Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, “outside sales” employees are exempt from the overtime provisions in the Act.  It would seem reasonable to assume, therefore, that pharmaceutical sales representatives who call on physicians would fall into this exempt category.  The United States Department of Labor, however, disagrees. The Department recently submitted a brief in a 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals case arguing that the job of the pharmaceutical sales representatives in that case was to persuade physicians to prescribe the company's products, but they did not "make sales" as required by the Act’s exemption for outside sales employees.

Management 2000, a Professional Employer Organization in Indiana, constantly monitors federal and state laws and regulations as well as other media related to human resources administration. With this information, the HR professionals in Management 2000’s HR Department can provide guidance and support regarding payroll policies as well as other human resource issues.  For more information about the many human resource management services provided by Management 2000, call (317-549-2000 or visit www.management2000.com.