No Overtime for Pharmaceutical Sales Reps, Supreme Court Says
Drugmakers will save billions of dollars after the Supreme Court gave them the green light Monday to classify sales representatives as “outside salesmen” ineligible for overtime.
Such employees are also called “detailers” for their work telling physicians about new prescription drugs to drive up sales.
Two such detailers, Michael Christopher and Frank Buchanan, filed a federal complaint in Arizona that claimed SmithKline Beecham dba GlaxoSmithKline owed them overtime pay.
But a federal judge granted the drugmaker summary judgment after applying an exemption of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act that relates to outside salesmen.
The 9th Circuit affirmed in February 2011, noting that the workers follow a commission-based model that has existed for 70-plus years.