Commissions Accomplished: Court Rules Class of Commissioned Cable Technicians Not Entitled to Time-and-a-Half Overtime Pay

Last Monday, a cable services subcontractor notched a substantial victory against a class of 146 cable technicians, whose overtime claims a federal court in Georgia found were barred pursuant to the FLSA’s overtime exception for certain retail, commissioned employees.  The decision, Jones v. Tucker Communications, sheds favorable light on the meaning of the most litigated aspects of the so-called “7(i)” exception, namely the meaning of “retail” and “commissions.”

The employer, Tucker Communications, was a service provider for Charter Communications, a large cable and internet provider.  Charter paid Tucker according to a fee schedule for services that Tucker’s cable technicians performed for Charter customers.  Each morning of the workweek, Tucker gave its technicians a list of jobs for the day.  They were paid a set amount for each type of service they performed.  Importantly, they could increase their compensation by working quickly and asking for extra jobs to fill the day.  They could also earn more by  upselling.

To read this blog post click here