Commissioned Sales Rep and Minimum Wage, in Nebraska

[Breezily]

I am in a mess with a company I just left. When I first came aboard they asked me if I wanted to attend a training class in D.C., I said yes. They booked my flight, hotel, and then came to me and asked me to sign a contract saying I would pay back training costs. I was stuck!

The job was horrible, many lies from the start and the owner would dip into your territory and steal business out of it. Anyways, my first six months of employment I was paid a base. After six months, the job was commission only.

For the month of October and the first week of November I made $0, and had to quit. Now the owner of this company is threatening me with legal actions. I told him we should be even due to not being paid for five weeks of full time work, at nothing. Today I received a letter from his lawyer that states, "as an outside sales person, you have no claim for an hourly minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act. You were informed when you were employed, and as stated in your employment agreement, that you would be paid on a commission only basis after your first six months of employment."

I live in Nebraska. From what I read on Minimum Wage Laws, it sounded like even if I was comission only, they had to pay me at least minimum wage?

My contract with them says that I will obtain valuable training, and that the company is paying the employee to develop business.

Thanks to anyone who could give me good advise!

[Pattymd]

Sorry, neither the minimum wage, which applies to nonexempt employees) nor the minimum salary requirement of $455/week for exempt employees, applies to employees who qualify as exempt under the Outside Sales exemption.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/complian...tsidesales.htm

Now, regarding the repayment of training costs. Did the agreement you signed say you would pay back the expenses of the training only, or did it include the wages paid while in training also? You might want to have an attorney review that agreement, or at least contact the state Dept. of Labor to see if an agreement to repay wages is enforceable in your state, since the enforcement of such agreements are state-specific.