On June 25, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued two opinion letters concerning the exemption of outside salespeople. In FLSA2020-6, the DOL opined that an employee qualifies for the outside sales exemption when deployed to high-population areas and events to sell products via stylized trucks (which is not itself a “place of
DOL Issues Final Rule Allowing Employers to Pay Bonuses Under Fluctuating Workweek Method
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule allowing employers to pay bonuses and incentives to employees who are paid a salary plus overtime on the fluctuating workweek method (FWM) of computing overtime (employees who are paid a salary whether they work few hours or many, plus 1/2 overtime
DOL Releases Final Overtime Rule – Effective January 1, 2020
Except or Non-Exempt? That is the question (which should not be answered by eenie-meenie-miney-mo)! The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its Final Rule today (September 24, 2019) regarding the overtime exceptions under the so-called “white collar” exemptions. As you may recall, the DOL previously issued a final rule in May 2016, but that rule
Making Deductions and Adjustments to Commissions
In an earlier post regarding payroll deductions, I promised to write about the unique aspects of deductions from a sales employee’s commissions. This topic is always ripe for discussion. Why? Well, good salespersons will make great commissions! They are winners. They don’t like to lose sales – or money. They are usually very aware of what they have sold and the related commission. Accordingly, when they see a deduction on a commission, or a commission less than they expected, naturally their radar goes on high alert. I can’t blame them, this is their bread and butter after all – and this is what drives them; these are folks generally highly motivated by monetary compensation – which is the whole point. They bring in revenue for the business and want to be rewarded accordingly.
There are actually two different aspects to salespersons commissions – with an extremely important distinction between the two. First, when can an employer deduct from commissions owed, due to errors or omissions? Second, when can an employer reduce a salesperson’s commission not due to the salesperson’s errors or omissions? Hopefully I can help clarify. However, for purposes of this post, I should specify that this is all about employed salespersons – not independent contractors. Commission salespersons who are independent contractors have their own prompt payment statute and that would throw us off track here.
Making Deductions From Commissions Due to Errors or Omissions
As I mentioned before, Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 181.79) treats sales commissions differently when it comes to allowing wage deductions. Indeed, the wage deduction requirements for faulty workmanship, loss, theft, or damages do not apply when an employer has rules related to commissioned salespeople, when the rules are used “for purposes of discipline, by fine or otherwise, in cases where errors or omissions in performing their duties exist”.
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Deducting Employee’s Pay for Losses, Theft or Damage
Quite often I will get asked by employers if it is okay to deduct certain items from either an employee’s payroll or a final paycheck. In fact, in almost every termination that I walk a client through, this issue comes up – whether it is an outstanding credit card payment (the trouble employee was reimbursed
The Clock is Ticking: Paying Terminated Employees Within 24 Hours
While Jack Bauer may be by the wayside, Fox Network’s 24 is not going away any faster than an employer’s requirement to pay terminated Minnesota employees within 24 hours. An issue that I frequently get calls about (usually somewhat frantic) is a terminated employee’s demand for payment within 24 hours. Unfortunately, too many employers without