California Outside Sales Exemption

Under California labor law, there are 4 categories of California exempt employees. One of those categories is the California outside sales exemption.

Employees who do not meet the criteria for an “exempt outside salesperson” in California are misclassified as exempt.

To be properly classified as “exempt” under the California labor code, an outside salesperson must be an employee who regularly spends over half their work time engaged in sales away from the employer’s place of business.

This means that if an employee spends a significant amount of time doing duties other than sales, or a substantial amount of time doing sales calls while inside the employer’s office building, then that employee’s job may not qualify for the outside salesperson exemption.

Commonly misclassified employees under California’s outside sales exemption

The outside sales exemption is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied exemptions by both employers and employees. Unfortunately, workers who are misclassified as outside sales employees may not be getting the overtime pay and other benefits they would be owed if correctly classified.

Commonly misclassified workers under the outside sales exemption include:

• Pharmaceutical sales representatives
• Insurance salespersons
• Commissioned delivery drivers
• Manufacturer’s representatives that do marketing and merchandising at retail stores

Under federal wage & hour law, there is a similar federal outside sales exemption.

Learn More about California Exempt Employee Law

• California Executive Exemption
• California Administrative Exemption
• California Professional Exemption
• California Outside Sales Exemption

Learn More about California Labor Law

• California Independent Contractor Law
• California Overtime Law
• California Minimum Wage Law
• California Final Paycheck Law
• California Meal/Rest Break Law
• Differences: California vs. Federal Labor Law
• California Exempt Employee Law
• California WARN Act: Layoffs
• California Vacation Law
• California Off-the-Clock Law
• California Paystub Law
• 4 Hour Minimum Shift California

Our Attorneys Representing California Outside Salespeople

Steven specializes in employment litigation and has been lead or co-lead counsel on several cases that resulted in settlements of over $1 million.

Steve litigates a wide range of complex cases, from environmental mass torts to consumer class actions. He has secured over $1 billion for his clients.

Linda has recovered millions of dollars prosecuting fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary cases against large banks and insurance companies.

Our California Employment Practice

Our California employment attorneys – with over 50 years of collective experience litigating under California employment law – know how to fight for employees’ rights and get them the money they deserve. We’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars for California employees and represent individuals as well as class actions in virtually every area of California employment and labor laws: California overtime law, off the clock violations in CA, breach of contract disputes, California independent contractor law, sexual harassment, employee misclassification, discrimination, as well as mass layoffs in violation of the California WARN Act. Our California employment lawyers are repeatedly recognized for their expertise litigating in California. Founding partner Eric Gibbs has been selected as one of the Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California. And seventeen of the firm’s attorneys were selected as Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, a distinction received by less than 5% of attorneys in Northern California.

About Us

Gibbs Mura is a California-based law firm committed to protecting the rights of clients nationwide who have been harmed by corporate misconduct. We represent individuals, whistleblowers, employees, and small businesses across the U.S. against the world’s largest corporations. Our award-winning lawyers have achieved landmark recoveries and billions of dollars for our clients in high-stakes class action and individual cases involving consumer protection, data breach, digital privacy, and federal and California employment lawsuits. Our attorneys have received numerous honors for their work, including “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California,” “Top Class Action Attorneys Under 40,” “Consumer Protection MVP,” “Best Lawyers in America,” and “Top Cybersecurity/ Privacy Attorneys Under 40.”