Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog
Tennessee residents and people all across the country have heard about the recent overtime class action lawsuit against Novartis and its outcome resulting in a settlement for drug sales representatives because of being misclassified as exempt from overtime compensation. This settlement has now lead to more people in Tennessee and all over the country to question whether or not their job entitles them to overtime compensation as well. If you or someone you know believes that you are entitled to overtime pay and are not receiving it, you should speak with a Tennessee overtime pay lawyer right away. They will help make sure you get the compensation that is rightfully yours for the hours you work.
In this case, an appeal was recently filed against the GlaxoSmithKline overtime lawsuit because the drug sales persons are claiming that they were improperly denied their overtime pay. The Obama Administration’s Secretary of Labor also recently filed a brief supporting sales reps and enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act to make sure that all employees get the compensation they are entitled to.
In this particular case, even workers who are on salary are required to be paid one and a half times their regular pay rate for any hours worked over eight in one day. Also, under the FLSA employees are entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over forty in a work week unless their specific job tasks make them exempt. Outside sales reps are only exempt from overtime pay if they spend more than fifty percent of their working time away from their employer’s business or away from their home office while they are making sales.
In the Merck complaint the sales reps claim they were not making sales because at the most all they could receive was doctors agreeing to prescribe drugs to clients when they were appropriate. The Novartis sales reps claimed that they were responsible for visiting doctor’s offices, dropping off drug samples, and delivering scripted messages about the company’s products. Novartis claimed that their employees were outside sales reps outside sales people and exempt from overtime compensation. However, the court ruled that the pharmacy reps are not actually sales people and that they are not exempt because they were tightly controlled and could not exercise discretion or independent judgment in their primary job tasks both of which are required to make them exempt.
Novartis was important because it was the “first federal appellate decision finding that the outside sales and administrative exemptions don’t cover pharmaceutical sales reps,” stated by an attorney for the Novartis sales reps. This case and its outcome have lead to other industries and people questioning whether or not they are exempt from overtime compensation.
Unfortunately cases like these happen all too often here in Tennessee and all across the country. If you or someone you love feels that you are entitled to overtime compensation and not receiving it, then we strongly encourage you to contact one of our experienced and compassionate Tennessee overtime pay attorneys. We will work with you to make sure you get the compensation you deserve for the number of hours you work. Contact us online or call us at 800.705.2121 to set up a FREE consultation to discuss your legal options.
