Can commission-only salespeople be forced to do unpaid non-sales work?
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Can commission-only salespeople be forced to do unpaid non-sales work?
I work as a sales associate for a large home electronics company based in CA. I work on a commission-only basis however there is an $8 an hour “draw” paid to sales-staff who do not achieve (on average) at least this amount over the course of the working week. Salesmen who remain in the draw for 6 weeks are terminated. Recently the sales staff were instructed to sign a form that stated we agree to work on non-sales related tasks usually performed by paid merchandisers but no compensation has been offered for performing these tasks. Is this legal? I feel we are working for free.
Asked on July 30, 2011 California
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Good question. If you are willing to sign the form where essentially you could be working for free based upon what you have written, most likely the signing requires you and others to be paid minimum wage under California law.
I suggest that you take the form presented you to a labor attorney or your local department of labor for review. It is one thing to be on a commission sales basis. It is another matter to actually do work and not get paid for it that are not sales related for the commissions.
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Good question. If you are willing to sign the form where essentially you could be working for free based upon what you have written, most likely the signing requires you and others to be paid minimum wage under California law.
I suggest that you take the form presented you to a labor attorney or your local department of labor for review. It is one thing to be on a commission sales basis. It is another matter to actually do work and not get paid for it that are not sales related for the commissions.
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