Exempt Status of Salespeople Is Dependent on Earnings

Q: My employer tells me that, as a salesperson, I can be exempt or nonexempt, depending on what I earn. As long as I earn more than the minimum wage plus overtime for a month’s work and half of my income is from commissions, I am exempt, I was told. But if this doesn’t happen, he says he only has to pay me minimum wage for the hours worked.

This doesn’t seem right.

--J.H., Orange

A: There are many exemptions from minimum wage and overtime requirements. For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts certain employees of “retail or service establishments” who are paid commissions--if their regular rate of pay is 1 1/2 times the minimum wage rate, and more than half of their compensation for at least one month consists of commissions on goods or services.

If you don’t meet those requirements for an exemption and there is no other exemption available, it is not true that your employer only has to pay you the minimum wage for the hours worked. Your employer would have to comply with all the normal overtime rules and workplace conditions.

--Don D. Sessions

Employee rights attorney

Mission Viejo

Unfavorable Treatment May Be Sex Discrimination

Q: I worked at a job for 10 months in which I was the only woman. I noticed a pattern in which my bosses did not treat or accept me in the same manner as they did my male co-workers.

One boss would write memos constantly underscoring my errors. I found out that errors by other workers were not noted this way.

Do I have any claims against the company?

--L.P., Long Beach

A: Possibly. State and federal antidiscrimination laws prohibit less favorable treatment toward an employee because of his or her sex. If you can establish that the unfavorable treatment you received was based on your sex, you may be able to pursue a sex discrimination claim successfully against your former employer.

If you wish to do so, I suggest you contact either the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and explain the situation.

You should be prepared to present as much documentary evidence as you have and to describe in detail how you believe you were singled out for unfavorable treatment because of your sex. The agency will assist you in determining whether you have a valid claim.

If successful, you may recover any out of pocket losses you suffered as well as potentially punitive damages and your attorneys’ fees.

--Diane J. Crumpacker

Management law attorney

Fried, Bird & Crumpacker

Saying No to Big Brother Is Possible While at Work

Q: I work in the computer industry and am contracted to a government agency. More than a year ago, cameras were installed in the room with the servers and our desks. Recently, my co-workers and I found out that these cameras have microphones and that management has been listening to our conversations without our knowledge. Is this legal? It is creating an extremely uncomfortable and stressful working environment.

--S.H., Los Angeles

A: It is illegal for any person, including an employee of a government agency, to record or intercept a conversation that people reasonably expect to be private without the consent of all parties to the conversation.

If the government agency did not disclose that it was going to be intercepting conversations, the agency has violated the law.

--Michael A. Hood

Employment law attorney

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker

*

If you have a question about an on-the-job situation, please mail it to Shop Talk, Los Angeles Times, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; dictate it to (714) 966-7873, or e-mail it to shoptalk@latimes.com. Include your initials and hometown. The Shop Talk column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice. Recent Shop Talk columns are available at https://www.latimes.com/shoptalk.