One point that I would add to this discussion is that with the changes in the federal regulations proposed by the DOL (read more here: http://www.wagehourinsights.com/exemptions/the-new-flsa-regulations-what-changed-what-didnt-whats-next-for-employers/), WISPs need to carefully evaluate whether their salespeople meet the exemption in FLSA Section 7(i) for commissioned sales employees. To meet the 7(i) exemption, your salesperson must meet all of the following criteria:
1. The employee must be employed by a retail or service establishment (a WISP qualifies); and 2. The regular rate of pay must exceed 1.5 times the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked in a workweek; and 3. More than half of the employee's total earnings in a representative period must consist of commissions on goods or services. Commissions need not be defined as X% of gross sales. You can be a bit more creative and still meet the exemption. There are some other quirks to this exemption, too, but make sure that you keep these basic requirements in mind at least when you are designing payment plans. Not designing (and monitoring!) your plan carefully could mean that you could be stuck paying overtime to sales staff as non-exempt employees! I am happy to take a look at any current or planned comp programs to share some ideas on how to structure these in a way that makes business sense and still works legally. Doug From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Darin Steffl Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2015 4:04 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected]; Principal WISPA Member List Subject: Re: [WISPA Members] Sales Person Commission Just pinging members again after the holiday to see if any others have input on sales people. There has been some good feedback so far. On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 6:35 PM, Darin Steffl <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hello all, I was talking with another WISP on sales commission for a new rep they're hiring and one we're hoping to hire very soon. We talked about a base salary plus commission based on what service they sell. For base, we talked about minimum wage for base and commission was percentage based on the monthly recurring revenue. For example, for a $500 a month dedicated connection on a 2 or 3 year contract, the sales person would earn $500 one-time commission on that service. For hosted PBX, the other WISP did a flat $40 per seat sold instead of 100% of the monthly value. For those of you employing a sales person, what does your compensation plan look like and do you have any advice to make this program run smoothly. I hear many people say to hire two sales reps at the same time because they are competitive and more likely to meet their goals to earn a bonus. Do you have the sales people dedicated just to sales or also business support as a point of contact? I feel like the sales person would expect additional compensation to support a customer after the sale has been made. What about renewing contracts after 2-3 years? Would they get commission again or not? So many questions now that I'm thinking about it. I hope to have a good discussion on this probably next week after the 4th of July celebrations :) Just needed to get this off my mind and onto the list. Have a great weekend guys! -- Darin Steffl Minnesota WiFi www.mnwifi.com<http://www.mnwifi.com/> 507-634-WiFi [http://www.snoitulosten.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/facebook-small.jpg]<http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Like us on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> -- Darin Steffl Minnesota WiFi www.mnwifi.com<http://www.mnwifi.com/> 507-634-WiFi [http://www.snoitulosten.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/facebook-small.jpg]<http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Like us on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/minnesotawifi> Doug Hass Associate 312.786.6502 Franczek Radelet P.C. 300 South Wacker Drive Suite 3400 Chicago, IL 60606 312.986.0300 - Main 312.986.9192 - Fax www.franczek.com Circular 230 Disclosure: Under requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that, unless specifically stated otherwise, any federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purposes of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or tax-related matter herein. ________________________________________ For more information about Franczek Radelet P.C., please visit franczek.com. The information contained in this e-mail message or any attachment may be confidential and/or privileged, and is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the named recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message or any attachment thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies. ________________________________________ Franczek Radelet is committed to sustainability - please consider the environment before printing this email
