A former water sales representative working inside Costco Wholesale Corp. stores has filed a proposed class action overtime pay lawsuit against their employer, DS Services Inc., a bottled water company. The sales representative claims the bottled water company’s wage-and-hour policies violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and resulted in a failure to pay representatives for their overtime work. The prospective class size is not clear yet, but the lawsuit seeks unpaid overtime and damages for the potential class members.
Water Representative Claims
Craig Appleman worked for DS Services from March to August of this year. He filed the recent lawsuit in Florida federal court on behalf of himself and other similarly situated water sales representatives. In his lawsuit, Appleman claims the DS Services has a written policy specifically for Costco sales representatives. This policy dictates when and what hours they must work in the Costco stores, as well as the specific duties the company expects to be performed on any given day.
Appleman claims sales representatives regularly work more than 40 hours each week. In fact, Appleman claims, the amount of work expected and required of the sales representatives requires between 50 and 60 hours of work per week. Yet, the representatives allegedly do not receive time and a half for any of their overtime work, even though they claim they are classified as non-exempt employees. Instead of receiving overtime wages, the sales representatives receive bonuses and commissions from the company.
Sales Representatives
In this case the water sales representatives claim they are non-exempt employees, yet they are not receiving overtime wages. Since they are allegedly classified as non-exempt they may actually be entitled to the overtime pay they have been denied. However in many cases, sales representatives who perform their duties away from their employer’s location are exempt from overtime. Generally, these sales positions are exempt under the FLSA’s outside sales exemption. There are only two requirements for the outside sales exemption: the employee must be regularly engaged away from the employer’s place of business and their primary duty must be to make sales or get orders for services that a client or customer will pay for.
In situations like this, it may be difficult to determine if your job duties and responsibilities meet the requirements for overtime exemption under the FLSA or under state laws. But, if you believe you have been misclassified as exempt or if you are classified as non-exempt and you have not received earned overtime, speaking with a knowledgeable overtime pay lawyer can help. Call our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 to discuss your situation. If we accept your case, under our No Fee Promise, we will represent you and there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.