On March 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that “commissions” must be considered “wages” under the New Jersey Wage Payment Law (WPL) and cannot be excluded as “supplementary incentives” because they are tied to...more
What should employers do when there is a dispute about the amount of commissions owed to an employee? Should the employer pay the undisputed amount, withhold the disputed amount, and then wait for a determination from the...more
On March 17, 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously held in Musker v. Suuchi that commissions are included in the definition of “wages” under New Jersey’s Wage Payment Law (“WPL”). Wages under the WPL are defined as...more
When litigating claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), litigants are aware of long-standing case law that essentially awards a prevailing plaintiff with their attorneys’ fees absent extraordinary...more
On March 28, 2024, in Sutton v. Jordan’s Furniture, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld a Massachusetts Superior Court decision finding the furniture retailer’s commission-based compensation scheme...more
In Klauber v. VMWare, the First Circuit upheld an employer’s use of a provision in its compensation plan that allowed it to modify commissions on certain large or atypical sales. These “windfall” clauses are common in sales...more
Psychologist Abraham Maslow once observed, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” That sums up the state of commission litigation under the Massachusetts Wage Act:...more
The Texas Supreme Court recently established a “default rule” which, as the dissent puts it, may “threaten the expectations of Texas at-will employers and employees who have agreed to a commission structure but, for whatever...more
Although it involves Texas law, a recent case illustrates the pitfalls that an employer can face when a former employee makes a claim for commissions or compensation after their employment has ended. It also offers...more
Under California law, an employee is exempt from California’s overtime requirements and other wage and hour laws if the person is employed in an administrative capacity. To meet this exemption, California’s wage orders and...more
Arizona law with respect to payment of bonuses and/or commissions is not always clear. There are many issues for both the employer and employee to consider. Below is a summary of some of things both parties should consider in...more
On September 5, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court issued a huge win for all non-agricultural employers who pay commission or piece-rate pay to their employees in Washington state. In a 6-3 decision, the Washington Supreme...more
Starting today, Minnesota has one of the toughest wage theft laws in the country. The civil portions of Minnesota’s new Wage Theft Law, effective July 1, 2019, require employees to take the following additional actions...more
On May 8, 2019, Massachusetts’ highest court held that retail salespersons who are paid entirely on a commission or draw basis, may nevertheless be entitled to additional overtime or pay for work on Sundays. The Supreme...more
Adhering to the “plain and ordinary” language of the state’s overtime statute and related regulations, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that inside sales employees paid on a 100% commission basis are...more
In Lukas v. Unidine Corp., et al., Judge Davis held that, under the Massachusetts Wage Act, GL c. 149, § 148, employee commissions can be conditioned on receipt of customer payments on which the commissions are based. Judge...more
Many California employers are familiar with the three-headed monster of medical leave questions: family medical leave (state and federal), disability leave and accommodation, and workers’ compensation leave. The wage and hour...more
In the past, we have highlighted some of the legal risks of employing commission-based employees, as well as some of the methods for limiting those risks. A new court decision out of Illinois provides a good reminder that...more
A manufacturing company’s sales employee successfully convinces a new customer to purchase a commercial cooler. Under the employee’s sales commission plan, she receives a commission of 2% of the price of the cooler and any...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: There are many different ways to pay employees in California. What is the scoop behind paying commissions? What are commission agreements and how have courts deciphered their coded mysteries?...more