I work for a car dealership and am on commission only. I recently changed dealerships, was fed a line and the business here is terrible. I was one of the top sales people at my previois dealership but not doing well here. My questions is, I work approximately 53 hours a week and am on a time clock. If the commission does not exceed the minimum wage, then you are paid the minimum wage with no overtime. At my past dealership this has never applied to me but this started over at the end of each month. At this dealership it continues so my question is: Is it legal to continue paying someone on the time clock no overtime for hours exceeding 40 per week? I was under the impression that it had to begin anew at the end of the month. Thank you for your time

Generally, employees who are paid on commission are entitled to receive overtime pay for every hour worked over forty hours in a workweek. There is an exception for commission employees who work in a retail or service establishment. Under the retail/service establishment exception, an employee paid on commission is exempt from the overtime pay requirement if all of the following conditions are met:

1)
the employee must be employed by a retail or service establishment;

2)
the employee's regular rate of pay must exceed one-and-a-half-times the applicable minimum wage for the workweek in which the overtime hours are worked (the regular rate of pay for commission employees can be determined by dividing the employee's total earnings attributed to the pay period by the employee's total hours worked during such pay period); and

3)
more than half of the employee's total earnings in a representative period must consist of commissions.

If all of these conditions are not satisfied, then this exemption does not apply and the employee must receive overtime pay for every hour worked over forty in a workweek.

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by Anonymouscommented on 7 Sep 2010 George Stein, you are the best, Thank you for taking your valuable time to answer legal questions. I normally do not drink and drive but I've already sent two friends to you for representation and to quote both of them, "money well spent!" Thanks again!