Outside and Inside Sales

Employees who generate their own sales or obtain orders may be labeled “outside sales” employees by their employers.  If an “outside sales” person devotes more than 20% of the hours on work to jobs other than making sales, she may well be due overtime.  The same standard applies to “Inside Sales.”  True “outside sales” employees are not due overtime pay.  Whether “Inside Sales” employees are due overtime depend on the job duties performed.  Unfortunately, this is a very common problem.  Remember: it does not matter what your job title is.  What matters are your real job duties.

Crone & Mason, plc has successfully represented employees in a national class action involving the misclassification of “inside sales” employees.  See What a class action looks like.  Crone & Mason, plc obtained a favorable and non-confidential settlement for all “inside sales” employees because much more than 20% of the hours were clerical and non-sales related.  By calling some employees “inside salespersons,” employers have use this scam to get free office work or unskilled labor.

See Commissioned Sales as a cross-reference.

Charitable and Volunteer Work

If you do civic or charitable volunteer work because your employer asks that you do it, it should be counted as hours worked and you should be paid for it.  Here are some examples of when you should be paid:

• your employer asks you to do it
• your employer directs or controls the work
• the work is done when you should be at your place of business working

If you volunteer on your own, without promise, or expectation of being paid, this should not be treated as hours worked. 

You cannot “volunteer” to work for free at the job for which you are normally paid.  In other words, your employer cannot force or coerce you to work “off-the-clock.”  You must be paid for all time spent doing your job.  See Work Off-the-Clock.