Rest Period Pay Required for Commissioned Sales Employees, California Court Rules

After much controversy, the California Court of Appeal recently ruled that rest period pay for commissioned sales employees is required by law.

While workers who receive their pay through commissioned sales are not paid hourly, the California Court of Appeal determined in February that these California employees are still legally entitled to paid rest periods. Rest period pay for commissioned sales personnel should be at least the amount of minimum wage.

The California Court of Appeal came to this ruling over a case where former employees of Stoneledge Furniture filed a wage and hour lawsuit, alleging that they were not given proper rest period pay during their time with the furniture company.

The employees claimed that Stoneledge’s commission system left out rest period pay for commissioned sales employees. Stoneledge sales employees would always receive at least $12 an hour for each hour they worked should their commission payments not be higher.

However, that compensation was essentially an advance on future commissions, not an hourly wage. The company neglected to also offer rest period pay for commissioned sales workers.

The California Court of Appeal found that, “when Stoneledge paid an employee only on commission, that commission did not account for rest periods. When Stoneledge compensated an employee on an hourly basis (including for rest periods), the company took back that compensation in later pay periods. In neither situation was the employee separately compensated for rest periods.”

Generally, California law requires that companies provide employees with a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours they work. This is made more complicated where employees’ compensation comes from commission on sales. But all that need be done is keep hourly rest period pay separate from the commission payments in order to satisfy the requirements of the law.

This Commissioned Salespersons Paid Rest Period Lawsuit is Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, Case No. B269657, in the Court of Appeals for the State of California.

California Labor Laws

Other California labor laws that some employers may attempt to circumvent, taking advantage of their employees, include the provision of rest periods, unpaid time, unpaid overtime, and unpaid expenses.

Commission pay workers may be at risk of being underpaid for their work. Even their work is done on a commission pay basis, their compensation should never fall below minimum wage for all hours worked.

Many employees may also pay for necessary work expenses like training, seminars, phone charges, mileage, and many other such expenses. Employers are required to cover these kinds of necessary or business-related expenses.

Commission pay workers may also be entitled to overtime pay if their commission pay does not exceed the one-and-a-half times the minimum wage overtime pay requirement.

Commission Pay Worker Rest Break Lawsuits

California workers paid strictly on a commission pay basis who are not being paid an hourly wage for their rest breaks may be able to file a wage and hour lawsuit to pursue compensation.

If you are a California worker on commission pay and your employer has failed to follow California labor laws regarding rest period pay for commissioned sales, overtime pay, or another rule, you may be entitled to some compensation.

Join a Free California Inside Sales Rest Period Pay Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you’re an inside salesperson who works strictly on commission pay, you may have a legal claim if your employer is not paying you additional, separate hourly pay for 10-minute rest periods.

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