Posted by robert ottinger on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 @ 10:32 PM
We get a lot of calls from sales people who put in long hours traveling and visiting potential customers. These road weary salespeople want to know if they are entitled to overtime pay. The answer is usually no. Outside sales people are not entitled to overtime pay. The reason for this rule is that employers cannot control what outside sales people do as they are outside of the office.
An outside sales person is one who regularly and customarily performs genuine sales work at customer locations. There is no exact formula under federal law to determine how much time must be spent at customer sites - it is enough if it happens regularly and customarily. Some states, like California, have slightly different rules which require that 50% or more of the time be spent outside.
This overtime pay exclusion does not apply to inside sales people who typically do sales work from one location such as the office or their home. People who customarily do not visit customer locations are inside sales people and they are entitled to overtime pay.
The outside sales overtime pay exclusion does not apply to people who travel to do promotional work or marketing. It only applies to people who actually sell goods or services.