Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 875 - Labor Services Division › Minimum Wage › Chapter 218 - Employees Employed in a Bona Fide Executive, Administrative, or Professional Capacity (INCLUDING ANY EMPLOYEE EMPLOYED IN THE CAPACITY OF ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL OR TEACHER IN ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOLS) , or in the Capacity of Outside Salesperson › Rule 875-218.504 - Promotion Work

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) Promotion
				work is one type of activity often performed by persons who make sales, which
				may be exempt work depending upon the circumstances under which it is
				performed. Promotion employees are not exempt as "outside salespersons." (This
				discussion relates solely to the exemption under rule 218.5(9ID) dealing with
				outside salespersons. Promotion employees who receive the required salary and
				otherwise qualify may be exempt as administrative employees.) However, any
				promotional work which is actually performed incidental to and in conjunction
				with an employee's own outside sales or solicitations is clearly exempt work.
				Promotional work which is incidental to sales made, or to be made, by someone
				else cannot be considered as exempt work.
(2) Distribution through jobbers.
a. Typically, the problems presented involve
				distribution through jobbers (who employ their own salespersons) or through
				central warehouses of chain store organizations or cooperative retail buying
				associations. A manufacturer's representative in these cases visits the
				retailer, either alone or accompanied by the jobber's salesperson. In some
				instances, the manufacturer's representative may sell directly to the retailer.
				In others, the employee may urge the retailer to buy from the jobber.
b. This manufacturer's representative may
				perform various types of promotional activities such as putting up displays and
				posters, removing damaged or spoiled stock from the merchant's shelves or
				rearranging the merchandise. These persons can be considered salespersons only
				if they are actually employed for the purpose of and are engaged in making
				sales or contracts. To the extent that they are engaged in promotional
				activities designed to stimulate sales which will be made by someone else, the
				work must be considered nonexempt. With these variations in the methods of
				selling and promoting sales each case must be decided upon its facts. In
				borderline cases the test is whether the person is actually engaged in
				activities directed toward the consummation of the employee's own sales, at
				least to the extent of obtaining a commitment to buy from the person to whom
				the employee is selling. If the employee's efforts are directed toward
				stimulating the sales of the company generally rather than the consummation of
				the employee's own specific sales, the employee's activities are not exempt.
				Incidental promotional activities may be tested by whether they are "performed
				incidental to and in conjunction with the employee's own outside sales or
				solicitations" or whether they are incidental to sales which will be made by
				someone else.