Hello,

I work for a large firm as a weight loss counselor. We're paid a flat rate according to the number of people attending our weight loss sessions. Recently, we were told to attend our annual training session. It was held on a Saturday afternoon and while lunch was provided and door prizes given, we were not paid. The entire meeting took approximately 3 hours. I was told it was part of our training to attend and they have never paid anyone to attend these training sessions.

Is it a violation TX or Federal law to ask you to attend a mandatory meeting and not compensate you? And how do you handle the situation if they are wrong and they owe their employees for these sessions?

Are you exempt or nonexempt?

can you explain the difference?

All employees are nonexempt unless they qualify under one of the four exemption classifications defined the the Fair Labor Standards Act. See here:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17a_overview.htm

Non-exempt from the sounds of it. We get a base amount per meeting with a very small commission for any goods sold. Most of us work only 2-3 hours per week, with no compensation for planning, travel, etc.

Texas law requires pay at the agreed on rate for all time worked.

While there is no provision in the Texas Payday Law which specifically addresses payment for time spent in meetings (or training), the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) does address the issue of "compensable time." Compensable time is normally defined as "all the time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a prescribed work place.'' Generally, these are hours for which the employer must pay an employee. If this meeting is mandatory, it would probably fall under the definition of compensable time.

You can file a claim for unpaid wages with Texas Workforce Commission. Claim form @ http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/lablaw/ll1.pdf. Each affected employee would need to file a separate claim. Group claims can be filed with the DOL.

Yep. You need to be paid your hourly rate for the mandatory meetings. That's because you are nonexempt. If you were exempt, they would not have to pay you any additional compensation over and above your weekly salary (which would have to be at least $455 per week) no matter how many hours you worked.

This job sounds like it may qualify as "outside sales" under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If it is, then federal minimum wage and overtime laws do not apply. See Title 29 of the United States Code, Section 213 (1). Texas law provides for the same exemption. See Texas Labor Code Section 62.153 (2). The outside sales exemption has no minimum salary requirement and even though located in the same area of the United States Code, is not similar to the "white collar" exemptions that apply to executive, administrative and professional employees. See Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 541.500.

As always, run it by the Texas Workforce Commission and see what they have to say.