Texas Sales Employees: Do You Know Your Sales Classification? Find Out How FLSA Protections Affect You.

Are you a salesperson? Does part or all of your money come from commissions? Are you an inside salesperson or an outside salesperson? Depending on your answers, you may be entitled to commissions, as well as overtime and hourly pay.

Inside Salesperson Rules

Inside salespersons typically work at one or two locations selling specific items, such as cars or storage buildings or even landscaping materials. These people may spend part of their workday making cold calls or following up on leads and sometimes they may even deliver products like landscaping materials. The majority of their time is spent in these locations – selling whatever the product may be – to customers who come in from the surrounding area. They are entitled to commissions on the sales they make and minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour, as well as time-and-a-half for overtime. For example, if you are an inside salesperson and you are paid minimum wage ($7.25), then your time-and-a-half rate is $10.75 per hour for every overtime hour worked in a week.

Outside Salesperson Rules

Outside salespeople do not spend their time at one or two locations. They may make calls and follow up leads, but they have to go and find many of those leads. They may set up a booth at a mall or they may sell their products door to door. If your sales are made outside the office, or if you are in the field more than 50% of the time, and your money is made and primary duties are in the field, you are not entitled to these pay benefits.

Are You a Misclassified Salesperson?

The law looks at whether you are inside or outside salespeople in very specific ways, but sales people are often misclassified workers, just as independent contractors are often actually employees. Employers misclassify their workers for many reasons. In a bad economy, some employers misclassify workers to save money. Some employers, especially small employers, simply don’t know or understand the law and they do not actually intend to misclassify or cheat anyone. Still, good intentions are not enough when it comes to your livelihood. If you underperform as a salesperson, or the company feels you are not making them enough money, they will not hesitate to let you go. Why should you hesitate if they owe you commissions or back pay?

What to Do If You Have a Claim as a Salesperson in Texas

If you are a salesperson and you believe your employer owes you commissions or back pay, or that you are a misclassified sales person, then you need an attorney who understands the Fair Labor Standards Act. This law is also known as the Wage and Hour Law, and it covers much more than how much you are paid per hour. There are other labor laws in every state which give you certain other rights, and these vary from state to state. Before you file a wage dispute claim against your employer, you should talk to a lawyer who understands and specializes in FLSA law and the labor laws of your state. Not every state allows attorneys to specialize in certain areas of the law, but many do allow this, and a labor law attorney can help you get the back wages your employer owes you for the work you do.

Our experienced employment attorneys have helped hundreds of clients across many Texas cities, including: Austin, Friendswood, Fort Hood, Deer Park, Lufkin, The Colony, Lake Jackson, Spring, Corsicana, Rosenberg, Waxahachie, Alvin, Nacogdoches, Channelview, Copperas Cove, Georgetown, Mansfield, Harker Heights, Dickinson, Pflugerville, Ennis, South Houston, Stafford, Bellaire, Gatesville, Gainesville, Galveston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and more.