The U.S. Department of Labor has a handy Fact Sheet for determining when a commissioned salesperson is exempt from overtime requirements. It says, in part, “If a retail or service employer elects to use the Section 7(i) overtime exemption for commissioned employees, three conditions must be met:
1. the employee must be employed by a retail or service establishment, and
2. the employee's regular rate of pay must exceed one and one-half times the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked in a workweek in which overtime hours are worked, and
3. more than half the employee's total earnings in a representative period must consist of commissions.
Unless all three conditions are met, the Section 7(i) exemption is not applicable, and overtime premium pay must be paid for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek at time and one-half the regular rate of pay.”
More information on the determination of exempt status for other types of employees is available at Mass. Law About Overtime.
