I work as an oil tech at a dealership and used to be paid 7.50 an hour and then I was switched to flat rate slash commission without a notice at all and if you take my flat rate hours and add up what I make an hour on commission it adds up to about $2.75 an hour. Is this legal?

If your commissions for a week do not come up to minimum wage for the hours worked, you must be paid minimum wage.

Bottom line is that it is not legal to pay you an average of $2.75 per hour.

ScottB is correct!

Here is a link on the DOL regs: http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs20.htm.

Typically, with respect to flat commission jobs, a worker must be paid "one and half times" minimum wage in order to qualify for the overtime exemption. As of 10/1/06, minimum wage in Arkansas is $6.25 per hour. In order to meet the minimum pay requirement for the overtime exemption, your regular rate of pay must calculate to $9.38 per hour.

If the above reg is not met, the minimum rate that must be paid is your state's minimum wage. Additionally you'd qualify for overtime when it's worked. But the bottom line is that being paid $2.75 per hour is wrong. It's ok for tipped employees to make this rate provided the tips make of the difference between the pay rate and minimum wage; but it's not ok on flat commission empoyees.

I hope you have found some of this useful.

I appreciate everything. yes it did help me. Thanks