Thanks to anyone who can lend their expertise. I am employed by a small business. We sell lawn tractors, handheld lawn equipment and parts which cover a wide spectrum of applications. My employer feels that they are exempt from paying overtime because we fall within the realm of Farming, Farm Implement sale as well as parts.
The percent of sales that relate directly to farming are about 1%, with those same parts crossing over to lawn and garden applications as well. We have not sold a farm tractor in 3 years and our current modification of sales do not include anything farm related, except specialty orders, which rarely, if ever, take place.
My fellow employess and I work approximately 50 to 55 hours a week and have been doing it for years. Receiving only straight time.
There are no outside sales, all sales are non-commission, everything goes over the counter. (Retail Sales)

Thanks for any assistance!
Ragman

The following are the federal DOL rules on the subject. I would say that based on these rules that your employer is wrong.

Federal exempt rules on farming (http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs12.pdf)

"Agriculture does not include work performed on a farm which is not incidental to or in conjunction with such farmer's farming operation. It also does not include operations performed off a farm if performed by employees employed by someone other than the farmer whose agricultural products are being worked on."

What DAW posted is correct. However, perhaps the retail sales exemption might apply. Do you get commissions on your sales? If so, for a representative period (say a month or so), are your commissions at least 50% of your total pay?

Good point.

Retail/Service establishment exception. (http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs20.htm)

Good point.

Retail/Service establishment exception. (http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs20.htm)


For a change, I remembered. ;)

There are no outside sales, all sales are non-commission, everything goes over the counter. (Retail Sales)

Thanks for any assistance!
Ragman

Patty/DAW, the OP clearly states that all sales are non-commission therefore I would say that DAW's original post is correct without modification.

Agreed, but anytime the word "retail" was mentioned, I should have at least mentioned the Retail/Service exception and said it was not applicable. A lot of the classification related stuff is basically "check list" where you keep going done the list until you find the one that fits. There is some advantage to mentioning the obvious "not-this" items (and why).

Patty/DAW, the OP clearly states that all sales are non-commission therefore I would say that DAW's original post is correct without modification.


Sorry, missed it, not perfect. :)

The one area that is not clear to me is the exemption, "Farm Implement Sales". I have not been able to locate the definition of this category.
Is this the category in which you folks are referring to, when the conversation turns to "Comissioned Sales" and the Retail ExemptionTest is applied?

Just reitterating, all sales are over the counter and non-comissioned.
What is the definition of the heading, "Farm Implement Sales", or where can I find this definition. I have scoured quite a bit and have not found it.

Thanks again, I do appreciate the input.
Ragman

See if this helps:

Farm implement sales (http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/esa/title_29/part_779/29CFR779.371.htm)

Thank you DAW! This is what I was looking for. Much Abliged!
Ragman