Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

retail sales exemption status

I have 2 friends that work for a state-wide music company. They sell music equipment..ie, speakers, keyboards, guitars, etc. The company has classified them as exempt employees because they are in ''retail sales.'' However, the company mandates them to work way over 45 hours a week. . They even have a ''hell week'' policy where they are forced to work on their off day if the store hasn't met it's monthly sales budget. Another weird policy is that if they leave the employment of the company for any reason, they will not get paid their commission checks.They also are forcing (company said they'd fire them if they didn't work)my two friends to play movers and move an entire store's inventory to another location during after the store has closed & during their off-time. They both are salaried, receiving a base salary of $300. & then a once a month commission check which average $200- $300 but haven't been more than $1000 in the last 6 months. My questions are can the company require them to work all these hours without additional compensation of some kind? Or even if they didn't compensate them, can they mandate those kind of hours? And is the company within its legal right to withhold from them their commissions when they leave?


Asked on 4/23/02, 1:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anne Terry Law Office of Anne Curtis Terry

Re: retail sales exemption status

The place you describe sounds like a bad place to work...I am not experienced in the issues you pose in your question, so I suggest that you contact the U.S. Dept. of Labor to ask if this company is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, or the minimum wage laws. Forcing employees to work for zero pay for a unit of time sounds like a violation of the min. wage laws. Also, you could contact the Fla. Dept. of Labor.

If any of this is due for a discriminatory motive, contact the EEOC in Tampa or Miami to discuss your remedies under Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act.

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Answered on 4/23/02, 6:02 am


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