as outside salespeople under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and are thus exempt from the overtime provisions of...more
Who doesn’t like free samples when shopping? But are the representatives providing those samples actually “selling” them so that they are exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as outside salespersons?...more
Another administrative exemption case, this time in the trucking industry, tests the contours of that vague, nuanced exemption and to what occupations it applies. In this case, a group of Logistics Coordinators contend they...more
Q: Are outside sales employees considered exempt under the outside sales exemption (OSE) if they work from a home office during the pandemic? ...more
COVID-19 has altered the way nearly every employee performs their work. Videoconferencing and phone calls have largely replaced in-person visits and face-to-face meetings in many workplaces. By extension, many sales employees...more
Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) gave car dealers welcome news. In an opinion letter interpreting the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the DOL found that incentive payments paid directly by the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Two recent Department of Labor Opinion Letters addressing the FLSA’s outside sales exemption provide helpful guidance and flexibility to employers with unique business models....more
Two recent opinion letters from the U.S Department of Labor (USDOL) examine the contours of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) “outside salesman” exemption, which exempts covered employees from the FLSA’s minimum...more
On May 19, 2020, the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) implemented a final rule withdrawing partial lists of establishments that it previously interpreted as either having “no retail concept” or...more
Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act provides an exemption from the usual overtime pay requirements for certain commissioned employees of retail or service establishments. For decades, the U.S. Department of Labor has...more
On May 8, 2019, Massachusetts’ highest court held that retail salespersons who are paid entirely on a commission or draw basis, may nevertheless be entitled to additional overtime or pay for work on Sundays. The Supreme...more
While certain sales employees are exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements under federal and state laws, others are not. Getting it wrong can be a costly mistake, so employers are well advised to ensure their...more
While not binding nationwide, a recent federal court decision should put to rest any legitimate argument that dealership parts counterpeople are not overtime exempt under federal law. Based on the concept that Fair Labor...more
This is an interesting case. A class action that was denied certification, appealed to the Second Circuit, which reversed because the lower court did not properly interpret the job description on the key issue of duties...more
For the first time, a federal appellate court has acknowledged its obligation to give a “fair reading” to all Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions, as the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Encino Motorcars, LLC v....more
In two decisions issued on September 19, the Second Circuit relied on the Supreme Court’s instruction in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134, 1140 (April 2, 2018) that FLSA exemptions are not to be construed...more
The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) released six new opinion letters last week— four addressing application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and two addressing application of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). An...more
WARNING: If you are a regular recipient of the Dealership Update or a Fisher Phillips client, chances are that you will not necessarily learn anything new by reading this article. When you hear that a dealership settled a...more
With minimum wage increasing at federal, state, and local levels and with wage and hour cases on the rise, we receive many questions about exemptions to overtime laws. One such exemption that does not get as much coverage as...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently gave relief to automotive, tractor, and aircraft dealerships, clarifying that service advisors are – like salesmen, partsmen, and mechanics – exempt from payment of overtime under the Fair...more
We are almost half way through 2018, and this year has been filled with fast and furious changes at USDOL. Proposed tip credit changes (Check, including a reaction from Congress and more tip credit changes on the horizon)....more
If you’re not an auto dealer and you missed last month’s Supreme Court decision in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, we forgive you. After all, a ruling on the correct application of the “salesman” exemption to service...more