Are Salespeople Entitled to Overtime?

This a great article on the exempt on non-exempt discussion. Entreprenuers who have evolved into the employer role commonly get caught in this kind of trap.

Even if this claim is frivolous, I wonder how many hours the company owner spent dealing with this case? I wonder how much they have paid out in leagl defense fees? I wonder what price the owner would put on their emotional toll a case like this brings on; sleepless nights, stress, tension, fear, concern?

I wonder if this company had the benfit of a professional on his or her business team with insourcing the HR expertise of a professional employer organization brings to the table?

Find the article here:

What circumstances qualify an employee as an outside salesperson who is exempt from overtime?
A federal court sitting in New York State recently reviewed some of the factors.

What happened? A woman worked for the Paul T. Freund Company, a manufacturer of boxes in Palmyra, New York, where she was promoted to the job of salesperson in 2002. In that job, she regularly worked 50 to 60 hours per week, spending 75 percent to 80 percent of her workday working inside the office, and 15 percent to 20 percent of her work day performing tasks and keeping appointments outside of the office, such as making sales calls and periodically meeting with customers at their places of business.

Freund didn't pay her overtime because the company classified her as an outside salesperson. After she left Freund (for undisclosed reasons), she sued for failure to pay her overtime in violation of state and federal law. Freund asked the court to throw the case out at an early stage, without full development of the facts.

See what the court had to say here:
http://hr.blr.com/news.aspx?id=77866

If you or someone you know may have questions regarding exempt and non-exempt status, please drop us an e-mail at:

firstplacerightchoice@1stplacemployer.com

and a trusted advisor will answer your inquiry within 24 hours.